Viofo Parking Mode new beta feature

[abbaoppo]

Latest beta version firmware but night vision still yellow.

It has to do with the OV4689 sensor that the A119 uses. I doubt any firmware update could fix that. A119S uses Sony IMX291, which has much less of that yellowish tint. IMX323 seems to be even better in that regard, IMO. The image quality of some of dash cams that use IMX323 and NT 9665x surpasses that of the A119, even though A119 uses NT 96660.

 

[5Cowbells]

A119 Beta Firmware V3.1B: Parking Mode - some comments.
I'm not experienced on parking mode, and things are not always as they seem to be. But I'm finding that once normal recording (at the Resolution/fps setting) is triggered at power up or by a very sensitive G-sensor, the A119 seems to continue recording in the normal mode beyond the 1.5 minute obligatory recording period even if the only new triggers during that period are due to motion detection. It is only after no triggers, either G-sensor or motion detection, have been detected over the last 1.5 minute recording period that the A119 goes into the standby mode (not recording anything), and only then can it start time-lapse recording when motion detection triggers occur. The result being that the A119 records in the normal recording mode when parked much more than I would have expected. Intuitively, I would have thought that once the soft G-sensor triggers stopped, the A119 would record normally for the obligatory 1.5 minutes and then, if motion detection triggers had occurred during that period, the A119 would revert to time-lapse recording.

 

[SuperGoop]

A119 Beta Firmware V3.1B: Parking Mode - some comments.
I'm not experienced on parking mode, and things are not always as they seem to be. But I'm finding that once normal recording (at the Resolution/fps setting) is triggered at power up or by a very sensitive G-sensor, the A119 seems to continue recording in the normal mode beyond the 1.5 minute obligatory recording period even if the only new triggers during that period are due to motion detection. It is only after no triggers, either G-sensor or motion detection, have been detected over the last 1.5 minute recording period that the A119 goes into the standby mode (not recording anything), and only then can it start time-lapse recording when motion detection triggers occur. The result being that the A119 records in the normal recording mode when parked much more than I would have expected. Intuitively, I would have thought that once the soft G-sensor triggers stopped, the A119 would record normally for the obligatory 1.5 minutes and then, if motion detection triggers had occurred during that period, the A119 would revert to time-lapse recording.

Great explanation. That is exactly what happens to me also.

BUG DISCOVERED:

- If I park in a busy area with lots of motion, Parking Mode does not have enough "quiet time" to activate. It always record in normal mode. It never goes into standby mode.

- If I park in a quiet area, after 1.5 minutes, Parking mode will activate, and will continue to work properly.

@5Cowbells thanks for explaining this. I couldn't figure out why my Parking mode works sometimes, and not at other times. Now I know!

 

[Jason Liew]

Hi, regarding this parking mode. May i know any user's here testing this parking mode with hard wire kits? Just want to know whether the dashcam will auto reboot the system once detected ACC ON. I just received my vico power plus kits and yet to install but i read about the warning remarks given saying for non-vicocation dashcam are require to disable the ACC restore rebooting function for correct operation.

 

[abarth]

yes, some of us are employing parking mode with a BDP kit. if you hit the low voltage threshold or a specific time-out, the camera will turn off and turn on in normal recording mode when you turn on your ignition. if neither low voltage or time-out occur during parking, your normal recording mode will resume when the camera detects a slight impact such as opening/closing your door. so no real difference as far as power to your camera. the only thing that changes is that your camera enters a low-frame rate recording state when no G forces are detected by the camera.

edit: also see @5Cowbells reply above as it does impact how / when parking mode is activated, and yes, i'd call it a bug.

 

[Janos]

Actually it's useful to capture many minutes after the hit&run with proper recording as usually they come back to inspect what they did (or someone who saw it). Having the faces recorded could help to find them through police / social media.
...or at least it would be nice to have it configurable.

 

[abbaoppo]

I'm a user that has used motion detect on the camera 24/7 since I got the camera a year ago. it's worked well for my uses (recording motion while parked and never a missed moment while I'm driving). I loaded the beta firmware a couple days ago and have yet to check out the footage. if it affords me a few more hours while parked (and maybe some more time before voltage cut-off), i'll consider keeping it on parking mode.

