DR650GW-2CH

I think for the tinting I would be sending it back anyway as that does not look right, but the 650 does have a better cmos in it than the 500 and 550. the only way to remove the blocking is to increase the bit rate to something above 12 mp I think ....

It is very odd though that again the official videos you have linked to to have almost no blocking on them pittasoft must be using a higher bit rate when they make these videos as there is no way it was shot on a standard 650 ......
Pittasoft uses this trick for many years: for promo-video recording they show perfect picture ( probably recorded by other video camera or with maximum bit-rate and other tune-up settings for short video demo test ), but in reality you get what you get.
 
That sounds a bit naughty. Although even the video on their own YouTube upload has the purple tint either side. You would have thought that wouldn't be there if they had used another device, and I would certainly think they wouldn't want it in a promo video. Surely they don't think people wouldn't notice.
 
That sounds a bit naughty. Although even the video on their own YouTube upload has the purple tint either side. You would have thought that wouldn't be there if they had used another device, and I would certainly think they wouldn't want it in a promo video. Surely they don't think people wouldn't notice.
Any video from dashcam can be edited, filtered to the certain needed result where some elements are left obvious and some not.
Most objective way would be adding a raw / original file download option so people can see that nothing is altered. Some dashcam manufacturers / vendors share raw files on their official website, because they dont afraid of video quality, some are not. Now you can make a concludions why some dont share raw files ;)
 
http://www.blackvue.com/en/contents/sub3.asp

PAga4r.png
 
Any updates on the purple tint issue? Was it a problem only with the particular unit or a general 650 issue?
 
In blackvue 750 have the same problem. Perhaps a new matrix Sony 2.4 mp - not adjusted the white balance.
 
Thank you for the quick reply. Do you think it could be corrected with firmware update later or is it a hardware issue?
 
I think it's firmware.
Pittasoft will probably have to find a middle ground and will release a new firmware.
 
I am not an expert on this topic. Just did a search and found this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purple_fringing
It attributes the problem to the camera lens which gets enhanced by CMOS. It can perhaps be corrected by an automatic post processing in firmware, but it might affect other colors in the video and hence not sure if it is feasible at all.

What surprises me is how it gets through the quality control of Pittasoft?
 
"Tint" colour type on background of the video at night is common to most CMOS sensors. It is sort of characteristics ( footprint ) of CMOS sensor how it processes video if firmware tuned up to a maximum night performance of reading a background details. In order to separate two dark objects at night ( especially in pitch dark ), - need some "tint"-effect.
Sony Exmor has violet / purple or blue tint effect. OV( OmniVision ) has light brown tint, Aptina AR0330 has dark brown tint.
Yes, it is possible to tune up firmware the way that you have no or minimum tint effect to have it more natural look, but the more natural you go - the less background details you can read. You win in one thing, but you losing in other.

Just to understand in more details what I said, below is comparison from two Panorama ( same hardware, but different firmware )

http://dashcamtalk.com/forum/thread...-12-03-vs-v1-12-06-day-night-comparison.5396/

You see there, one model tuned up to produce natural colours at night, but because of this background details reading are reduced compare to model which has purple tint.

Closest to most natural colour look, but at same good background details reading at night ( pitch dark ) I find now have Transcend DrivePro, however it also have slight "tint", kinda green-brown effect.

http://dashcamtalk.com/forum/threads/night-panorama-v1-12-03-vs-transcend-drivepro-200-v1-19.6446/
 
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Thanks a lot for the detailed reply. In case of Panaroma 2, the videos doesn't seem to exhibit purple tint in day-time videos. Do you think Blackvue does this due to the extreme fine tuning done for night-time videos?
 
Thanks a lot for the detailed reply. In case of Panaroma 2, the videos doesn't seem to exhibit purple tint in day-time videos. Do you think Blackvue does this due to the extreme fine tuning done for night-time videos?

I have seen different Blackvue firmware tune-up ( some are custom made by Russians ). On some you get less purple, on some more. It's all depend on firmware tune-up. Best who can handle Blackvue related questions is @alexsoll
 
I got my Blackvue 650 yesterday and compared it with 550. Here are my initial findings:

1. First thing you notice is the "full black" Blackvue. Good work done by Pittasoft for the stealth.
2. The Co-axial cable looks (to me) exactly the same as the "replacement" cables sent out for 550
3. The DAB interference is same as with the "replacement cable". This means interference although very less and same as with 550 "replacement cable", it is still present. I confirmed this by checking with channels in places where the signal is weak. This means CMOS change hasn't eliminated the interference problem completely.
4. The power cable has a long and thin ferrit ring at the 12V adapter end (not at the camera end)
5. Video seems shaper but gets blocky with fast movements as with 550
6. A purple tint on left and right is present which reduces the overall picture quality w.r.t colors, in comparison to 550. Hope this will be corrected with a firmware update.
7. 64GB SD card can be used and formatted directly with the camera. I was using 64GB already (formatted specially with my mac) with 550 and hence this made no difference.
8. Wifi playing of videos seems to be slightly faster
9. The design change which allows SD card to be removed without removing co-axial cable is helpful
10. The sensor has lot more dead pixels than my 550. My 550 has 2 dead (white) pixels and 650 has more than 6. I counted it only for testing and it does not really matter when video is played.

