I have been using quite a few of these since early 2011. With and without GPS, Single and Dual channel recording.
Buying them online is a gamble and it may or may not work out in your favor merely on looking the specifications.
I remember documenting about Dashcams on HVK forum long before when I was bombarded with a lot of questions to make it simple for buyers to clear their doubts. I Hope it does the same here too.
PURPOSE:The very reason to have this is to record the drives that you undertake and also capture memories of something that you would want to see again and again and cherish. Apart from these, you may use this as evidence (though we still need to debate whether this can be used legally as proof for claims, Complaints etc).Cameras with GPS Logging capability will also record your drive with GPS Positioning (Lat-long), speed and other parameters.
These would even show your driving, help others review it and shower you with Blessings in either of these 2 ways:
- God Bless you man, you just whisked off death during that stunt(Feel free to add more reasons as to why one should have a Car DVR)
- You are indeed a good driver
Below sections will take you through the most common details of a typical DVR Dash Camera:
SINGLE & DUAL CAMERA:
A single channel camera will have just one lens to record the roads while a dual channel will have an internal camera to record from the inside
You can use the settings and record 1,2 or both channels as in concurrence as per needs
The Front Camera is usually better equipped in terms of specifications and recording resolution as opposed to the rear camera
MEGA PIXEL & RECORDING RESOLUTION:
Available in range of 1.3 all to 3,5,8 Megapixels (Front lens)
Along with the MP rating, good to also check the recording Resolution (1024X768 is better than anything less)
FRAMES PER SECOND:
Available in 30-50 FPS. More FPS would be good to have since recording is mostly when you are driving
NIGHT VISION:
Most of the advertised Cameras also talk about Night Vision. If equipped, they do a better job of recording at nights
MOTION DETECT:
Cameras with Motion Detect feature, if enabaled in the settings menu, will record the clips only when your car is in motion. If you come to a standstil, the recording stops.
CLIP LENGTH:
Most of the DVR Records clips in lengths of : 2/5/15 minutes. With whatever setting you have chosen, once the duration of the first clip is reached, it will start recording the next clip immediately.
OVERWRITE MEMORY:
In case you fail to copy the contents of the SD card and empty the space on the memory device, the software will mostly start overwriting from the first video again, thus deleting the older videos stored in the SD card.
CONNECTIVITY OPTIONS:
USB Data Cable
HDMI Output
5V DC Input (For Charging)
POWER & BATTERY:
All these DVRs come with a super long DC Cable where the other end is connected to the 12v Cigarette lighter socket
Apart from this, you have internal battery that supports operation in the absence of direct DC power.
However, I have mostly seen the internal battery back up to be pathetic in latest cameras since they do Dual channel recording, have complex software for logging data and the fact that there is a GPS Dongle attached that consumes additional power too
The Back-up may range from anything from 10 mins (Usual Dual Cam with GPS) to 3 Hours (Simple single channel cameras without GPS).
SD Card Slot:
A few cameras have SD card slot (Support up to 32/64 GB) while a few others have a Micro SD Slot.
RECORDING VIDEO FORMAT:
Most of the DVRs record the video clips and save in AVI format unless specifically mentioned that they use a proprietary format
AVI files are easy to read in most of the TVs, Media Players and Laptops as well.
GPS Logging:
Usually, a Dash Cam that comes with GPS Logging capabilities will be supplied with an additional GPS receiver Dongle. By connecting the GPS Dongle, the system records the following parameters:
- Longitude
- Latitude
- Ground Speed
- G-Force
- Data and Time (This feature is available in very basic camera also)
Viewing the videos from the Dash DVR:
1. From a BASIC CAMERA:
Basic cameras store the videos on the SD Card and you can view them by merely copying them to your local machine using any Media Player Software.
2. From GPS LOGGING CAMERAS:
- Those cameras with GPS Logging come with a pre-loaded software on the SD Card (This Software is written onto the SD card every time a formatted one is inserted into the Camera).
- This software disallows the user to view the contents of the SD card. So if you connect the camera and see the contents of the SD card you will see only those application launch icons and not the video files
- Upon launching the application, it usually opens an app similar to Media Player where you can see the list of all your recorded Videos
- You can click on each of these videos and watch in on the laptop and it will display all the parameters along with a Map in the corner and your position at the time it was recorded
- From what I understand, you need to be connected to the Internet to be able to see your position move on the map while watching the video through the software
- Using the same software, you have an option to save the clips onto the local system and that gets saved as per the prescribed format (Mostly AVI)
- However, the saved clip when played again will not show the parameters and your position on the Map
WHERE TO BUY:
Best sourced from various sites but the most popular ones are:
www.ebay.in www.dx.com www.chinavasion.com www.aliexpress.com
Since these articles are shipped from international locations and will attract customs duty based on the cost.
Samples from my Dashcams:
With GPS Recording (Dual Channel):
Without GPS (Single Channel)