May I ask if you have ever had any gaps in your videos while on the road, especially when you stop for traffic lights? I suppose if you stop long enough, motion detection will kick in and stop normal recording, which would leave gaps in your videos. I have yet to hardwire my vehicle, and am weighing different options. If either motion detection or the new beta parking mode for the A119 works well, then I am much less inclined to go for dash cams designed for parking surveillance such as Thinkware, since that would be stretching my budget.

 

[abarth]

May I ask if you have ever had any gaps in your videos while on the road, especially when you stop for traffic lights? I suppose if you stop long enough, motion detection will kick in and stop normal recording, which would leave gaps in your videos. I have yet to hardwire my vehicle, and am weighing different options. If either motion detection or the new beta parking mode for the A119 works well, then I am much less inclined to go for dash cams designed for parking surveillance such as Thinkware, since that would be stretching my budget.

no. never any gaps. in my older mini 0801 and other older cameras, I experienced those gaps in recordings and could not trust them in motion detect mode. with most current cameras, I think that motion detection is sensitive enough that you will not have any gaps in recording while driving through a featureless highway. on my mini 0805 on motion detect, it does stop recording in 15 seconds w/o any motion and will have to restart recording when motion is again detected. that may result in a half second or so of missed recording but it's still quite reliable. on the A119, the timeout to stop recording is much longer at 1.5 minutes IIRC. that means there's a much smaller chance of missing a fraction of a second of movement and results in a recording with no gaps while on the road/at a stoplight, etc.

your uses and needs will be different than mine but I really like the A119. I've had a few lukas and blacksys cameras with true pre-buffered parking mode and they were excellent in that regard. I just really disliked the picture quality and lower bitrate after experiencing the picture quality from even cheaper cameras like the mini 0801 and mini 0805.

the A119 is almost my perfect dash cam. i would love for it to have pre-buffered parking mode but i know it can't have that at this price-point. the beta "parking mode" feature is pretty good and saves me some room on my memory cards but i do wish that @viofo will address the concerns that @5Cowbells mentioned above.

 

[abbaoppo]

the A119 is almost my perfect dash cam. i would love for it to have pre-buffered parking mode but i know it can't have that at this price-point. the beta "parking mode" feature is pretty good and saves me some room on my memory cards but i do wish that @viofo will address the concerns that @5Cowbells mentioned above.

Thanks for the tips. Yes, I am also taking into account the fact that it is far more costly to replace a high-end $400 dual channel system than it is to selectively replace standalone ones, as newer and better cameras hit the market. The A119 is also almost perfect for me, except that the videos are a bit yellowish. Images aren't as sharp and clear at night either as dash cams that use the IMX322/3 sensor. I also got my hands on a A119s, which uses IMX291, There is still more diffusion and glare around street lights at night with the IMX291 than dash cams with IMX322/3. At any rate, I think I'll keep the A119 for parking purposes. It is excellent for daytime recording and still quite good for night-time.

 

[5Cowbells]

May I ask if you have ever had any gaps in your videos while on the road, especially when you stop for traffic lights?

Your conversation with @abarth got me thinking some more about the Parking mode. I have not had any problems in Parking Mode with continuous normal recording while driving, but recall from my previous post that with the V3.1B firmware as is, once normal recording starts there are actually two sources of triggers at work to keep normal recording going... the "soft bump" G-sensor and motion detection. It virtually assures continuous recording while driving, interrupted file-wise only by the Loop Recording function. However, if the firmware were changed so as to cause the A119 to revert to Time-lapse recording when only Motion Detection triggers are sensed in the last 1.5 minutes of normal recording, then continuous normal recording while driving would depend solely on new "soft bump" G-sensor triggers occurring frequently enough (at least one ever 1.5 minutes) while on the move. It appears that the "soft bump" G-sensor trigger is sensitive enough to promote continuous normal recording while driving, but it is hard to tell for sure without first changing the firmware and then testing. It would be possible for the camera to revert to Time-lapse recording while driving if there were insufficient G-sensor triggers to continue normal recording. For example, a very quite car stopped at a very long 1.5+ minute stoplight. Even if Time-lapse recording (or even Standby mode) did start, the next "soft bump" G-sensor trigger should restart normal recording.

