New Viofo A139 !

[richx]

The hardware can support HDR, we also plan to implement it in future firmware.

BTW, do you think HDR for the rear cam is important or necessary? We are looking for different technology for rear cam HDR.

Rear cam is actually even more critical at night because:
1) Your own car does not project (much) illumination backwards.
2) The cars behind you are likely to have their headlamps brightly pointed at you.
3) Front number plates are usually not illuminated.

All these work against your odds of capturing the front license plate if someone hit you from behind.

 

[Nath]

The hardware can support HDR, we also plan to implement it in future firmware.

BTW, do you think HDR for the rear cam is important or necessary? We are looking for different technology for rear cam HDR.

Nice!

I think it is, because most of the time there will be a car which shines its headlights and blinds the rear unit.

@richx was faster and pointed out other important facts.

 

[vvs49]

BTW, do you think HDR for the rear cam is important or necessary?

If it doesn't affect the front camera. then you can.
And it is better that there was a choice whether to include the HDR on the back or not!

 

[TonyM]

do you think HDR for the rear cam is important or necessary? We are looking for different technology for rear cam HDR.

I think that HDR could be useful for a rear camera, similar to how drivers benefit from auto-dimming rear view mirrors.

A rear camera is often looking directly into the headlights of the car behind which is difficult for any metering system. Having a very high dynamic range would help to record as much information as possible in this situation.

I think there is much less movement of cars across the video frame on the rear camera than on the front camera. The rear camera is usually watching a car following close behind, or approaching at low relative speed (hopefully!). The front camera has to cope with oncoming cars at high relative speed difference, and cars approaching from side roads, junctions etc. Having less relative motion should make combining light and dark frames easier.

 

[SawMaster]

Another vote for rear HDR. Keeps Viofo at the top for video quality

Phil

 

[Nath]

It is being worked on, and has been for ages, but progress has been slow. Thankfully they understand what we want and aren't going to just add it so that they can tick a feature box like some other companies do! It will be added when it works, if it ever works.

There is definitely some progress, but it is not easy, and what we want from HDR is very different to what you find on something like an iPhone where the image background is normally static, not moving at 100km/h.

Oh, you've meant it this way.

I think this is quite useful state already. Better than many other dashcams.

 

[vvs49]

Yes, VIOFO is the leader definitely, I like 139 very much, but I would add a connector for an external GPS antenna(Although - not a problem VIOFO, and it is very easy to do it yourself!) !!
Today I have clouds and the GPS does not catch, but the navigator in the GU with an external antenna in the lower box of the Toyota Corolla, catches instantly !!

 

[Nigel]

I think this is quite useful state already. Better than many other dashcams.

Yes, seems to work nicely in the dark, for the front camera

 

[Paul Iddon]

Yes, VIOFO is the leader definitely, I like 139 very much, but I would add a connector for an external GPS antenna(Although - not a problem VIOFO, and it is very easy to do it yourself!) !!
Today I have clouds and the GPS does not catch, but the navigator in the GU with an external antenna in the lower box of the Toyota Corolla, catches instantly !!

Have you updated to the newer FW Valeri?

 

[vvs49]

Have you updated to the newer FW Valeri?

Yes - 20201028

 

[rd08]

Had problems with a previous model where it interfered with the DAB radio and car remote, does anyone know if this model is any better ?
Thanks

 

[SawMaster]

Can't say as I don't have DAB, but the coaxial cabling to the remote cans should help with the problem, at least sometimes. It's a step in the right direction.

Phil

 

[joe384]

For dashcams, WDR is where we have a sensor with a big dynamic range, if WDR is turned on then the processor packs the big dynamic range into the standard dynamic range of a H264 video file resulting in a loss of contrast but better detail in the dark areas. It often doesn't work very well, especially with Viofo cameras since the WDR off setting is generally set up to be the best the camera can manage. It is sort of a contrast adjustment, but a nonlinear one.

HDR in dashcams is where a sensor with a standard dynamic range records a big dynamic range by making a short exposure followed by a long exposure and then combining the two. The advantage is that you get a much bigger dynamic range than WDR and get better detail in the bright areas as well as the dark areas. The difficult bit is the combining of the two exposures without making a mess of the image.

So HDR generally works better than WDR? I notice from the other posts that the a119 v3 already has HDR, and the A139 has the capability just it needs to be added to the firmware.
I would like to be able to get better plate reading at night, preferably without sacrificing image quality in the day.
The Blackvue 590W I have just has "Night Mode" or something which I believe adjusts the exposure of the whole frame, it is no good for plate capture at night as my headlights turn the plates pure white on the image

 

[joe384]

Oh, you've meant it this way.

I think this is quite useful state already. Better than many other dashcams.

Hi, I can't find a HDR option in the manual online, is this footage showing WDR?

It looks like having it on in the daytime potentially makes plate capture more blurry, but it helps at night. Would be nice if you could schedule the setting to go on/off with sunset/sunrise times in a region!

 

[Nigel]

So HDR generally works better than WDR?

They do two different things, but simplifying things too much, WDR helps with the dark areas and HDR helps with the bright areas. I would expect an HDR setting to actually do both, so it will be better if/when it works well.

Hi, I can't find a HDR option in the manual online, is this footage showing WDR?

It is still in development, the official firmwares do not currently have it.

 

[CaptureYourAction]

V2.0 (official firmware) added HDR support on the A119V3.

 

[vvs49]

How does 119V3 relate to this topic?

 

[Paul Iddon]

How does 119V3 relate to this topic?

I suppose if they have put it into the A119 they can almost certainly do it to the A139

 

[vvs49]

So VIOFO has already reported this.

 

[joe384]

It would be helpful if there was a true reference as to how these differ - HDR vs WDR in viofo cameras. The wikipedia article says WDR is HDR and the same, and a google search for HDR vs WDR in dashcams only returns a handful of relevant results.

So it seems that WDR or HDR is just a made up definition which depends on the dashcam manufacturer. It would probably be better to choose a few marketing words, and then describe in the manual what each one does in terms of the hardware and any software algos applied.

Even though the A119 v3 has support for HDR and WDR (whatever they may be) only a short description of WDR exists in the manual.