AXIS Q1700-LE License Plate Camera

This camera is optimized to get clear images of the number plates of passing cars. With additional third party applications you can use these images to:

• Perform license plate recognition

• Track number of passing cars based on license plate

• Capture forensic evidence for law enforcement

• Detect suspicious vehicle movement or patterns

• Alert authorities and find wanted cars after incidents

To find Axis devices on the network and assign them IP addresses in Windows®, use AXIS IP Utility or AXIS Device Manager. Both applications are free and can be downloaded from axis.com/support.

For more information about how to find and assign IP addresses, go to How to assign an IP address and access your device.

You can use the device with the following browsers:

*To use AXIS OS web interface with iOS 15 or iPadOS 15, go to Settings > Safari > Advanced > Experimental Features and disable NSURLSession Websocket.

If you need more information about recommended browsers, go to AXIS OS Portal.

1. Open a browser and enter the IP address or host name of the Axis device.

   If you do not know the IP address, use AXIS IP Utility or AXIS Device Manager to find the device on the network.

2. Enter the username and password. If you access the device for the first time, you must set the root password. See Set a new password for the root account.

3. The live view page opens in your browser.

1. Type a password. Follow the instructions about secure passwords. See Secure passwords.

2. Retype the password to confirm the spelling.

3. Click Create login. The password has now been configured.

The device password is the primary protection for your data and services. Axis devices do not impose a password policy as they may be used in various types of installations.

To protect your data we strongly recommend that you:

• Use a password with at least 8 characters, preferably created by a password generator.

• Don’t expose the password.

• Change the password at a recurring interval, at least once a year.

1. Go to the camera’s webpage.

2. The License plate capture assistant starts automatically when you start the camera for the first time. To start it manually, go to Settings > System > Orientation > License plate capture assistant and click Configure.

3. Type the distance between the camera and the ground and click Next.

4. Type the distance between the camera and the center of the lane.

5. Type the typical speed of the vehicles and click Next.

6. Align the camera:

7. 1. Loosen the screw in the arm.

   2. Aim the camera at the road 20–50 m (66–164 ft) away. With additional IR illumination you can aim it up to 100 m (328 ft) away. The assistant calculates and displays the Car distance.

   3. The camera measures and displays how it is tilted and rotated. Minimize the Roll angle to keep the license plates horizontal in the image.

   4. Tighten the screw in the arm.

8. Go to the camera’s webpage and click Next.

9. The assistant suggests Image settings that provides good images for your installation. To save these settings, click Done.

10. In the live view, zoom in so that the view covers the lane or lanes that you want to monitor. The camera focuses automatically when you change the zoom level.

    If the image is still out of focus, switch to manual focus and then back to autofocus.

11. To verify the settings, record a few vehicles passing by and look at the license plates in the recording.

• This product supports fiber-optic cable installations through a media converter. Fiber-optic cable installations offer a number of benefits such as:

• Long-distance connection

• High speed

• Long lifetime

• Large capacity of data transmission

• Electromagnetic interference immunity

Find out more about fiber-optic cable installations on axis.com/technologies/fiber-optics.

For information about how to install the media converter see the Installation Guide for this product.

What capture mode to choose depends on the requirements for the frame rate and resolution of the specific surveillance setup. For specifications about available capture modes, see the product’s datasheet at axis.com.

There are different exposure mode options in the camera that adjusts aperture, shutter speed, and gain to improve image quality for specific surveillance scenes. Go to Settings > Image > Exposure and select between the following exposure modes:

• For most use cases, select Automatic exposure.

• For environments with certain artificial lighting, for example fluorescent lighting, select Flicker-free.

  Select the same frequency as the power line frequency.

• For environments with certain artificial light and bright light, for example outdoors with fluorescent lighting at night and sun during daytime, select Flicker-reduced.

  Select the same frequency as the power line frequency.

• To lock the current exposure settings, select Hold current.

• This product has three focus modes:

• Auto: The camera automatically adjusts focus based on the entire image.

• Area: The camera automatically adjusts focus based on a selected area of the image.

• Manual: The focus is set manually at a fixed distance.

1. To turn off autofocus and adjust the focus manually:

2. In the live view window, if the Zoom slider is visible, click Zoom and select Focus.

3. Click M and use the slider to set the focus.

Your camera uses visible light to deliver color images during the day. As the available light diminishes, you can set the camera to automatically shift to night mode, in which the camera uses both visible light and near-infrared light to deliver black-and-white images. Since the camera uses more of the available light it can deliver brighter, more detailed, images.