{Edit: The point here was to explore a possible downside to changing the firmware to revert to Time-lapse recording when only Motion Detection triggers are sensed in the last 1.5 minutes of normal recording. But I still think the change is needed and is probably consistent with the original intent of the A119 Parking Mode. The A119 would then quickly shift from Normal recording to Time-lapse recording in busy parking lots with a lot of motion while maintaining the capability to resume normal recording if the car is bumped. Recording in quite areas should not be affected by the change.}

 

[Harsh]

Great explanation. That is exactly what happens to me also.

BUG DISCOVERED:

- If I park in a busy area with lots of motion, Parking Mode does not have enough "quiet time" to activate. It always record in normal mode. It never goes into standby mode.

Exactly how the A119S also behaves with motion-detect on 1.7.

 

[abbaoppo]

Your conversation with @abarth got me thinking some more about the Parking mode. I have not had any problems in Parking Mode with continuous normal recording while driving, but recall from my previous post that with the V3.1B firmware as is, once normal recording starts there are actually two sources of triggers at work to keep normal recording going... the "soft bump" G-sensor and motion detection. It virtually assures continuous recording while driving, interrupted file-wise only by the Loop Recording function. However, if the firmware were changed so as to cause the A119 to revert to Time-lapse recording when only Motion Detection triggers are sensed in the last 1.5 minutes of normal recording, then continuous normal recording while driving would depend solely on new "soft bump" G-sensor triggers occurring frequently enough (at least one ever 1.5 minutes) while on the move. It appears that the "soft bump" G-sensor trigger is sensitive enough to promote continuous normal recording while driving, but it is hard to tell for sure without first changing the firmware and then testing. It would be possible for the camera to revert to Time-lapse recording while driving if there were insufficient G-sensor triggers to continue normal recording. For example, a very quite car stopped at a very long 1.5+ minute stoplight. Even if Time-lapse recording (or even Standby mode) did start, the next "soft bump" G-sensor trigger should restart normal recording.

{Edit: The point here was to explore a possible downside to changing the firmware to revert to Time-lapse recording when only Motion Detection triggers are sensed in the last 1.5 minutes of normal recording. But I still think the change is needed and is probably consistent with the original intent of the A119 Parking Mode. The A119 would then quickly shift from Normal recording to Time-lapse recording in busy parking lots with a lot of motion while maintaining the capability to resume normal recording if the car is bumped. Recording in quite areas should not be affected by the change.}

Good observations. Since for the parking mode, the new beta firmware will record at 5 fps unless it senses shock within 1.5 minutes. If it senses motion only, it will still records at 5 fps. So, the question is whether even when motion detection is on, which supposedly gives you normal recording, the parking mode will nonetheless override it and force it to go into 5 fps. Besides stopping for 1.5+ minutes for a traffic light, I can imagine other scenarios where this problem could occur, say, warming up your car in the deep of winter.

If Viofo can't work around this problem, users might as well just keep motion detection on 24/7 and forget about the parking mode. But of course, that loses the benefit of time-lapse recording for parking--or users will have to mess with the settings every time they park.

 

[Gibson99]

what about an option that ONLY uses motion detection to switch between full speed and 5fps modes? if motion then regular 30/60fps. if no motion for X amount of time, switch to 5fps mode. that way there's no gaps in recording.

i'll admit i haven't installed the new firmware with parking mode yet - just been too busy with work and getting ready for a trip.

 

[abarth]

what about an option that ONLY uses motion detection to switch between full speed and 5fps modes? if motion then regular 30/60fps. if no motion for X amount of time, switch to 5fps mode. that way there's no gaps in recording.

i'll admit i haven't installed the new firmware with parking mode yet - just been too busy with work and getting ready for a trip.

it kinda works that way already. I can park my car and it will never enter low-frame rate "parking mode" recording if there is not at least 1.5 minutes of quiet time (g-sensor or motion detect triggers). I'd like for it to enter parking mode if there is 1.5 minutes of no g-sensor triggers (I don't want motion-detect to prevent the camera from entering parking mode).

edit: when it does enter parking mode, I do like that it records in my preferred 1440p/30 when it detects motion.

 

[abbaoppo]

I'd like for it to enter parking mode if there is 1.5 minutes of no g-sensor triggers (I don't want motion-detect to prevent the camera from entering parking mode).

edit: when it does enter parking mode, I do like that it records in my preferred 1440p/30 when it detects motion.

