What Camera Fits My Traffic Application?
Source From: Baller Web-site
Posted Date: 2012-10-14
Cameras are the eyes of today’s traffic systems, in enforcement, monitoring, and tolling applications. Two camera technologies are used in such systems: industrial cameras and network cameras.
While industrial cameras have been developed for machine vision applications such as process control and the inspection of goods, network cameras are mainly used in video surveillance systems. Due to their different backgrounds, both technologies have features specific to their fields of application.
Designers of intelligent transportation systems (ITS) face multiple requirements. Sometimes those can be fully met by industrial cameras; in other cases, network camera technology is the better choice. See the following sections for an insight into what functionalities are useful for what ITS applications, and what features each of the two camera technologies offers.
Camera Features for ITS Applications
Real time capability
Image capture starts immediately after a trigger signal has been sent to the camera. This is especially important in high-speed applications such as speed enforcement and tolling, and for flash synchronization.
Sequencer acquisition mode
The camera captures a series of images with different settings like AOI or exposure time, in a minimum amount of time. This is useful when the camera should capture a highly reflective car license plate and the driver’s face at the same time and on an appropriate (different) brightness level.
Broad sensor range
The wide variety of ITS applications requires a wide range of sensors offering different price points, resolutions, technologies (CCD/CMOS), and pixel sizes.
High sensitivity
High sensor sensitivity allows for short exposure times to capture clear images of fast-moving objects, (e.g. in speed enforcement).
Multi-streaming
Video streams captured in traffic monitoring applications use a high amount of bandwidth and storage capacity. With multi-streaming, separate video streams with different areas of interest and quality can be set up for different purposes and thus save bandwidth and storage capacity.
Image compression
In multi-camera systems and for longtime storage, image compression helps to save bandwidth and reduces the storage space required. Image compression can also be used in combination with multi-streaming: separate video streams can be encoded using different compression formats.
Auto iris functionality
Lenses with auto iris functionality can automatically adjust the lens iris opening and image settings such as gain and exposure time for different light conditions.
Day/night functionality
Cameras with day/night functionality are equipped with an IR-cut filter that is placed in front of the sensor in good light conditions for good color rendering. In night mode, the IR-cut filter is removed to make use of infrared light for clear black-and-white images in low light.
Industrial and Network Camera Technology: Features Relevant to ITS Applications
| Feature |
Industrial Cameras |
Network Cameras |
Pros |
Cons |
Applications |
|
Real time capability
|
x
|
x
|
Short trigger response time for high speed applications and flash synchronization
|
-
|
Enforcement, tolling
|
|
Sequencer acquisition mode
|
x
|
-
|
Multiple AOIs and different image settings possible
|
-
|
Enforcement, tolling
|
|
Broad sensor range
|
x
|
-
|
Suitable sensor for any application
|
-
|
Enforcement, tolling, traffic monitoring
|
|
High sensitivity
|
x
|
x
|
Short exposure times, no external flash required
|
-
|
Enforcement, tolling, traffic monitoring
|
|
Multi-streaming
|
-
|
x
|
Independent stream processing (e.g. single car/overview of a scene)
|
-
|
Enforcement, traffic monitoring
|
|
Image compression
|
-
|
x
|
Reducing network traffic for multiple camera setups
|
De-compression required for ANPR, lower frame rates
|
Traffic monitoring, incident detection
|
|
Auto iris functionality
|
-
|
x
|
Wide range of light conditions possible
|
Limited lens choice, moving parts not acceptable in some projects
|
Traffic monitoring
|
|
Day/night functionality
|
-
|
x
|
High contrast images in low light
|
Limited sensor choice, moving parts not acceptable in some projects
|
Traffic monitoring
|
Which Basler Camera Is Suitable for My ITS Application?
Basler cameras are designed to meet the needs of all mainstream traffic applications. We recommend the following Basler camera series for ITS applications:
Enforcement (e.g., speed enforcement, red light enforcement, and lane violation detection): ace, aviator, pilot, scout, Basler network cameras (i.e. support video streaming)
Tolling (e.g., Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) and toll enforcement to prevent fraud): ace, aviator, pilot, scout
Traffic monitoring (e.g., monitoring traffic flow, road, and weather conditions, and looking for accidents or other incidents): aviator, pilot, scout, Basler network cameras
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