1. Go to Settings > Image > Day and night, and make sure that the IR cut filter is set to Auto.

2. To determine at what light level you want the camera to shift to night mode, move the Threshold slider toward Bright or Dark.

3. Enable Allow IR illumination and Synchronize IR illumination to use the camera’s IR light when night mode is activated.

4. Note

   If you set the shift to night mode to occur when it’s brighter, the image remains sharper as there will be less low-light noise. If you set the shift to occur when it’s darker, the image colors are maintained for longer, but there will be more image blur due to low-light noise.

To reduce noise in low-light conditions, you can adjust one or more of the following settings:

• Adjust the trade-off between noise and motion blur. Go to Settings > Image > Exposure and move the Blur-noise trade-off slider toward Low noise.

• Set the exposure mode to automatic.

• Note

  A high max shutter value can result in motion blur.

• To slow down the shutter speed, set max shutter to the highest possible value.

• Reduce sharpness in the image.

• Note

  When you reduce the max gain, the image can become darker.

• Set the max gain to a lower value.

• Open the aperture.

• Go to Settings > Stream and set the compression as low as possible.

• Go to Live view settings > Video format and select MJPEG streaming.

• Go to Settings > Stream and turn off Zipstream functionality.

Dynamic range is the difference in light levels in an image. In some cases the difference between the darkest and the brightest areas can be significant. The result is often an image where either the dark or the bright areas are visible. Wide dynamic range (WDR) makes both dark and bright areas of the image visible.

1. Go to Settings > Image > Wide dynamic range.

2. Turn on WDR.

3. If you still have problems, go to Exposure and adjust the Exposure zone to cover the area of interest.

Find out more about WDR and how to use it at axis.com/web-articles/wdr.

Electronic Image Stabilization (EIS) can be used in environments where the product is mounted in an exposed location and subject to vibrations, for example, wind or passing traffic. Turn on EIS to get a smoother and steadier image without blur.

EIS also reduces the file size of the compressed image and lowers the bitrate of the video stream.

1. Go to Settings > Image > Image correction.

2. Turn on EIS.

3. Use the slider to adjust the electronic image stabilization.

Barrel distortion is a phenomenon where straight lines appear increasingly bent closer to the edges of the frame. A wide field of view often creates barrel distortion in an image. Barrel distortion correction compensates for this distortion.

1. Go to Settings > Image > Image correction.

2. Turn on Barrel distortion correction (BDC).

3. Use the slider to adjust the barrel distortion correction.

To verify that a defined part of the image contains enough pixels to, for example, recognize license plates, you can use the pixel counter.

1. Go to Settings > System > Orientation.

2. Click .

3. In the camera’s live view, adjust the size and position of the rectangle around the area of interest, for example where you expect license plates to appear.

   You can see the number of pixels for each of the rectangle’s sides (X and Y), and decide if the values are enough for your needs.

A privacy mask is a user-defined area that covers a part of the monitored area. In the video stream, privacy masks appear either as blocks of solid color or with a mosaic pattern.

The privacy mask is relative to the pan, tilt, and zoom coordinates, so regardless of where you point the camera, the privacy mask covers the same place or object.

You’ll see the privacy mask on all snapshots, recorded video, and live streams.

You can use the VAPIX® application programming interface (API) to hide the privacy masks.

You can create several privacy masks. The maximum number of masks depends on the complexity of all the masks combined. The more anchor points in each mask, the fewer masks you can create. Each mask can have 3 to 10 anchor points.

You can create one or several privacy masks to hide parts of the image.

1. Go to Settings > Privacy mask.

2. Click New.

3. Adjust the size, color, and name of the privacy mask according to your needs.

Overlays are superimposed over the video stream. They are used to provide extra information during recordings, such as a timestamp, or during product installation and configuration. You can add either text or an image.

You can add an image as an overlay in the video stream.

1. Go to Settings > Overlay.

2. Click Create overlay.

3. Select Image and click Ok.

4. Select Import and upload an image.

5. Select the image from the drop-down list.

6. To position the image overlay, choose Custom or one of the presets.

This example explains how to display the text “Motion detected” when the device detects motion.

Make sure that AXIS Video Motion Detection is running:

1. Go to Settings > Apps > AXIS Video Motion Detection.

2. Start the application if it is not already running.

3. Make sure you have set up the application according to your needs. If you need help, see the user manual for AXIS Video Motion Detection 4.