This is interesting. That would be the opposite of the parking mode overriding motion detection--the problem @5Cowbells points out. So when both motion detection and parking mode are on, which one is going to take priority and override the other--when the vehicle is moving or parked? Viofo has to sort this out. Or is it eventually that the user must choose? It can't be a matter of set it and forget it.

For your proposal of entering into parking mode when there is no g-sensor trigger for 1.5 minutes, it seems that the g-sensor sensitivity would have to be set quite high, wouldn't it? Normal driving including normal starts and stops doesn't usually trigger g-sensor. But if the g-sensor sensitivity is set too high, then you will have lots of locked files even during normal driving and your sd card will soon fill up and needs reformatting, since looping won't delete them. I hope I am making sense, since I am still quite new to the world of dash cams.

 

[abarth]

This is interesting. That would be the opposite of the parking mode overriding motion detection--the problem @5Cowbells points out. So when both motion detection and parking mode are on, which one is going to take priority and override the other--when the vehicle is moving or parked? Viofo has to sort this out. Or is it eventually that the user must choose? It can't be a matter of set it and forget it.

For your proposal of entering into parking mode when there is no g-sensor trigger for 1.5 minutes, it seems that the g-sensor sensitivity would have to be set quite high, wouldn't it? Normal driving including normal starts and stops doesn't usually trigger g-sensor. But if the g-sensor sensitivity is set too high, then you will have lots of locked files even during normal driving and your sd card will soon fill up and needs reformatting, since looping won't delete them. I hope I am making sense, since I am still quite new to the world of dash cams.

in the menu, parking mode and motion detect mode are exclusive. it's not possible to enable motion detect when parking mode is enabled and vice-versa...it's confusing, I know. but when in parking mode, a motion detect trigger will switch the low frame rate recording to a 30 or 60 frame rate recording.

right now, the options are set-it-and-forget-it. so in my situation, I have parking mode enabled. when I'm driving, the G-sensor knows it and records in full frame rate. when I park, it will go into low-frame rate recording after 1.5 minutes of no G-sensor and no motion detect triggers. while in this mode, if a G-sensor or motion detect trigger occurs, it will then go back into full frame rate recording. the problem with this is that if there is always motion in front of the camera, it will not go into low frame rate recording. so for my uses, I'd really like if the parking mode will go into effect after 1.5 minutes of no G-sensor activity regardless of if motion is detected.

EDIT: to address your questions on the g-sensor...

I actually have my G-sensor set to OFF so that it never locks any files. my daily driver is lowered a bit and has a short-wheelbase so it would like lock files on a daily basis.

but it is obviously enabled because it knows when I'm driving and when I'm parked. it will switch itself from parking mode to full frame rate recording when I enter my car. there is a user that has observed this and has come to the conclusion that there are two different levels of G-sensor activity when either regular driving or parking mode is in effect. I think that conclusion is accurate.

 

[SuperGoop]

I also have a DDpai M6+ with parking mode. In this case, it is simple, and I like it. If the GPS is moving, then normal reocording. After 5 mins of no GPS movement, time-lapsed. Simple, and works well. No need to detect motion to activate. Just keep time-lapsed activated for the entire time.

I also have the A119. If we allow parking mode to use the GPS, it makes things simple, but would alienate those without the optional GPS.

Alternatively, just have a parking mode that always record in time-lapsed (even if there is no motion) after 5 minutes.

For me, the most important reason for time-lapsed is to save memory card space. If I park my car for 5 hours, 3 times a day, I don't want it to overwrite 15 hours of recordings. That is the real reason I need time-lapse.

I propose that it always record in time-lapsed (continuously) whether or not there is motion detected or not, after about 5 mins of no movement/vibration. If vibration is detected, then wake-up, and after 5 mins, go back to time-lapsed.

 

[abarth]

I like your idea. I'd definitely like to have a choice in the matter, though. it would be great if we can choose which trigger...motion detect, g-sensor or those with GPS. a GPS trigger wouldn't work for me as I'd like normal recording if I happen to be in an underground parking garage.

 

[Gibson99]

I like your idea. I'd definitely like to have a choice in the matter, though. it would be great if we can choose which trigger...motion detect, g-sensor or those with GPS. a GPS trigger wouldn't work for me as I'd like normal recording if I happen to be in an underground parking garage.

