Mini 0806 vs Mobius ActionCam - 4 May 2015

[richcam]

I recorded some video on Monday following a visit to the Thoresby Classic Car show, weather was fantastic for a change, very dry and sunny, so ideal to test out the Mini 0806 (fitted with Circular Polarizing Lens Filter) and the far cheaper Mobius dash-cam side-by-side.

And to demonstrate why recording number plates of on-coming vehicles is so important, please note the stupid overtaking manoeuvre by the white transit van who would have hit my car had I not moved out of the way, and with the 0806 he would have gotten away with it because the numberplate was blurred, though thankfully the far cheaper Mobius caught the whole incident on video - along with the numberplate.

You can tell the screenshots apart because the 0806 has the date and time info and 0806 shown in the bottom right, whilst the Mobius has the date and time info shown in the bottom-left.

EDIT: Since this footage I've refocused the Mobius lens (which is easy to do) so that is focused on more distant objects rather than the wiper blade manufacturer!

 

[Nigel]

You have posted images from the Mobius that are 2 megapixels to compare with images from the mini 0806 which only 1.5 megapixels when the mini 0806 is capable of 2.7 megapixel images.

Even though the 0806 images have 25% less pixels when they could have 35% more and have less magnification due to the wider angle lens and are hampered by more windscreen reflections, the Mobius images are only slightly more detailed and it does less well with both the brake lights at the bright end of the range and the tyre detail at the dark end of the range:

 

[jokiin]

Mobius hadn't even been focused at this point, you can see how short the focus is set, wouldn't go getting too critical of the results

 

[richcam]

You have posted images from the Mobius that are 2 megapixels to compare with images from the mini 0806 which only 1.5 megapixels when the mini 0806 is capable of 2.7 megapixel images.

Even though the 0806 images have 25% less pixels when they could have 35% more and have less magnification due to the wider angle lens and are hampered by more windscreen reflections, the Mobius images are only slightly more detailed and it does less well with both the brake lights at the bright end of the range and the tyre detail at the dark end of the range:

These snapshots were taken using the VLC > Video > Snapshot menu option, the difference in megapixels may be down to the actual resolution between the 0806 because it is widescreen and the Mobius, and I'm not quite sure why the resolution differs with the snapshots, however, having viewed the actual video footage between both cameras, the Mobius seems far sharper in most instances, and as can be seen, the number-plate of the oncoming transit van is legible on the Mobius, whilst being blurred out on the 0806 footage. Had the Transit van hit my car whilst recorded with the 0806 he would have driven off with no traceability. And that is what matters to me.

I can upload video footage of both examples of the 0806 and Mobius onto Mega.co.nz if you would like to compare like for like.

 

[Nigel]

Never used VLC, does it not show the full 2560 wide resolution of the 0806 cinema mode?
If you can only view it scaled down to 1.5 megapixels then...

 

[jokiin]

what mode was each camera set to is perhaps more relevant, the Mobius has narrow and wide options also

 

[Nigel]

what mode was each camera set to is perhaps more relevant, the Mobius has narrow and wide options also

And which lens since the Mobius has a choice.

 

[jokiin]

And which lens since the Mobius has a choice.

yes that too

 

[richcam]

Cheers guys,

I need to investigate what is going on with VLC snapshot so will investigate later, am sure I had this issue a few weeks ago which I thought I had sorted!

The Mobius video format is MOV, Wide Dynamic range was set to OFF, FOV was set to WIDESCREEN, 1920 x 1080, video data rate HIGH.

The Mini 0806 was set to it's maximum settings, i.e. 2560 x 1080p 30fps 21:9 and super-fine, and I had just installed the lasted firmware, though not the improved version that Nigel has just unleashed - that is one of the jobs on my to do list!

I think that this particular Mobius has the 'A' lens but I may be mistaken, there is no mention of it in the eBay advert so that is my best guess, the link to the ebay listing is https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/181168320228 I purchased it mid April 2015 so it's only a few weeks old.

 

[Nigel]

I assume the difference in quality of the licence plate is mainly caused by the mini 0806 using WDR which you have switched off on the Mobius, once you get to a certain speed / low light level combination the WDR blurs plates with it's multiple exposures, however it also improves the image a lot in other circumstances such as the brake lights above. However due to the low resolution of the posted 0806 image I can't see the detail of what has happened.

