LPR Camera for Night Owl Security System DVR / NVR

A customer with a Night Owl security camera system recently asked me about adding an LPR camera to their existing system. Here is the question in short: “Will my Night Owl system support a LPR camera?” Can you use a Viewtron LPR camera with a Night Owl DVR or NVR? Yes, but which model you choose depends on whether your Night Owl recorder is a coax BNC DVR or an IP camera NVR.

What LPR camera works with a Night Owl coax DVR?

Most Night Owl systems are BNC coax DVRs. If you have one and want to use an existing coax cable run, the LPR-AHD5 license plate capture camera is the option. It works only if your DVR supports 1080p resolution in AHD or HD-TVI video format. Many Night Owl DVRs do, but some older Night Owl DVRs only record 720p, 960H or D1, and the LPR-AHD5 is not a good fit for those. You can check your model in our Night Owl camera compatibility chart.

The LPR-AHD5 is capable of excellent license plate capture, but it does not have automatic license plate recognition software. This is fine for most applications. More details are here: AHD Compatible LPR Camera.

My advice: if you are running new cable, go with the IP LPR camera. I only recommend the coax LPR camera when you have an existing coax system and new cable is very hard to run.

What LPR camera works with a Night Owl IP camera NVR?

If your Night Owl is a network IP camera NVR that is ONVIF compliant and supports at least 4MP resolution, it can record our best LPR camera, the Viewtron LPR-IP4. The camera connects to the NVR using ONVIF / RTSP. If your NVR only supports 1080p, the 2MP LPR-IP7 is the other option. Many NVRs support ONVIF even when the manufacturer does not advertise it, and Night Owl does not clearly list it. If your Night Owl NVR does not support ONVIF, you can still add the LPR-IP4 or LPR-IP7 using its RTSP stream.

On a Night Owl NVR you will only be able to use the license plate capture function. The ALPR features, such as the plate database and searchable plate events, are only integrated with Viewtron IP camera NVRs. I explain the difference in this video: License Plate Capture vs ALPR.

How do I get automatic license plate recognition with a Night Owl system?

Add a Viewtron NVR for the LPR camera. Viewtron NVRs will work with your existing Night Owl IP cameras too as long ass they are ONVIF compliant.

A complete Viewtron LPR system like the VT-LPR-S4 includes a Viewtron NVR and an LPR-IP4, and the camera’s ALPR software is fully integrated with the NVR. If you are ready to replace the Night Owl recorder, see our Night Owl DVR replacement page.

If you are unsure if you have a Night Owl DVR or NVR, email the exact make and model to info@cctvcamerapros.net and we will help you find out.

How far from the street should an LPR camera be mounted?

The smaller the vertical and horizontal angle from the camera to the license plate detection zone, the better. This matters most for ALPR. It is less important for license plate capture, but a smaller angle still gives you a clearer plate. I explain this in the LPR camera for home video below.

Read the full article here: LPR Camera for Home: Viewtron LPR-IP4 Surpasses Expectations.

More LPR Camera Videos

You can see additional LPR camera system videos here.

Have Questions/ Need Help?

If you have any questions about using VIewtron security cameras and LPR cameras with your NIght Owl recorder, please email me anytime at mike@cctvcamerapros.net.