@SuperGoop - great idea to use the GPS to help trigger parking mode - simple, should be pretty effective in most situations.

@abarth - good point about lack of GPS signal. even parking in a regular home's garage (not necessarily underground) could mean no gps signal. which case i guess it would need to automatically fall back to using g-sensor or motion detect. if the traffic jam is THAT bad, you probably don't need full speed (30/60fps) recording anyway, since nothing will be happening very fast, except maybe some idiot on a motorcycle* lane splitting at 90 mph.

* - yeah, i know, "idiot on a motorcycle" is redundant.

 

[5Cowbells]

A119 Beta firmware A119_170606_V3.1B – How the A119 Parking Mode works... The Details.
There might still be some confusion about for this new feature. I will try to present the details as I know them mostly collected from sources here in this thread along with my own tests and observations. Enjoy and try to stay awake.

Parking Mode, General Comments: I think of the Parking Mode as not just Time-lapse recording as might be implied by the Parking Mode menu settings, but as the set of activities that occur when the Parking Mode menu setting is enabled. This includes a Standby mode for not recording anything when there is no activity about, Time-lapse recording activated by Motion Detection sensing, and Normal recording (per the Resolution menu setting) activated by "soft" or "hard" G-sensor vibration or shocks. The Parking Mode shows promise particularly for those who want hands-off autonomous operation while driving or parked. The Parking Mode can automatically select the recording mode while driving or parked based on sensory data to capture most significant events and conserve both file storage space and power when the activity level is low. It does not record pre-buffered video as best I can tell. If you decide you want to use Parking Mode a lot, you may have a new problem - how to keep the A119 powered when parked... hint $.

Parking Mode Operation: The Parking Mode is activated/deactivated by choosing one of the following options listed under a new Menu Setting called Parking Mode: OFF, 1fps, 5fps, 15fps. When the Parking Mode is enabled by selecting anything but OFF, the A119 may operate autonomously in any of the following states:

Normal recording: A state where the A119 records normally at the resolution and frames per second specified by the A119 Resolution menu setting.

• The A119 starts Normal recording at power-up and records for a minimum of 1.5 minutes. The A119 continues Normal recording as long as G-sensor or Motion Detection triggers continue to occur during the recording period. The A119 will continue recording for 1.5 minutes after the most recent trigger. The duration of the associated files is ultimately limited by the Loop Recording time.
• Current V3.1B software will not allow the A119 to exit this state until there are no triggers, either G-sensor or Motion Detection, during the preceding 1.5 minute period (maybe a bug). When the latter does happen, the A119 reverts to the Standby mode. When in the Standby mode or Time-lapse recording (both described below), any G-sensor trigger will force the A119 to resume Normal recording for a minimum of 1.5 minutes.
• Normal recording is indicated by a steady ON REC button light, and if the LCD is ON, a "car" icon will appear just below and left of the blinking red record dot.
• There are two sensitivity levels of the G-sensor active in the Parking Mode. The "soft" G-sensor trigger is very sensitive and used to detect soft bumps or vibrations to turn on Normal recording when there is activity on or in the car including driving. The G-sensor "soft" trigger does not activate Event ! recording function and does not move files to the RO folder. The "hard" G-sensor trigger is the less sensitive traditional trigger used to activate Event ! (crash) recording, if enabled in the G-sensor menu setting.

Standby mode: A state where the A119 is not recording but is awaiting either G-sensor or Motion Detection triggers.

• The A119 enters the Standby mode presumably to conserve file storage space and power when no activity is sensed by the camera for 1.5 minutes.
• If on, both the REC button light and the LCD turn OFF, and the power button lights a dim green.
• When in the Standby mode, A119 will revert to Time-lapse recording if motion is detected or will revert to Normal recording if a G-sensor trigger is detected.
• Pre-buffered video recording is not available to capture the activity that causes the A119 to wake up from the Standby mode, but that would make a very nice enhancement.

Time-lapse recording: A state where the A119 records Time-lapse images as a video file in accordance with the fps setting selected in the Parking Mode menu setting.

