video of break in, can't see face

[minidrag]

The video is about 30 minutes long and there are several times where it seems I should be able to see the face, but it just isn't clear. I think part of it is that he's wearing a cap, putting his face in shadow. I've never tried to enhance a video or a still frame before, so I don't really know where to start. The police seem pretty clueless about this so although it would be nice to think they could fix it, I don't think they'll be able to. If I was in a big city, maybe it would be different.

The video is from a DVR, burned to AVI using the software in the DVR.

Attached is a snapshot of one point where it seems like his face should be visible. Looking at it I'm beginning to think he may be wearing a mask too...

In any case, can anyone help me figure out if there is a way to clear the face up? The police have a copy of the original, and maybe I'm wrong and they will be able to do something, but I'd rather not count on it.

[minidv2dvd]

if that png is a full size frame capture then there isn't enough detail to get any idea of the face.

[minidrag]

I used VLC to take a snapshot - it didn't ask me anything about size. It looks about the same as the video when playing though, and 320x240 sounds about right. The DVR shows 4 screens at once and they all fit on the monitor pretty easily.

[minidrag]

Is there an easy way to find the resolution of the AVI, instead of just guessing at it?

[classfour]

[/img]

This was the best that I could do with PhotoZoom

[edDV]

If you want face detail you need to shoot higher resolution (at least 640x480) and capture to higher bit rate. All this costs more. More detail than that requires HD security cameras, better lens, adequate lighting, ... more money.

[minidrag]

ok, thanks. I'm going to check and see if there is any chance that the software just saved it low res for some reason.

[minidv2dvd]

if there are 4 cameras shouldn't 1 of them be a close up pointing right at the check out counter from near the cash register?

[dannyboy48888]

unfoutrantly bro thers is not enough resolution to get the detail you need. a quick and easy way to remidy this is to get a hd cam from circuit city for $100 and hook it up to a pc. fire up windows media encoder,etc and have it record. you should be able to save a week of none stop footage n a 80g drive at a resolution that you can use to identify in the unfourtunate event it happes again.

[zoobie]

the security cams of yesteryear were a joke...I worked at a gas station and you couldn't even read the license plate...todays cams are much better of course but a lot of times, they're just dummies

if this is critical, I'd send it off to a pro lab

[minidrag]

if there are 4 cameras shouldn't 1 of them be a close up pointing right at the check out counter from near the cash register?

Yes, one of them is. This was a break in through a back wall and they took the ATM. They never went anywhere near the front door or the register, where the cameras do get good close looks at peoples faces.

[VegasBud]

It's true there isn't much to work with, but it looks to me like either:
1) He was wearing something over his whole head and neck
2) He is an extra-terrestrial

[lordsmurf]

If this is going to be considered evidence, a lab has to do it anyway.

[minidrag]

Based on some other parts of the video I think there was something over his head too - I just wish I could make it clearer so I could be sure.

The police have the original, so they have their evidence. I'm working on this both to help them (if they allow it) and to make some signs to put up / hand out to other local businesses, at the request of the store owner.

[mpack]

I've never tried to enhance a video or a still frame before, so I don't really know where to start.

If you were hoping for something like in Law and Order where they "enhance" a single frame of a security video to show a face, logo or license plate in crystal clarity then I'm afraid that technology exists only in fiction, and since it defies information theory it can never exist anywhere else.

The nearest thing would be "super-resolution" techniques, which takes a number of frames of video and kind of "stacks" them to build detail - but that doesn't work very well with moving and smooth textured objects.

[minidrag]

no, I wasn't expecting magic. I was just hoping that it could be made a bit better. Every little bit helps.

[mpack]

Every little bit helps.

Well, in that case you could try the super-resolution idea. I think if you start on wikipedia that will lead you to some trialware. You need about 16 frames where his posture doesn't change very much.

But, looking closely at what you have it seems to me like he's wearing something like a homemade beekeepers hat. I doubt you'll ever get his face clear enough for identification.

And - no help for your current problem I'm afraid - if you haven't done it already I'd check to see if that camera/DVR combo can be configured for higher quality recordings, since the low-res high-compression current setting is obviously not suitable for your purposes.

[minidrag]

Last night I spoke with the people who make the DVR. They said that there is a setting to increase recording resolution (for future recording of course) and that they always set it that way at first, but that a lot of people go in and change it because it eats up space on the drive too quickly. Hopefully we can convince the store owner to get a bigger drive and go with the higher setting.

Thanks again for all the help.

[harley2ride]

It looks to me, like part of the problem is the lighting (mid-levels) in the video. I would think that if you brought the video into Adobe Premiere, used the LEVELS adjustment to lighten up the mid-levels, then use the zoom feature a little at a time, to zoom in as much as possible. Pretty much the same thing I do with photos in photoshop, adjusting the various levels to fix bad photos...

[zoobie]

[Nelson37]

With the current resolution, even with no mask I doubt you would be able to get a usable identification.

If the store owner doesn't want to get a bigger drive or erase the current one more often, I would suggest he sell the existing system and just use empty plastic fake cameras, much cheaper and equal deterrent value.