4. Add the overlay text:

5. Go to Settings > Overlay.

6. Select Create overlay and select Text overlay.

7. Enter #D in the text field.

8. Choose text size and appearance.

9. To position the text overlay, choose Custom or one of the presets.

10. Create an action rule:

11. Go to Settings > System > Events > Action rules.

12. Create an action rule with AXIS Video Motion Detection as trigger.

13. From the list of actions, select Overlay text.

14. Type “Motion detected”.

15. Set the duration.

If there are parts of the scene that you don’t want the camera to be able to zoom in on, you can limit the maximum zoom level. For example, you want to protect the privacy of residents in an apartment building, which is located close to a parking lot that you intend to monitor. To limit the maximum zoom level, go to Settings > PTZ > Limits.

Bitrate control helps you to manage the bandwidth consumption of your video stream.

Variable bitrate (VBR)
Variable bitrate allows the bandwidth consumption to vary depending on the level of activity in the scene. The more activity, the more bandwidth you need. With variable bitrate you are guaranteed constant image quality, but you need to make sure you have storage margins.

Maximum bitrate (MBR)
Maximum bitrate lets you set a target bitrate to handle bitrate limitations in your system. You might see a decline in image quality or frame rate as the instantaneous bitrate is kept below the specified target bitrate. You can choose to prioritize either image quality or frame rate. We recommend that you configure the target bitrate to a higher value than the expected bitrate. This gives you a margin in case there is a high level of activity in the scene.

Average bitrate (ABR)
With average bitrate, the bitrate is automatically adjusted over a longer period of time. This is so you can meet the specified target and provide the best video quality based on your available storage. Bitrate is higher in scenes with a lot of activity, compared to static scenes. You are more likely to get better image quality when in scenes with a lot of activity if you use the average bitrate option. You can define the total storage required to store the video stream for a specified amount of time (retention time) when image quality is adjusted to meet the specified target bitrate. Specify the average bitrate settings in one of the following ways:

• To calculate the estimated storage need, set the target bitrate and the retention time.

• To calculate the average bitrate, based on available storage and required retention time, use the target bitrate calculator.

• 1. Target bitrate
  2. Actual average bitrate
• You can also turn on maximum bitrate and specify a target bitrate within the average bitrate option.
• 1. Target bitrate
  2. Actual average bitrate

Decide which compression method to use based on your viewing requirements, and on the properties of your network. The available options are:

Motion JPEG

Motion JPEG, or MJPEG, is a digital video sequence that is made up of a series of individual JPEG images. These images are then displayed and updated at a rate sufficient to create a stream that shows constantly updated motion. For the viewer to perceive motion video the rate must be at least 16 image frames per second. Full motion video is perceived at 30 (NTSC) or 25 (PAL) frames per second.

The Motion JPEG stream uses considerable amounts of bandwidth, but provides excellent image quality and access to every image contained in the stream.

H.264 or MPEG-4 Part 10/AVC

H.264 can, without compromising image quality, reduce the size of a digital video file by more than 80% compared to the Motion JPEG format and by as much as 50% compared to older MPEG formats. This means that less network bandwidth and storage space are required for a video file. Or seen another way, higher video quality can be achieved for a given bitrate.

1. Go to live view and select H.264.

2. Go to Settings > Stream.

3. Do one or more of the following:

4. • Turn on dynamic GOP and set a high GOP length value.

   • Increase the compression.

   • Turn on dynamic FPS.

1. To store recordings on the network, you need to set up your network storage.

2. Go to Settings > System > Storage.

3. Click Setup under Network storage.

4. Enter the IP address of the host server.

5. Enter the name of the shared location on the host server.

6. Move the switch if the share requires a login, and enter username and password.

7. Click Connect.

1. Turn on audio:

2. Go to Settings > Audio and turn on Allow audio.

3. Go to Input > Type and select your audio source.

4. Edit the stream profile which is used for the recording:

5. Go to Settings > Stream and click Stream profiles.

6. Select the stream profile and click Audio.

7. Select the checkbox and select Include.

8. Click Save.

9. Click Close.

The Image tab contains camera settings that affect all video streams from the product. If you change something in this tab, it immediately affects all video streams and recordings.

The Stream tab contains settings for video streams. You get these settings if you request a video stream from the product and don’t specify for example resolution, or frame rate. When you change the settings in the Stream tab, it doesn’t affect ongoing streams, but it will take effect when you start a new stream.

