Reducing dashboard reflections and glare

[Dashmellow]

Most dashboards are convex shaped. Mine is concave, which may have something to do with it.

Mine is convex.

 

[Dashmellow]

I'm going to pick up various fabrics and try Velcro on the dashmat - it'll be like Dolly Parton's Coat of Many Colours soon enough

That seems like a good approach. You may only need to add fabric to parts of the original dash mat and perhaps you can do it in a way that looks ok cosmetically. How's the Mrs. with seemstressing? Perhaps you can enlist her in your quest for banishing the unwanted glare? (or perhaps that's a bad idea as you're probably already in the dog house over the whole dash cam business, anyway)

 

[Dashmellow]

The slope of the window has a lot to do with how much reflection you'll get also

True but my recent experience has me leaning to the notion that it's the nature of the dashboard color and texture that makes the most difference.

 

[spotnz]

True but my recent experience has me leaning to the notion that it's the nature of the dashboard color and texture that makes the most difference.

That's what my experience tells me happens. Adding that based on my experience with my current car, the dash shape has a significant effect also

 

[jokiin]

True but my recent experience has me leaning to the notion that it's the nature of the dashboard color and texture that makes the most difference.

that certainly is what you'll see so makes a lot of difference, these days it's all about fuel economy and steeply raked windscreens are the order of the day which just accentuates the problem so any newer car is more prone to have reflection issues

 

[Dionic90]

@reverend ,

I may have missed it in this conversation, but, why not use a polarizing filter? Are you against it?

 

[Dashmellow]

that certainly is what you'll see so makes a lot of difference, these days it's all about fuel economy and steeply raked windscreens are the order of the day which just accentuates the problem so any newer car is more prone to have reflection issues

I agree that steeply raked windscreens can exacerbate the problem but all the rentals I was provided with were 2015 models and somehow the dashboard color and texture (and the shape too) made the difference more than the rake of the windshield. So the rake of the windscreen determines the angle of reflection but what actually gets reflected in the camera seems to depend more on the properties of the object(s) being reflected. As a lifelong photographer this goes along with long time experience.

 

[Dashmellow]

@reverend ,

I may have missed it in this conversation, but, why not use a polarizing filter? Are you against it?

Yes and no. It gets complicated with dash cams because of constant changes in the angle of the lighting and the problem with having to remove the polarizers at night.

 

[Dionic90]

ive been running the pano G with a filter day and night. it helps with the bright spot of the street lamps.

i should remove the filter during the day time and evening to see if to my eye if i notice improvement.

agree that the filter can be a mixed bag, but compromises have to be met...

 

[Dashmellow]

ive been running the pano G with a filter day and night. it helps with the bright spot of the street lamps.

i should remove the filter during the day time and evening to see if to my eye if i notice improvement.

agree that the filter can be a mixed bag, but compromises have to be met...

After much experimentation I gave up on polarizers on dash cams. My experience has been that reflections during the day can be unpleasant and annoying but all in all they do not prevent the capture of vital information. I'd be more inclined to focus on the dashboard reflection issues as @reverend is doing. There are many situations where the oblique angle of the sun overwhelms any polarizer not adjusted for it and this can happen far too quickly and often during normal driving. The opinion I finally came to is that it is a compromise not worth the effort. So far, in my experience with dash cams and polarizers is that they can lose at least two stops at night in many situations and I'd prefer not to have that. One of my main issues was also that I was constantly realizing after the fact that I had needed to remove the polarizer at night but had forgotten to.

 

[GJHS]

After much experimentation I gave up on polarizers on dash cams. My experience has been that reflections during the day can be unpleasant and annoying but all in all they do not prevent the capture of vital information. I'd be more inclined to focus on the dashboard reflection issues as @reverend is doing. There are many situations where the oblique angle of the sun overwhelms any polarizer not adjusted for it and this can happen far too quickly and often during normal driving. The opinion I finally came to is that it is a compromise not worth the effort. So far, in my experience with dash cams and polarizers is that they can lose at least two stops at night in many situations and I'd prefer not to have that. One of my main issues was also that I was constantly realizing after the fact that I had needed to remove the polarizer at night but had forgotten to.

Add in that the reflection and glare are also annoying and harsh on the drivers eyes. Without sunglasses, a dash mat makes driving in bright light much more comfortable.

 

[Dionic90]

Good points @Dashmellow .

 

[reverend]

I have got a few CPLs mate from a low end one to a higher end Hoya HD one.

They do work well, but the longer exposure times do mean in certain situations you're missing detail.

I did try the G90 and LS460W with CPLs though with decent results.

The Hoya one works quite well at night but attacking if this way like has been said means any camera would just work without needing any mods

As for the mrs sewing you're kidding, half my clothes have got holes in

 

[budster]

Hi, I'm weighing whether to get a CPL for a dashcam or use a dashmat. I'm starting to lean towards getting a dashmat for the added benefit of protecting the dash from the sun and possibly lowering the interior temperature of the car. I was then wondering is there any added dashcam benefit of using a CPL in addition to a dashmat or would using both be redundant for purposes of the dashcam?

And regarding dashmats, my understanding is that it's best to get the darkest color possible (black) to minimize the reflections in the windshield. But I'm confused on what's the best material for the dashmat (again for purposes of reducing the windshield reflections and glare). The main choices seem to be carpet, velour and suede (like mentioned at http://support.coverking.com/hc/en-us/articles/204646490-What-material-should-I-select-). Is one of these preferred over the other when used with a dashcam?

 

[niko]

Hi, I'm weighing whether to get a CPL for a dashcam or use a dashmat. I'm starting to lean towards getting a dashmat for the added benefit of protecting the dash from the sun and possibly lowering the interior temperature of the car. I was then wondering is there any added dashcam benefit of using a CPL in addition to a dashmat or would using both be redundant for purposes of the dashcam?

And regarding dashmats, my understanding is that it's best to get the darkest color possible (black) to minimize the reflections in the windshield. But I'm confused on what's the best material for the dashmat (again for purposes of reducing the windshield reflections and glare). The main choices seem to be carpet, velour and suede (like mentioned at http://support.coverking.com/hc/en-us/articles/204646490-What-material-should-I-select-). Is one of these preferred over the other when used with a dashcam?

I am using both, CPL and dash carpet. My tests are here:

https://dashcamtalk.com/forum/threa...dashboard-reflection.12247/page-2#post-175001

https://dashcamtalk.com/forum/threa...ns-filter-for-street-guardian-sg9665gc.14256/

About CPL:

With most CPL they need to be removed for late evening or night driving due to CPL making video even more darker. There are only few high-end CPL filters out there that can be used day n night without losing video quality at night. One of them is SG9665GC.

 

[Module 79L]

I made a DRE (Dashboard Reflection Eliminator, TM) out of matte black cloth, not only to get rid of the reflections the camera captured but because for some strange reason this year the sunlight reflecting on the dashboard also affected my vision, even with the sun visor down. That way I solved two problems.