Forum Home
Press F1
 
Thread ID: 114384 2010-12-01 02:25:00 Magnify and enhance snapshot Myth (110) Press F1
Post ID Timestamp Content User
1157692 2010-12-01 02:25:00 I have a video here from a supermarket camera, showing a car smack into the side of my mates car as they parked, then instantly do a runner.
Thing is, we cannot see the license plate clearly enough to make out any characters.
I am looking for some software (and preferably a tutorial) to magnify and then enhance the plate.

Anyone know of anything?
Myth (110)
1157693 2010-12-01 03:20:00 Gimp has a magnifyer in its toolbox.Should do the job. kjaada (253)
1157694 2010-12-01 03:50:00 Send it to CSI or any of the US made cop programmes.

They always seem to have the ability to zoom in and magnify the eyelashes on the fly that has been squashed on the front grill or windscreen.
Zippity (58)
1157695 2010-12-01 04:08:00 Unless there is an actual resemblance of characters, I'm not sure if you can get the plate. Image programs cannot create or enhance an image from information that isn't there. utopian201 (6245)
1157696 2010-12-01 04:22:00 Do tell how u make out. kjaada (253)
1157697 2010-12-01 04:29:00 Unless there is an actual resemblance of characters, I'm not sure if you can get the plate. Image programs cannot create or enhance an image from information that isn't there.

^ this. If you can't figure out what's on the plate by zooming in, then there's no way to magically pull that information out of thin air. The only exception to this is if you have a high-resolution blur; in some cases it may be possible to deblur the image.

Unfortunately movies / TV shows almost always represent this incorrectly; there's no such thing as the 'magnify & enhance' tool that gets so much use on these shows.

Edit: Does the supermarket camera see the car long enough to see where it goes? If you can follow it to within the range of another camera (not necessarily the supermarket's; may be a nearby business etc), you may be able to get a higher-resolution shot of it from another source.

Even if you can't see where it goes, it may pay to review what video you can get from nearby sources anyway - if you compare timestamps, you may be able to spot the car and get the plate that way.
Erayd (23)
1157698 2010-12-01 04:36:00 Ya mean CSI is faked ..... :eek: .... devastated ..... :stare: SP8's (9836)
1157699 2010-12-01 04:45:00 Ya mean CSI is faked .... . :eek: .... devastated .... . :stare:Yes, that aspect of CSI is most definitely faked ;). Erayd (23)
1157700 2010-12-01 04:45:00 Erayd has it about right. that question is quite commonly asked on security forums.
outside of a few basic things theres not much you can do. i suspect the picture would be a low data one so theres not much in it to play with. also its highly unlikely the plate would be in focus enough to get a decent pic.

best way would to find the a pic of the car coming in/out of the car park. good places run number plate cameras specially for that.
tweak'e (69)
1157701 2010-12-01 04:49:00 Hmm yeah, as I suspected. Was hoping something like photoshop or something would be able to do it.

The pic is a reasonable res; and at a certain zoom the numbers are not-to-far from legible. Just as soon as you zoom, they become illegible again
Myth (110)
1 2 3