I personally wouldn't recommend an upgrade from 550 to 650. Incase you want to buy a new 2CH Blackvue camera you could go in for a 650 hoping that Pittasoft will release updates to fix some of the problems above.
 
Ordered my latest version Blackvue DR650GW-2CH today and it will arrive shortly. I will post here in a few weeks of how well it performs. I will set up the camera hard wired to the vehicle with a Power Magic Pro and a Lukas LK-530 12 volt battery pack so I can test the parking mode fully. As this camera is fresh out of the lab, I will look to see if the previous post about the tint and blocking issues have been resolved. My G1W-C's have been retired and given to thankful neighbors. :eek:
 
I will set up the camera hard wired to the vehicle with a Power Magic Pro and a Lukas LK-530 12 volt battery pack
Interesting. Why do you need Power Magic Pro and Lukas LK-530 together? You can hardwire Lukas LK-530 directly and set voltage intervals better than with PMP.
 
Great question. Thanks. I will be testing both the Power Magic Pro and the Lukas LK-530 separately with the same vehicle. I am keeping the vehicle the same as to keep the "baseline of measurement" the same. The stats will be recorded on power draw since the Power Magic Pro draws from the vehicle battery only. The Lukas battery pack will power the camera until its charge drops to a measured level, however when the vehicle is operated, the Lukas gets charged by the vehicle electrical system, prolonging the useable power life for the Lukas supplying power to the camera without drawing the vehicle battery down while it is in parking mode. The Power Magic Pro only utilizes the car battery for power. The parameters being measured will detail if the Power Magic Pro is better for the camera in parking mode over time, or the Lukas LK-530.

I should have been more specific that testing the parking mode were separate tests for each product. Thank you for pointing that out. Interesting concept though with both cascaded together., the Power Magic Pro to the fuse box and the Lukas LK-530 after the Power Magic Pro.

Vielen Dank für Ihren Kommentar.
 
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Thanks for the clarification :)

I did such a test on my BMW F10 5-Series. I ended up using Lukas LK-530 3000mAh.

  • PowerMagic Pro and Lukas LK-530 works in the same way, except that PowerMagic Pro always supplies power from car's battery (while driving or park mode) and Lukas LK-530 from its own battery (while driving or park mode).
  • PowerMagic Pro (if hardwired correctly) supplies power from car battery until the threshold is reached (the set low-voltage or max-time). Lukas LK-530 (if hardwired correctly) charges itself from the car battery until the threshold is reached (the set low-voltage) and supplies power until its battery is emptied (Status=LOW)
  • PowerMagic Pro although can set limits based on voltage and time, has only voltage levels of 11.8V, 12.0V, 22.8V and 23.2V. (12V, IMO, is too low a setting in PowerMagic Pro to drain car battery continuously to this level). Lukas LK-530 on the other hand has voltage settings of 11.9V to 12.4V in increments of 0.1.
  • PowerMagic Pro manages its settings using switches. Lukas LK-530 has a LCD display which provides a better feedback.
  • With PowerMagic Pro you can switch on/off your camera with ON-OFF switch (which is good for Blackvue as it does not have such a switch). Lukas LK-530 on the other hand has only a ON-OFF switch to turn on/off charging its battery (it supplies power to the camera until it dies).
  • PowerMagic Pro if hard-wired could intervene with current leakage system in cars (as was the case with my BMW) in park mode. Lukas LK-530 on the other hand (if not hardwired) could be used in park mode with intervening with car's power management module.
  • With a good battery in car, PowerMagic Pro could give a longer parking mode (unless current leakage system is present as above). Lukas LK-530 provides power for a maximum of 11hours on full charge.
  • Draining your car battery continuously with PowerMagic Pro could shorten the life of car battery due to sulfation, which occurs when the battery is held below 80% of full charge. Lukas LK-530 unless hardwired doesn't take the juice out of your car battery and drain it. Your car battery has definitely a longer life than Lukas LK-530 (which will die after many charge cycles).

Looking forward to your findings.
 
Pittasoft uses this trick for many years: for promo-video recording they show perfect picture ( probably recorded by other video camera or with maximum bit-rate and other tune-up settings for short video demo test ), but in reality you get what you get.

Hello,

We can confirm Pittasoft used the market released model bit-rate in this video, custom firmware was not used. We have checked with their engineers.

Thank you,
 
Thank you for the quick reply. Do you think it could be corrected with firmware update later or is it a hardware issue?

Pittasoft are aware of the tinting and it is related to the firmware. A fix will be released soon to correct the colors.
 
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