LPR — automatic license plate recognition

Xeqmate LPR turns cameras pointed at the road into sensors: every vehicle that passes becomes a searchable read, with a photo, the plate, the date and the location. Processing runs on the platform server, and each read can raise alerts, feed investigative reports and be shared with public-safety systems.

Mercosur and legacy plates Server-side processing Real-time alerts Public-safety integrations
Concept

What is LPR?

LPR (License Plate Recognition, also called ALPR) is the automatic reading of vehicle plates from a camera image. The software identifies the plate of every vehicle that passes and records a read with a photo, date, time and location. At Xeqmate, LPR reads both the legacy Brazilian format and the Mercosur standard, and every read feeds searches, alerts and investigative reports.

A well-placed plate-reading camera — at a gatehouse, a barrier or a town entrance — records every vehicle crossing that point. With a history of reads, the operation answers questions raw video cannot: when did this plate come through? Which vehicles moved between two districts in the same window? Who was following the target car?

Architecture

How LPR works at Xeqmate

Reading can happen on the platform server or on the camera itself — the setup is the same either way.

Server-side reading

The platform reads plates from the video the camera sends over RTSP or RTMP. There is nothing to configure on the device beyond the stream itself — the result depends on image quality at the crossing point.

Cameras with built-in LPR

Cameras that already read plates push the reads to the Xeqmate server over FTP or HTTP Push. In that setup the camera can even run without video recording, delivering only the plate events.

Legacy and Mercosur formats

Both the legacy format (ABC1234) and the Mercosur standard (ABC1D23) are recognised, with no extra configuration.

Enriched read data

Each read can carry the make and model, type, colour, year and registration city/state of the vehicle — the data behind description searches and attribute-based alerts.

LPR is one of the platform AI fronts: the same servers also run video analytics (person, vehicle, fire, PPE) and facial recognition. Every trigger lands in the Event Center, where the team reviews and handles each incident.

Features

What you do with the plate reads

From live monitoring to retrospective investigation, all on the same platform.

Live monitoring

Reads appear in real time as vehicles pass the cameras — the control room follow-along screen.

Read search

Search the history by plate, by vehicle description, by voice or by uploading a photo — with period and camera filters and a map of the reads.

Vehicle lookup

Vehicle lookup by plate, VIN or engine number, to support checking a vehicle of interest.

Plate and attribute alerts

An automatic notice when a plate of interest comes through — or when a vehicle matches partial plates, type, colour and model, for cases where the plate is unknown. Bulk registration via spreadsheet import.

Reads on the map

Cameras with coordinates on file plot their reads on the map — the vehicle route gains geographic context.

Patrol app

An app that reads plates through the phone camera — the patrol car or the officer in the field becomes a mobile reading point.

Investigation

Reports that cross-reference the reads

The value of LPR is in the cross-reference: ready-made reports turn thousands of reads into answers.

Co-occurrence

Identifies vehicles that passed several reading points (2 to 5 cameras) within a time window — with a timeline per plate, a table sorted by read count and CSV export.

Convoy

Starts from a target vehicle and finds the escorts: plates that matched the target at the same points, within a window of minutes, repeatedly — with a map that distinguishes target from follower.

Traffic flow

Vehicle volume per camera and period — the basis for understanding movement at each monitored point.

Heat map

Read density plotted on the map, revealing where the flow concentrates.

Integrations

Reads shared with public safety

Plates read by your operation can be pushed automatically to official monitoring networks. The integrations below are the Brazilian public-safety networks, and the same mechanism (webhook and API) connects the platform to networks elsewhere.

Helios MG

Automatic delivery of plate reads to the Minas Gerais Military Police system (Brazil).

Alerta Brasil (Federal Highway Police)

Querying and sending plates to the Brazilian Federal Highway Police national database.

Muralha Paulista

Sending plates (and faces) to the São Paulo State Government programme, with alerts of interest.

Smart Sampa

Two-way sharing with the City of São Paulo municipal network — cameras, plates and facial recognition integrated.

Beyond the official networks, reads reach your own system through a signed webhook or the documented external API — see all the available integrations and how the platform serves public safety projects.

Applications

Where LPR makes a difference

Residential gatehouse

A camera at the barrier records every entry and exit; alerts fire when a vehicle of interest approaches. A close, low-mounted camera scenario, where server-side reading works well.

Town entrances

Mandatory crossing points at the municipal boundary create a reading perimeter: every vehicle entering or leaving is recorded and searchable.

Central station

The control room follows reads live, handles alerts in the Event Center and uses the reports to answer requests from customers and authorities.

Public safety

Convoy and co-occurrence reports support investigations, and the integrations with Helios MG, Alerta Brasil, Muralha Paulista and Smart Sampa connect the operation to the official networks in Brazil.

FAQ

Questions about LPR

It depends on the scene. Dedicated LPR cameras — with a fast shutter and synchronised infrared — read better, especially at night and on fast roads. Because Xeqmate processing runs on the server, ordinary cameras can also work when the scene helps: a close, low-mounted camera, a slow-moving vehicle (barrier, gatehouse), a legible plate in the image. On a fast road or at night, the dedicated camera makes a real difference.

Yes. LPR recognises the legacy Brazilian format (ABC1234) and the Mercosur standard (ABC1D23), with no extra configuration.

Besides the photo, plate, date, time and camera, a read can include the make and model, type, colour, year and registration city/state of the vehicle. That data powers description search and attribute-based alerts.

You register the plate of interest (or attributes such as partial plates, type, colour and model when the plate is unknown), pick the cameras that trigger and the notification channels. When the vehicle passes, the notice arrives and the event shows up in the Event Center. For large volumes, alerts can be imported from a spreadsheet.

Co-occurrence identifies vehicles that passed several reading points in the same time window — useful for route analysis. Convoy starts from a target vehicle and finds the plates that repeatedly followed it through the same points, with a map distinguishing target from escort. Both export to CSV.

Yes. The patrol app reads plates through the phone camera, turning the officer in the field into a mobile reading point connected to the same platform.

Three ways: webhooks (the platform sends a signed POST to your system on every plate or attribute alert), the external API (querying reads per camera), and the ready-made integrations with Brazilian public-safety networks.

Live demo

Watch LPR read plates on one of your cameras

30 minutes with our team: we connect one of your cameras live, you watch the reads arrive in real time, and you leave with the cost for your own scenario.

We reply within one business day · no credit card, no install, no commitment