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-   -   The Dashcam / Car Video Recorder (DVR) Thread (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/car-entertainment/134448-dashcam-car-video-recorder-dvr-thread-317.html)

Thanks aviator for your reply. I went ahead and bought the 70mai A500 plus dual cam. After 2 hours of struggle, I wired both front and rear ( routed through platform because of side airbags ) dashcam. As of now iam using that same 64 gb SD card but iam planning to buy a 256 gb wd purple card , as it lasts more than the Samsung Evo plus type. Attaching a screenshot of the front dash cam.

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I recently purchased a Viofi A129 Pro Duo dash cam. I own an Endeavour, 2018 model. Can someone guide me to a good place for installation in Bangalore, if possible in Whitefield area. Thanks

There is one accessories shop called "The Drift" on Varthur Road Ramagondanahalli Whitefield. They are super busy during weekend so better to call them ahead.

Viofo A119 mini 2 has the new Starvis 2 sensor I believe. So low night/night footage should be better.

I've been there for something else for my old i10, when I used to live somewhere close by a few years ago. I can attest to the fact that they are good people. My only gripe would be that they are always crowded and it's always better to discuss with them in advance if you want some work done.

Is there any place where one can get Thinkware dashcams in India? Need a reliable seller.

Hey everyone, I have an action camera SJCAM SJ8 pro, lying around in house after I bought the go pro. It has a dedicated dash cam mode and I am thinking of using it in my new car as dashcam.

Is there anything specific that I need to keep in my mind, or any issues that I may face?

Action cameras have in-built batteries that are not recommended in cars since the cam will get pretty hot in summers, especially if you leave the car parked in the open. Also action cameras are not built to withstand high temp as well as dashcams. It will most likely shut down after a while and stop recording. Capacitor based cameras are much safer and more reliable.

Since you already have it lying around why not put it to use in the car. It was a piece of 'dead meat' in your house gathering dust and deteriorating/degrading due to lack of use, so why not use it till it survives/dies.

Replaced my previous SafeCams dashcam with an iroad FX2.

The SafeCams model showed a couple of issues quite consistently.

One, it would sometimes simply not record for some span of time. It would also be unreachable over the usual WiFi interface. I had to unplug the power and re-plug it to get it back and working.

Second, it would sometimes reset the date back to 01-01-2019.

Both issues were not severe, but were not satisfying my requirement from the dashcam, i.e. to record reliably.

Also the app situation was a mess. There was no singular app which would work perfectly. Had to try out multiple apps.

iroad has a dedicated app made by iroad themselves, which is quite well designed.

The dashcam itself is also quite comprehensive. WiFi enable/disable, audio enable/disable options, along with a hyper-lapse option.

I have been thinking of getting a dashcam for a while now. I had initially shortlisted the following two:

• Iroad QX2, with a tag of INR 25K (though it says out of stock at the moment)
• Viofo A139 Pro, with a tag of INR 35K

After your post, I have been checking the FX2 as well, that seems to be in stock and a VFM deal. But I have a few questions please:

1. Which side of the IRVM have you installed it on? A pic would be helpful, if possible.
2. Does FX2 have HDR? And how important is it, or the lack of it?
3. How is the night-time recording in the FX2?
4. Does it come with a CPL? How is the daytime footage through the windscreen?
5. If this is indeed the one to buy, is it better to order from their website directly?
6. Do they recommend any authorised installers or can it be done anywhere?

Any recommendations for single channel dashcam around 5K ?

Apart from buying a dashcam, the main point in case of an accident or incident, one should be able to play the video instantly. I have a 70mai dashcam and the app connectivity through wifi takes some time to fetch the videos. Moreover the dashcam also needs to be in powered condition which may not be possible in some cases. In order to access the videos instantly I recommend buying an USB C-type micro SD card reader and keeping it in your car. You can instantly pull out the micro SD card, put it inside the card reader and connect to the charging port of your phone and you get all your videos so that you can play it, save it or share it.

