help with pic and pixelation - car accident *PIC*

[alfio]

hi all

a family member was involved in an accident this weekend with a driver who ran a red and resulting in a total loss. unfortunately the only info we have comes from a) an outdated insurance card (i.e. basically useless) and b) some terrible quality pics snapped with a cell phone cam.

here's the best pic we've got. i was hoping to get some help with pixelation - is there any way to improve this to a point where the license plate can be read accurately? i'd appreciate any ideas. thanks

alfio

ps: i have access to a machine with photoshop but am not too savy with that software

[aaa]

I googled "jpeg artifact removal". And found that "artifact reduction" and "noise reduction" turned up things as well.

However, most seem to be 3rd party apps or photoshop plugins (implying it's not built into Photoshop). Try this:
http://www.cs.tut.fi/~foi/SA-DCT/#ref_software

[alfio]

I googled "jpeg artifact removal". And found that "artifact reduction" and "noise reduction" turned up things as well.

However, most seem to be 3rd party apps or photoshop plugins (implying it's not built into Photoshop). Try this:
http://www.cs.tut.fi/~foi/SA-DCT/#ref_software

hi

thanks for the suggestion. i tried using the first option/pug-in but did not have great success. quite possibly i'm missing something 'cause like i said i'm not that good with photoshop. i'll keep at it

alfio

[Kyocera]

Looks like a "4" to me.

[Phazer]

Maybe you could go to the local federalies and have them do a license plate search using what looks to be the first 3-4 numbers, (6C8Y)(or whatever they/you think they are with wildcards), and then look at those to see which are registered to a Volkswagen. Just a thought.

[Harryc]

A couple of things I noticed here. First, if that VW was involved in a head on or T-Bone crash, why does it appear intact?. Secondly, if it was a total loss there would be a police report which your 'relative' would certainly be entitled to. On that police report would be all of the required information about the other driver. It can't be a 'hit and run' since you say that an insurance card was obtained. If your relative was foolish enough to be involved in a crash with that much damage and failed to call the police immediately, then quite frankly they deserve nothing. Actually Police notification with personal property damage or loss is a law in all states that I know about, Indiana would be no different. Even if they were hurt, who took the picture? Why didn't the picture taker call the police?

[tfflivemb2]

I agree with Phazer. Have them contact the authorities. The authorities don't need the entire license plate number nowadays. They can run searches based on the make and model of the vehicle, with only part of the license plate number.

[joester]

6CGW***

A really close bet, with a 90% confidence.

ANY police force worth anything should be able to get the correct car with the suggested number above.

EDIT- Photo removed and number hazed by request of the OP.

[rkawakami]

My take on the photo:

- based upon the location of the logo, it's the front of a New Beetle (darn cars look the same coming or going... )
- looks like California license plates (I may be biased), although I don't know if we are up to "6Cxx" series already. If so, that's a newly owned car.
- we don't know where this car was hit so damage speculation is just that
- tried a couple of things with Paint Shop Pro but I can't get it cleared up
- CSI photo enhancing techniques are a figment of a Hollywood writer's imagination. I'm sure that NSA could do it however

[ArtShapiro]

With a little bit of sharpening in Camedia, I'd agree with the 6CGW, although 6CGV isn't out of the question. And the penultimate digit is a 3. Whether the other two are 2 vs. 7 or 4 vs. 6 is a tossup.

And the local constabulary should be able to do enough wild card searches to find the vehicle. Whether they care enough to do so probably depends on the area and whether they like you.

Art

[Harryc]

- we don't know where this car was hit so damage speculation is just that

Yes, however the pic was chopped. It has a 184x191 resolution. Don't know of a conventional cell phone camera with that resolution.

[alfio]

thanks all. the insurance guys actually figured it out, we'll see what happens with the 'case'. they are obviously much better at photoshop than i.

alfio