The Stream profiles settings override the settings from the Stream tab. If you request a stream with a specific stream profile, the stream contains the settings of that profile. If you request a stream without specifying a stream profile, or request a stream profile that doesn't exist in the product, the stream contains the settings from the Stream tab.

To record video you must first set up network storage, see Set up network storage, or have an SD card installed.

1. Record video

2. Go to the live view.

3. To start a recording, click Record. Click again to stop the recording.

1. Watch video

2. Click Storage > Go to recordings.

3. Select your recording in the list and it will play automatically.

You can create rules to make your device perform an action when certain events occur. A rule consists of conditions and actions. The conditions can be used to trigger the actions. For example, the device can start a recording or send an email when it detects motion, or show an overlay text while the device is recording.

To learn more, check out our guide Get started with rules for events.

1. Go to Settings > System > Events to set up an action rule. The action rule defines when the device will perform certain actions. Action rules can be setup as scheduled, recurring, or for example, triggered by motion detection.

2. Select what Trigger must be met to trigger the action. If you specify more than one trigger for the action rule, all of them must be met to trigger the action.

3. Select which Action the device should perform when the conditions are met.

This example explains how to set up the camera to start recording to the SD card five seconds before it detects motion and to stop one minute after.

1. Make sure that AXIS Video Motion Detection is running:

2. Go to Settings > Apps > AXIS Video Motion Detection.

3. Start the application if it is not already running.

4. Make sure you have set up the application according to your needs. If you need help, see the user manual for AXIS Video Motion Detection 4.

1. Create an action rule:

2. Go to Settings > System > Events and add an action rule.

3. Type a name for the action rule.

4. From the list of triggers, select Applications and then select AXIS Video Motion Detection (VMD).

5. From the list of actions, select Record video.

6. Select an existing stream profile or create a new one.

7. Enable and set the pre-trigger time to 5 seconds.

8. Enable While the rule is active.

9. Enable and set the post-trigger time to 60 seconds.

10. Select SD card from the list of storage options.

11. Click Ok.

Shock detection allows the camera to detect tampering caused by vibrations or shock. Vibrations due to the environment or to an object can trigger an action depending on the shock sensitivity range, which can be set from 0 to 100. In this scenario, someone is throwing rocks at the camera after hours and you would like to get a video clip of the event.

1. Go to Settings > System > Detectors.

2. Set shock detection to on, and set a value for the shock sensitivity.

3. Create an action rule:

4. Go to Settings > System > Events and add an action rule.

5. Type a name for the action rule.

6. From the list of triggers, select Detectors and then select Shock detection.

7. From the list of schedules, select After Hours.

8. From the list of actions, select Send Video Clip.

9. Select an existing stream profile or create a new one.

10. Enable and set the pre-trigger time to 5 seconds.

11. Enable While the rule is active.

12. Enable and set the post-trigger time to 60 seconds.

13. Select an existing recipient or create a new one.

14. Click OK.

With applications you can get more out of your Axis device. AXIS Camera Application Platform (ACAP) is an open platform that makes it possible for third parties to develop analytics and other applications for Axis devices. Applications can be preinstalled on the device, available for download for free, or for a license fee. To find out more about available applications, downloads, trials and licenses, go to axis.com/products/acap/application-gallery.

To find the user manuals for Axis applications, go to help.axis.com.

There in no license plate capture application installed on this camera.

To find third-party applications, see axis.com/acap

Some applications need a license to run. Licenses can be installed in two ways:

• Automatic installation — requires access to the Internet

• Manual installation — obtain the license key from the application vendor and upload the key to the Axis product

To request a license, the Axis product serial number (S/N) is required. The serial number can be found on the product label and under System Options > Support > System Overview.

To upload and start an application:

1. Go to Setup > Applications.

2. Under Upload Application, click Browse. Locate the application file and click Upload Package.

3. Install the license (if applicable). For instructions, see the documentation provided by the application vendor.

4. Start the application. Go to Applications, select the application in the list of installed applications and click Start.

5. Configure the application. For instructions, see the documentation provided by the application vendor.

To generate a log file for the application, go to Applications. Select the application and click Log.

To reset the product to the factory default settings:

1. Disconnect power from the product.

2. Press and hold the control button while reconnecting power. See Product overview.

3. Keep the control button pressed for 15–30 seconds until the status LED indicator flashes amber.

4. Release the control button. The process is complete when the status LED indicator turns green. The product has been reset to the factory default settings. If no DHCP server is available on the network, the default IP address is 192.168.0.90.