At the moment, the images above aren't a fair comparison because the Mobius needs focusing and the 0806 images need to be in full resolution. I've never seen a fair comparison done between these two cameras so will be very interested if you post some more, also if you increase the bitrates.

I think ideally you would use both these cameras, the Mobius with a narrow angle lens specifically to get the plates while they are still some distance away and thus not suffering much motion blur and the 0806 to capture the wide angle scene and log the GPS. They are both good cameras but are different.

 

[Dashmellow]

Now that the Mobius has been refocused, why not set both cameras to have the same resolution, set the Mobius FOV to match the o806 as close as possible, no CPL filter, defaults settings on both, including sharpness and other advanced settings on the Mobius etc., and see how the results compare?

 

[Dashmellow]

BTW, some of that footage seems worthy of being posted to the Mobius footage - close calls and accidents thread.

 

[richcam]

I assume the difference in quality of the licence plate is mainly caused by the mini 0806 using WDR which you have switched off on the Mobius, once you get to a certain speed / low light level combination the WDR blurs plates with it's multiple exposures

There doesn't seem to be an option with the 0806 to switch off the Wide Dynamic Range.

At the moment, the images above aren't a fair comparison because the Mobius needs focusing and the 0806 images need to be in full resolution. I've never seen a fair comparison done between these two cameras so will be very interested if you post some more, also if you increase the bitrates.

I think I've figured out how to improve the VLC snapshots after reading a thread on https://forum.videolan.org/viewtopic.php?t=83292

Preferences > Video > Scroll down to Deinterlace mode, then select 'BOB' or 'Yadif 2X' from the drop down menu.

PNG format is lossless while JPG is lossy, so select 'PNG' for best quality.
Preferences > Video > Look for Video snapshots options > then Select 'PNG' if not already set.

Will repost a few more comparative snapshots between the Mobius and the 0806 with these new settings.

Now that the Mobius has been refocused, why not set both cameras to have the same resolution, set the Mobius FOV to match the o806 as close as possible, no CPL filter, defaults settings on both, including sharpness and other advanced settings on the Mobius etc., and see how the results compare?

One of the main reasons I purchased the 0806 was because of the 2560 x 1080p 30 fps resolution which I thought would improve the legibility of number-plates of moving cars, it has to be said that the 0806 is one of the highest quality video dash cams on the market so I was quite astonished to see just how good the Mobius was, considering it didn't have a CPL filter to cut out stray reflections.

My intention is to do further side-by-side comparisons using max settings on both units to see just how good they can be, then update the 0806 using the enhanced firmware that Nigel uploaded a few days ago.

Both of these cameras are astonishingly good compared to many far more expensive competitors, but that's not to say that further improvements cannot be made. Essentially I want less blur on moving objects.

I also have a 0801 dash cam which I could also fix up on the windscreen, the 0806 is hard-wired and the Mobius has an internal battery good for approx 80 minutes, so the cigarette lighter power socket is still free

BTW, some of that footage seems worthy of being posted to the Mobius footage - close calls and accidents thread.

Haha, might be an idea but I don't know how to upload a video onto here!

 

[Nigel]

I also have a 0801 dash cam which I could also fix up on the windscreen...

The 0801 has no WDR and so can also beat the 0806 on number plates in some conditions in the same way as the Mobus with WDR turned off! It can't match the sharpness of the 0806 on full resolution though.

The result of WDR is very dependant on the lighting, a small drop in light level can cause plates to go from crystal sharp to hard to read, but change the conditions a little more and the bicycle in the shadows becomes invisible without it. It has advantages and disadvantages, which makes it hard to test/compare!

 

[Dashmellow]

I guess my suggestion to shoot at the same resolution was to attempt more of an apples to apples comparison. The two different DSPs in these cameras otherwise make side by side comparing difficult and obviously the much higher resolution available to the 0806 will win every time, all things being equal.

Regarding snapshots in VLC or any other video viewer, since you are on a Mac why not do a screen shot at full resolution? ........Command > Shift > 4 > select what you want to include in your capture with your mouse cursor which has now turned into a cross-haired reticle. This yields a PNG onto your desktop. You can also hit Command > Shift > 4 > Spacebar and the cursor will turn into a little camera. Press Spacebar again and it will save a full screen shot of any open window. Anyway, perhaps you already know this stuff.

To post a video on DCT you need to upload the video to YouTube (or Vimeo, etc. etc.), then click the little film icon from the menu above the text posting window here on DCT and then enter the URL where your video resides. It will now appear in your post wherever your cursor last was.

