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1. Best Practice

This page shows some best practices:

1.1 Camera Placement

  • Move the Camera as close as possible (~4cm), this will help get rid of reflections. -> focus can be adjusted by turning the outer black ring of the camera.
  • If the LED reflections are too strong, put tape over the LED to diffuse the light
  • Change the ImageSize to QVGA under "Expert mode" configuration when close enough, this will be faster and is often good enough for digital recognition.

1.2 Reflections

  • Try to get rid of the reflections by rotating the camera, so that the reflections are at positions, where no number is.
  • By using the external LED option, you can place WS2812 LEDs freely away from the main axis.
  • Users report, that a handy cover foil could also help

1.3 Post-processing

  • Filter out the Number "9", as "3" will often be misread for a "9" and void every number between 3 and 9 due to it being negative flow.
  • Split the readings into two, while the decimal numbers might move to fast to be recognized, at least the slower moving part will produce a correct reading. -> keep in mind that the offset needs to be adjusted, a.e if you have a comma reading of "3", it needs to become "0.3". This can be done wherever the data ends up being sent, like home assistant using sensor templates.
  • If you are using a low resolution and only digital mode, processing can often be done in <1 minute. Check the logs to confirm how fast it is and then set the interval accordingly under "Expert mode" in configuration, as the normal mode will lock you to 3+ minutes.