5. Use the installation and management software tools to assign an IP address, set the password, and access the video stream.

   The installation and management software tools are available from the support pages on axis.com/support.

It is also possible to reset parameters to factory default through the web interface. Go to Settings > System > Maintenance and click Default.

Firmware is the software that determines the functionality of network devices. One of your first actions when troubleshooting a problem should be to check the current firmware version. The latest version may contain a correction that fixes your particular problem.

To check the current firmware:

1. Go to the product’s webpage.

2. Click the help menu .

3. Click About.

AXIS Device Manager can be used for multiple upgrades. Find out more at axis.com/products/axis-device-manager.

1. Download the firmware file to your computer, available free of charge at axis.com/support/firmware.

2. Log in to the product as an administrator.

3. Go to Settings > System > Maintenance. Follow the instructions on the page. When the upgrade has finished, the product restarts automatically.

If you can’t find what you’re looking for here, try the troubleshooting section at axis.com/support.

When setting up your system, it is important to consider how various settings and situations affect the performance. Some factors affect the amount of bandwidth (the bitrate) required, others can affect the frame rate, and some affect both. If the load on the CPU reaches its maximum, this also affects the frame rate.

The following factors are the most important to consider:

• High image resolution or lower compression levels result in images containing more data which in turn affects the bandwidth.

• Rotating the image in the GUI can increase the product's CPU load.

• Access by large numbers of Motion JPEG or unicast H.264 clients affects the bandwidth.

• Simultaneous viewing of different streams (resolution, compression) by different clients affects both frame rate and bandwidth.

  Use identical streams wherever possible to maintain a high frame rate. Stream profiles can be used to ensure that streams are identical.

• Accessing Motion JPEG and H.264 video streams simultaneously affects both frame rate and bandwidth.

• Heavy usage of event settings affects the product’s CPU load which in turn affects the frame rate.

• Using HTTPS may reduce frame rate, in particular if streaming Motion JPEG.

• Heavy network utilization due to poor infrastructure affects the bandwidth.

• Viewing on poorly performing client computers lowers perceived performance and affects frame rate.

• Running multiple AXIS Camera Application Platform (ACAP) applications simultaneously may affect the frame rate and the general performance.

For information on the function button used for leveling the camera, see Buttons.

This device supports microSD/microSDHC/microSDXC cards.

For SD card recommendations, see axis.com.

microSD, microSDHC, and microSDXC Logos are trademarks of SD-3C LLC. microSD, microSDHC, microSDXC are trademarks or registered trademarks of SD-3C, LLC in the United States, other countries or both.

• The control button is used for:

• Resetting the product to factory default settings. See Reset to factory default settings.

• The function button has multiple functions:

• As leveling Assistant – This function helps to ensure the camera is level. Press the button for about 3 seconds to start the leveling assistant and press again to stop. The status LED (see Status LED behavior and buzzer signal for leveling assistant) and buzzer signal assist leveling of the camera. The camera is level when the buzzer beeps continuously.

• To view the Status LED – Press the button once to light up the Status LEDs. Press again to turn them off. The LEDs will turn off automatically after 10 seconds.

RJ45 Ethernet connector with Power over Ethernet (PoE).

Use the insulation-displacement connector (IDC) to connect a network cable without an RJ45-connector.

1. IDC connectors
9. Patch cable connector

Pin assignment

• Audio in – 3.5 mm input for a mono microphone, or a line-in mono signal (left channel is used from a stereo signal).

Audio input

Use the I/O connector with external devices in combination with, for example, motion detection, event triggering, and alarm notifications. In addition to the 0 V DC reference point and power (12 V DC output), the I/O connector provides the interface to:

Digital input –

For connecting devices that can toggle between an open and closed circuit, for example PIR sensors, door/window contacts, and glass break detectors.

Digital output –

For connecting external devices such as relays and LEDs. Connected devices can be activated by the VAPIX® Application Programming Interface, through an event or from the device’s web interface.

4-pin terminal block

Example

1. DC ground
2. DC output 12 V, max 50mA
3. I/O configured as input
4. I/O configured as output

2-pin terminal block for DC power input. Use a Safety Extra Low Voltage (SELV) compliant limited power source (LPS) with either a rated output power limited to ≤100 W or a rated output current limited to ≤5 A.