 

[richcam]

The 0801 has no WDR and so can also beat the 0806 on number plates in some conditions in the same way as the Mobus with WDR turned off! It can't match the sharpness of the 0806 on full resolution though.

Perhaps the 0806 ought to have an option to switch off WDR.

I've compared videos and snapshots of footage recorded side-by-side of the 0806 and Mobius in normal bright conditions last Monday and have to say the quality of the video footage recorded between the Mini 0806 and Mobius ActionCam is astonishingly close, and is extremely good quality considering they are not particularly expensive to purchase, with the 0806 costing approx £110, and the Mobius Actioncam costing approx £46 which is quite astonishing considering just how well it is designed, manufactured and supported.

Screenshots enclosed so that you can make up your own mind as to which is better.

The 0806 clips have the time and date info displayed on the bottom right-hand side, whilst the Mobius time and date info is shown in the bottom left-hand side.

EDIT: I've been unable to upload most of the comparison images due to the forum error message 'The uploaded file is too large for the server to process'. The file sizes are approx 1.9MB and 1.8MB so not that big!

Can upload the VLC snapshots onto Mega.co.nz if that will help.

 

[richcam]

I guess my suggestion to shoot at the same resolution was to attempt more of an apples to apples comparison. The two different DSPs in these cameras otherwise make side by side comparing difficult and obviously the much higher resolution available to the 0806 will win every time, all things being equal.

You were quite right to suggest viewing like for like, but Nigel mentioned in an earlier post that reducing the resolution of an 0806 wouldn't actually improve the quality of the video due to resampling of the original (or words to that effect), so I have settled for the highest resolution possible.

As for the 'all things being equal' comment, as with digital cameras, actual quality of image/video is down to far more than mere pixels because the size and quality of the imaging sensor is crucial as is the quality of the lens and many other components.

And this is where I think the Mobius may have an advantage on the 0806, because from what I have read, the manufacturer of the Mobius is a perfectionist, and he or she does actually care about the quality of the product rather than short-term gain, and that means a lot to me.

 

[Dashmellow]

Yes, I hesitated with the "all things being equal" remark but figured you would get the gist.

I really like both cameras but favor the Mobius at this time for its quality and versatility. If the 0806 were manufactured to a higher quality standard and came with a super-capacitor option it would be a real winner in my book. As I've said before, I think both have strengths and weaknesses in the image quality department but the DSP in the 0806 is impressive and it will only get better as the platform matures. The one in the Mobius is getting a little long in the tooth and seems to have been pushed to its limit at this point in time after many iterations of firmware updates and much hard work on the part of the developer.

 

[Dashmellow]

Nigel mentioned in an earlier post that reducing the resolution of an 0806 wouldn't actually improve the quality of the video due to resampling of the original (or words to that effect),

Perhaps Nigel will chime in here to clarify but I believe what he was talking about is that the highest resolutions possible with the mini 0806 - 2304x1296p @ 30fps and 2560 x 1080 do not translate in those resolutions to most common sized computer monitors and media players at full screen and therefore the image gets re-sampled (down-sampled) when you attempt to view the video. Depending on the re-sampling method and resizing ratio a nice clear high resolution image has the potential to not only not be improved but it can even end up looking rather poor. A crude metaphor might be to imagine trying to squeeze a chessboard down to a smaller size and now some of its squares (pixels) have nowhere to go. You would need a 30 inch monitor capable of displaying 1600p to view 2304x1296p video at pixel for pixel reproduction.

 

[jokiin]

Perhaps Nigel will chime in here to clarify but I believe what he was talking about is that the highest resolutions possible with the mini 0806 - 2304x1296p @ 30fps and 2560 x 1080 do not translate in those resolutions to most common sized computer monitors and media players at full screen and therefore the image gets re-sampled (down-sampled) when you attempt to view the video. Depending on the re-sampling method and resizing ratio a nice clear high resolution image has the potential to not only not be improved but it can even end up looking rather poor. A crude metaphor might be to imagine trying to squeeze a chessboard down to a smaller size and now some of its squares (pixels) have nowhere to go. You would need a 30 inch monitor capable of displaying 1600p to view 2304x1296p video at pixel for pixel reproduction.

even though your monitor might not support it quite a few of the playback programs that have a screen capture option will still take a full res screenshot so no compression and no detail lost, doesn't aid with video comparisons when compressed but for still screenshots is fine