Best Practice Guide for Tire Sidewall Data Capturing (on Cloud API)

Owned by
Lukas Moshuber
Last updated: 15 Sep, 2023 by
Colm Rogers
6 min read

Introduction

In this article, you will find additional information and best practices for data capture with Anyline. For any comments or questions, please get in touch with your contact person at Anyline.

 

Quality Drivers

Challenging conditions and tire degradations can lead to a suboptimal scanning performance. This can be reflected through lower scan accuracy or a longer time needed to complete a successful scan result. Below, you will find a list of the most common factors which can be the cause of suboptimal scanning performance.

 

A very simple rule applies for all quality drivers in general: “If the human eye can’t read the text, the technology will most likely struggle too.”

 

Low light reduces the contrast of the image, making it harder to separate the characters from the background.

Make sure that the image was taken under good and consistent lighting conditions. Avoid shadows or reflections in the image.

Correct Practice

Incorrect Practice

Correct Practice

Incorrect Practice

Good Lighting Conditions
Bad Lighting Conditions

To achieve more accurate results and a better overall scanning experience, please ensure that the image has the tire directly in line and not angled incorrectly. If the angle is too low or too high, the characters may not be as clear to get an accurate read.

Also, avoid using angles where any textured backgrounds could surround the scannable area.

Correct Practice

Incorrect Practice

Correct Practice

Incorrect Practice

Make sure that the focus of the shot is on the tire. Improper focus caused by a poor auto-focus or incorrect handling will result in a blurry image.

Likewise, make sure that no strong image compression is applied to the image. As a rule of thumb, the DOT number must still be readable after zooming in on the image.

Correct Practice

Incorrect Practice

Correct Practice

Incorrect Practice

If the object is too far away, it makes it all the more difficult to get a clear reading on the Tire Side Wall.
Always ensure to keep the Tire within a clear and readable range, to ensure an optimal scanning experience.

Correct Practice

Incorrect Practice

Correct Practice

Incorrect Practice

Position the tire in the centre of the image, making sure that the tire is completely in the image and not cut off. Make sure that only one tire is visible in the image. The image should be taken as parallel as possible to the tire.

Make sure that the background of the shot is as neutral as possible and that the tire stands out well against the background. Avoid particularly bright objects in the background or backlighting.

Correct Practice

Incorrect Practice

Correct Practice

Incorrect Practice

Some Extra Tips:

  • The resolution of the camera directly influences how much information is available to be processed by the recognition system. The higher the resolution of the camera, the higher the probability of more accurate result.

  • Make sure that the images are not larger than 8 MB.

 

Video Examples

Below, you will find a comparison between two video examples with one showing how to correctly use the Cloud API and the other showing the incorrect way to use the Cloud API:

 

Integration Tips for both E-Commerce and Tire Hotel Applications

To ensure that you give your website visitors the best user experience and at the same time increase your conversion rate, we recommend you take into consideration the following tips: