Systems and methods of legibly capturing vehicle markings

1. A method of scanning for a legible marking on a vehicle, the method including the steps of:

acquiring an indication to begin a scan with a video camera,

wherein the video camera has a first recording attribute and a second recording attribute;

sweeping the first recording attribute across a first scan range,

wherein the first scan range is defined by a first lower limit and a first upper limit;

wherein the first recording attribute is swept across the first scan range by uniform increments,

wherein a size of the uniform increments is determined based on a time of day or a sensed ambient light level;

sweeping the second recording attribute across a second scan range,

wherein the second scan range is defined by a second lower limit and a second upper limit;

determining, after said sweeping of said first recording attribute and second recording attribute, an acquisition of the legible marking on a vehicle based at least on a user's response to a displayed image of at least a portion of the vehicle; and

storing, in a memory, at least a portion of said scan that includes said legible marking on a vehicle.

2. The method of claim 1 ,

wherein said first recording attribute remains at a first static value within said first scan range while said second recording attribute is swept across said second scan range, and

wherein said second recording attribute remains at a second static value within said second scan range while said first recording attribute is swept across said first scan range.

3. An image capture device including:

a video camera with a first recording attribute and a second recording attribute,

a storage device; and

a processor configured to perform the steps of:

acquiring an indication to begin a scan with the video camera,

sweeping the first recording attribute across a first scan range,

wherein the first scan range is defined by a first lower limit and a first upper limit,

sweeping the second recording attribute across second scan range,

wherein the second scan range is defined by a second lower limit and a second upper limit,

wherein said first upper limit, said first lower limit, said second upper limit, and said second lower limit are selected based on a time of day or a sensed ambient light level,

determining, after said sweeping of said first recording attribute and second recording attribute, a successful capture of an image of a legible marking on a vehicle based on a computer recognition of a valid marking, and

storing at least a portion of said scan within said storage device,

wherein the portion of said scan includes the image of the legible marking on the vehicle.

4. The method of claim 1 , further including the step of sweeping a third recording attribute across a third scan range, wherein said third scan range is defined by a third upper limit and a third lower limit.

5. The image capture device of claim 3 , wherein the indication to begin the scan is provided automatically based on a trigger parameter.

6. The image capture device of claim 5 , wherein said trigger parameter providing the indication to begin the scan is selected from a group consisting of an indication that a vehicle is parked, a computer detection of a subject car, an activation of a vehicle siren, and an activation of signal lights.

7. The method of claim 3 , wherein the first recording attribute is swept across the first scan range by uniform increments.

8. A method of scanning for a legible marking on a vehicle, the method including the steps of:

acquiring an indication to begin a scan with a video camera,

wherein the video camera has a first recording attribute and a second recording attribute;

sweeping the first recording attribute across a first scan range,

wherein the first scan range is defined by a first lower limit and a first upper limit;

sweeping the second recording attribute across a second scan range,

wherein the second scan range is defined by a second lower limit and a second upper limit;

wherein said first upper limit, said first lower limit, said second upper limit, and said second lower limit are selected based on a time of day or a sensed ambient light level; and

determining, after said sweeping of said first recording attribute and second recording attribute, if said marking on a vehicle has been legibly captured based on a computer recognition of a valid marking format.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein a portion of said scan that includes the marking on a vehicle is stored upon a determination that the marking on the vehicle has been legibly captured.

10. The method of claim 8 , further including the step of initiating a second scan upon a determination that the marking on the vehicle has not been legibly captured.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the second scan sweeps the first recording attribute across a first modified scan range, wherein the first modified scan range is not identical to the first scan range.

12. The method of claim 10 ,

wherein the second scan includes the step of sweeping a third recording attribute across a third scan range,

wherein said third scan range is defined by a third upper limit and a third lower limit.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein said step of determining an acquisition of the legible marking on a vehicle based at least on a user's manual input comprises displaying a selected image of the marking on a vehicle to a user for confirmation that the marking is legible.

14. The image capture device of claim 3 , wherein the step of determining if said marking on a vehicle has been legibly captured comprises extracting textual data from the marking on a vehicle and comparing the extracted textual data to a predetermined character string representing a license plate format.

15. The image capture device of claim 3 , wherein the step of determining if said marking on a vehicle has been legibly captured comprises extracting textual data from the marking on a vehicle and comparing the extracted textual data to a license plate database to determine a match.

16. The method of claim 1 , further including the step of extracting and storing textual data from the legible marking.

17. The method of claim 1 , further including the step of initiating a second scan upon a determination that the marking on a vehicle has not been legibly captured.

18. The method of claim 16 , wherein the textual data from the legible marking is stored in metadata for an audio or video recording.