How to Enable Reolink License Plate Priority Exposure

License Plate Priority Exposure can help reduce excessive reflections and overexposure on license plates, making them easier to see in the camera's image. This article explains how to adjust your camera for better license plate image quality, enable License Plate Priority Exposure, and how to position it.

Applies to: Reolink RP-PCB8MZ

Installation and Usage Tips
License Plate Priority Exposure Modes
Lighting Recommendations for License Plate Visibility
How to Enable/Disable Reolink License Plate Priority Exposure via Reolink App

License Plate Priority Exposure automatically adjusts the camera's image exposure to reduce excessive reflections from license plates. Refer to Introduction to Reolink License Plate Priority Exposure to learn more about Reolink License Plate Priority Exposure.

Installation and Usage Tips

Camera installation and framing can significantly affect the quality of captured license plate images. For better results, consider the following recommendations.

1. Choose a Suitable Installation Position

Whenever possible, install the camera so that it faces the direction in which vehicles are traveling.

For roads with vehicles traveling in both directions, if the camera can only be installed at the roadside, consider using a longer focal length to capture vehicles farther away. This can reduce the horizontal angle between the vehicle's direction of travel and the camera's shooting direction.

For better results, keep the horizontal angle at 20° or less. A larger angle may affect the camera's ability to capture clear images of vehicles traveling at higher speeds.

2. Adjust the Installation Height and Angle

For optimal license plate visibility:

Install the camera as close as possible to the front of the vehicle's direction of travel.
A recommended installation height is approximately 2–3 m (6.6–9.8 ft).
Keep the horizontal yaw angle within 20° whenever possible.
Position the camera to face the road as directly as possible.

A more direct shooting angle generally helps reduce side views of the license plate and improves the quality of captured images.

Installation Height and Angle

3. Adjust the Lens and Focal Length

For cameras with optical zoom or adjustable focal lengths, fine-tune the lens angle and focal length after installation.

Try to:

Make the vehicle and license plate occupy a larger portion of the image.
Reduce unnecessary areas in the frame.
Avoid excessive background elements that may affect the camera's image processing.

After installation, observe a vehicle at the target detection position and check:

The position of the license plate in the image.
The size of the license plate characters.
The brightness and reflections on the license plate.
Whether the license plate is viewed from too much of a side angle.

If the license plate is still unclear or appears too much from the side, slightly adjust the camera's horizontal and vertical angles and check the image again.

Adjust the Lens and Focal Length

Note: For Zoom cameras, adjust the focal length so that the license plate is large enough in the image while keeping the target vehicle within the desired monitoring area. Refer to How to Use Optical Zoom for Reolink Cameras to zoom the camera.

License Plate Priority Exposure Modes

There are three modes — Off, Auto, and On. You can select different modes according to your monitoring needs.

Available Modes	Explanation	Recommended for
Off	Select Off to disable License Plate Priority Exposure. When this mode is selected, the camera uses its normal image-processing settings and does not automatically switch to the license plate Priority Exposure mode when a vehicle is detected.	Scenarios where license plate Priority Exposure is not required or where you prefer the camera to use its normal image-processing settings.
Auto	Select Auto if you want the camera to automatically switch to License Plate Priority Exposure when a vehicle is detected. ● When a vehicle enters the camera's view, License Plate Priority Exposure is automatically enabled. ● When the vehicle leaves the scene, the camera returns to the normal monitoring mode.	General vehicle monitoring where you want the camera to switch between normal monitoring and license plate Priority Exposure automatically.
On	Select On if you want the camera to continuously use License Plate Priority Exposure. The camera continuously applies the license-plate-prioritized image-processing strategy, even when no vehicle is detected.	Scenes where license plate visibility is the priority or where vehicles may pass through the camera's view quickly.

Available Modes

Explanation

Recommended for

Off

Select Off to disable License Plate Priority Exposure.

When this mode is selected, the camera uses its normal image-processing settings and does not automatically switch to the license plate Priority Exposure mode when a vehicle is detected.

Scenarios where license plate Priority Exposure is not required or where you prefer the camera to use its normal image-processing settings.

Auto

Select Auto if you want the camera to automatically switch to License Plate Priority Exposure when a vehicle is detected.

● When a vehicle enters the camera's view, License Plate Priority Exposure is automatically enabled.
● When the vehicle leaves the scene, the camera returns to the normal monitoring mode.

General vehicle monitoring where you want the camera to switch between normal monitoring and license plate Priority Exposure automatically.

Select On if you want the camera to continuously use License Plate Priority Exposure.

The camera continuously applies the license-plate-prioritized image-processing strategy, even when no vehicle is detected.

Scenes where license plate visibility is the priority or where vehicles may pass through the camera's view quickly.

Note: License Plate Priority Exposure improves the visibility of license plates in the camera image. It does not recognize, read, or extract license plate numbers.

Lighting Recommendations for License Plate Visibility

License Plate Priority Exposure is designed to reduce excessive reflections and overexposure on license plates. In low-light conditions, however, the license plate may appear dark if the camera's spotlight and infrared light are both off while the vehicle's headlights are on.

For better license plate visibility during dusk and at night, configure the spotlight according to your monitoring needs.

Scenario	Recommended For	How to Set
You want a color image throughout the night	Scenes where continuous color night vision and license plate visibility are both important	Set the Spotlight to Timer Mode and set the schedule to cover the period from dusk through the night.
You only need the spotlight at dusk	Scenes where you want to reduce continuous spotlight usage while maintaining license plate visibility at night	Set Spotlight to Timer mode and set it to turn on at dusk and turn off at night. Also set Infrared Lights and Day/Night to Auto.

Scenario

Recommended For

How to Set

You want a color image throughout the night

Scenes where continuous color night vision and license plate visibility are both important

Set the Spotlight to Timer Mode and set the schedule to cover the period from dusk through the night.

You only need the spotlight at dusk

Scenes where you want to reduce continuous spotlight usage while maintaining license plate visibility at night

Set Spotlight to Timer mode and set it to turn on at dusk and turn off at night.

Also set Infrared Lights and Day/Night to Auto.

Note: During dusk, the environment may already be dark while the camera is still in color mode and the spotlight or infrared light has not turned on. If a vehicle's headlights are on in this situation, reflections from the headlights may cause the license plate to appear dark or unclear. We recommend setting the spotlight to turn on from dusk to provide additional illumination.