A Comparative Analysis of Image Processing and Deep Learning Techniques for License Plate Recognition in Difficult Environments

License plate recognition is one of the challenging tasks and it belongs to ITS, due to backgrounds, variation of illumination, occlusion the recognition is became the challenging task. These challenges enabled a comparison between the conventional image enhancement and the deep learning scheme for license plate recognition. We analyze and compare multiple techniques that we consider significant, including, the Edge detection, Morphological operations and template matching and also deep learning models like CNNs and R-CNNs. In this framework of experiment scenarios, we scale out a comprehensive evaluation of the methods given different datasets and compare their accuracy, speed as well as stability in conditions that may be hostile. In the experiments, we see that Naive Bayes and SVM outperform in low-resource conditions, but deep learning methods are significantly more accurate and more flexible in accommodating complicated cases and trends, which makes deep learning methods the method of choice for contemporary applications. This work provides an understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of both approaches to serve as a guideline in choosing the most effective detection techniques in relation to certain environmental conditions. © 2024 IEEE.