• Current V3.1B firmware only allows entry into Time-lapse recording from the Standby mode (again-same possible bug). The A119 enters Time-lapse recording from the Standby mode when Motion Detection (not G-sensor) triggers are sensed and records a minimum of 1.5 minutes real-time duration.
• Time-lapse recording is indicated by a steady ON REC button light and if the LCD is ON, the record red dot blinks and the "xFPS" symbol shows up just below and left of the blinking red record dot (replacing the "car" icon), where "x" is the value selected in the Parking Mode menu setting.
• If new Motion Detection triggers occur during the recording period, the A119 continues Time-lapse recording until such triggers cease for 1.5 minutes, and then the A119 reverts to the Standby mode.
• If a G-sensor trigger occurs at any time while in the Standby mode or recording Time-lapse, the A119 will switch to Normal recording.
• Time-lapse images are recorded as video files identifiable by the "P" suffix on the filename.
• The minimum real-time record period for Time-lapse recording is 1.5 minutes, but the equivalent video file duration will be less depending on the Time-lapse frame rate. For example, 1.5 minutes of real-time Time-lapse recording at 5 fps yields a 15 second video file recording at 30fps.

"Hard" G-sensor activated Event ! recording (crash) while in the Parking Mode: This A119 mode is at least partially functional in the Parking Mode. Assuming the G-sensor Menu setting is enabled, the A119 Event ! mode (crash) operates as follows when triggered:

Note: I may use the term "crash" below to indicate the "hard" G-sensor activated Event ! mode.​

1) If in Normal recording when the crash occurs:

• The A119 beeps 3 times and displays the big yellow triangle with the "!" on the LCD for about 5 seconds and then the normal screen turns on with the yellow triangle icon to the right of the blinking red record dot, indicating the A119 is recording in the Event ! recording mode. This is the basically same as what occurs outside of the Parking Mode.
• The A119 continues Normal recording for a minimum of 1.5 minutes and then moves that file to the RO folder at the end of Event ! recording.
• The A119 may record longer in the Event ! mode if additional motion or G-sensor triggers occur, but ultimately ends Event ! recording before or at the time that the Loop Recording time is exceeded.
• If the current file duration was 15 seconds or less at the time of the crash, then the previous file is also moved to the RO folder. Files in the RO folder should not be over-written by new non-Event ! files.

2) If in Time-lapse recording when the crash occurs:

• The A119 beeps and enters the Event ! mode as described above in Normal recording.
• The A119 captures Time-lapse images of the instant of the crash and then within 1 second terminates Time-lapse recording (and the file) and starts a new file of Normal recording. There seems to be a real-time gap of 2-3 seconds between the two recordings.
• The time-lapse file where the event occurred is moved to the RO folder. If the real-time duration of the Time-lapse file was under 15 seconds when the crash occurred, then the previous file is also moved to the RO folder.
• A possible problem (Bug) here is that the Normal recording file that follows the Time-lapse file that terminated after the crash is not moved to the RO folder. If the follow-up Normal recording file were to be over-written by the Loop Recording function before being retrieved, there would be no video immediately following the crash trigger.
• The files that were moved to the RO folder do provide a marker for the user to go back and recover the follow-up file if it has not been over-written.

3) If in Standby mode when the crash occurs:

• I saw no evidence on the LCD that a "hard-bump" G-sensor event triggered the Event ! mode while in the Standby mode.
• However Normal recording did activate, but no files were moved to the RO folder.
• As in the case of a crash occurring during Time-lapse recording, I would think a user would want to preserve the video that immediately followed the crash by moving it to the RO folder. I consider this a bug if verified.
• Unfortunately pre-buffered video recording is not available here to capture the instant of the crash, but would make a very nice enhancement if feasible. On the downside, it may also cause the A119 to consume more power in the Standby mode.

Loop Recording in the Parking Mode.

• Loop Recording remains active in Parking Mode, assuming that the Loop Recording Menu setting is not turned off.
• Files longer than 1.5 minutes are generated when triggers continue to occur while recording in Normal recording or Time-lapse. Files can be continuous up to the Loop Recording time as set in the Menu.
• If Loop Recording times out, a new file is started to continue any recording activity triggered in the previous 1.5 minute period.
• The actual real-time Loop Recording time for Time-lapse recordings is significantly longer than that set in the Loop Recording menu presumably due to the low fps being recorded as a video file. I consider this a minor bug since I see no serious consequences resulting from it.

I hope this helps and doesn't add to the confusion.
Thanks for listening,