I got mine from Amazon. It is very small and can be kept in your car always.

https://www.amazon.in/gp/product/B0C...0?ie=UTF8&th=1

I had gotten A119 Mini2 a month back and done a DIY hardwiring. Few observations:

1. Although image quality and clarity is good, even at its best resolution (2592 x 1944p @30fps), for vehicles moving in same direction, it struggles to capture number plates outside 30deg angle from camera. For vehicles coming from opposite direction, it almost never captures number plates properly. Even when both cars are static, number plates beyond ~45-50deg are unreadable.

2. HDR really helps, esp at night. But 60fps recording is available only when HDR is off. And that too at lower resolution of 2560 x 1440P @ 60fps. Videos look a little smoother but fare worse in capturing number plates. Haven't played around with bitrate, i guess increasing bitrate might improve readability slightly. Videos below for comparison


Viofo A119 Mini 2 _ 2592 x 1944p @30fps _ Daytime

Viofo A119 Mini 2 _ 2560x1440p @60fps _ Daytime


3. If relative speed difference between vehicles (going either in same or opposite direction) is above 40-45kmph it struggles to catch number plates.

4. Voice based control is very inconsistent. Sometimes it would respond even to a whisper and other times not at all. Not even to attempts with differnt accents and loudness.

5. Polarised filter is definitely needed. In my car, reflection from grainy textured dashboard is further affecting number plates readabililty.

6. Haven't figured out best mode for parking. Auto-event detection/ Motion sensor mode is sketchy - sometimes it doesn't record even when car cleaner was cleaning front windshield. Time Lapse Recording of 1/2/3 fps does not capture any worthwhile detail at all - vehicle moving across look like a ghost passing by. 5/10fps have considerably more records/ file sizes being saved continously. haven't tried low-bitrate mode yet.

Viofo Dashcam A119 Mini2 - Parking _ constant video at 1fps (2560 x 1600p)

Viofo Dashcam A119 Mini2 - Auto Event Detection Mode (2560 x 1600p) (Records for 30sec)


7. In 25days of operation, device hung up couple of times. Both times I had to remove camera module form GPS mounting and restart. Due to angle between windshield and the dashcam unit, taking power cable out has risk of disglodging the unit from pasted mount.

Viofo Dashcam A119 Mini2 - Hanging and stuck

Viofo Dashcam A119 Mini2 - GPS connection lost (2560 x 1600p)

8. Over last 2weeks, sometimes in midst of the journey it would start beeping repeatedly "Recording Started" and recording thereafter isn't consistent. Either I had to power off and restart or pause recording for couple of minutes for it to start recording again.

9. Spoke with Viofo India team and according to them issue was SanDisk Ultra card (64gb). Viofo's recommendation is only Max Edurance or Extreme cards. Viofo recommends against even High endurance cards (which are specifically meant for dashcams).

10. Changed to SanDisk Extreme card (256Gb) 4 days back. Too early to say but there has been a instances still but it beeps only once now. Although, Now I couldn't find any skipped recording. Will wait for couple of weeks and if it repeats, will talk to Viofo team.

11. File size of recording is around 230mb per minute at highest resolution. If you reduce resolution to 2560x1600, file size reduces to 185mb. Might help if someone is deciding on the card capacity.

12. App connects well and 5G is good. Data transfer is fast. App is intuitive to use. Only issue with app is it needs to be active screen on mobile while transfering data. You cannot use your mobile for anything during that period. And thats a bummer. Esp if you are tranfering a larger data size.

I bought in shop, where I got it for 19500 with installation.

Installation pics:




Answers to your queries:
1. I installed it right behind the IRVM.
2. I don't think it has HDR. I do not believe it's worth it. HDR is mainly to balance the light and dark areas of an image. But most of our day-to-day scenarios can be covered amply even without HDR. Not a must-have in my opinion.
3. The night recording is pretty good. I am content with the results.
4. No CPL. There is some reflection getting caught in the image, but it's not that bad IMO.

As for where to buy from, I can't be of much help since I bought it directly from a Car decor. Check if any car decor in your area has one in stock.

Video links:
Night rear: https://youtu.be/jzMYi-hBmuI

Night front: https://youtu.be/QagbciXtdQU

Day rear: https://youtu.be/hZ5CFB6b14Y

Day front: https://youtu.be/aT-zSiWKoYE