4x dashcams Pixelation / Blocks video Stress-Test @ Trees

niko

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For nearly 1 year I was using one spot to make so called Stress-Test regarding Pixelation / Blocks in video to see how different dashcameras cope with that situation.

Dashcam users might know scenario when you drive at day time near trees, - in those cases image become with big blocks / pixels, despite in other situations image might be crisp.

I have tested many dozens of low-, mid- and high-end dashcams and present dashcams can not solve 100% blocks image in those scenarios. Yes, some dashcams do cope with those scenarios better, but not 100%. New technology which is already available and ( still in development and not yet fully polished ), promises to solve this problem, or at least to minimize pixelations in those stress-test scenarios. However as usually, any new technology need to be "Polished", so it might take some time before we see good result.

Recently I decided to do side by side stress-test in that spot to show that no matter how good quality and popularity is dashcam, - still they all can not cope with pixeleration in the tree-line area.

From well known reputable models on dashcamtalk I used Panorama II and Vico WF1. Less well known was Cowon AW1 and Papago P3.

The result is below:

You can see from 35sec focus on trees is still sharp, but as soon as I started turning right, - all 4 dashcams start producing pixelation / blocks and those pixels lasts till tree line finishes, after that it takes another 3-5 sec for dashcameras to adjust themselves t normal sharp focus, normal size pixels . Some produce bigger pixels, some smaller, but still this "issue" exist with all dashcams, not even with the ones I used in this test, but majority of others I had in the past.

Of course some little difference in pixelation size depens on which bit-rate is used on each dashcamera.
The slightly smaller blocky pixel size in tree lines I saw from good quality NT96650 + AR0330 based dashcams which recorded at 15Mbps bit-rate, but it's not all about high bit-rate, so don't be confused if you see some dashcam with super-high bit-rate thinking that this will solve problem. It's combination of CPU type ( Class ) / processor speed / RAM speed / bit-rate / perfectly tuned Firmware and so on. Some time fine tuned 10mbps bit-rate dashcamera can work almost as good as 15mbps poorly tuned dashcam. And so on.

So don't be surprised if your dashcamera ( no matter if it mid-class or high-end ) will record pixelation / blocky image in those stress-scenarios, - it is kinda normal at the moment !

YouTube might not be the best place to compare, but still you will be able to see result what I am talking about.
Please select 1080p from youtube playback options ( bottom right corner of video )


Top Left - Cowon AW1, FW: v2.8.0 = 7.5Mbps bit-rate
Top Right - Panorama II, FW: v1.12.02 = 12Mbps bit-rate
Bottom Left - Vicovation Vico WF1, FW: v1.51 = 10Mbps bit-rate
Bottom Right - Papago P3, FW: 2012-0622-192350-3 = 10Mbps bit-rate
 
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Thanks niko ... I bet the 1 minute video duration is the tip of the iceberg in terms of how many hours you spent putting this together.

I think the Panorama was your long-term overall favourite ... is it still? Never heard of the brand Papago before.

I'm hoping that your DIMIKA review is next in line for 'uploading'.
 
Thanks niko ... I bet the 1 minute video duration is the tip of the iceberg in terms of how many hours you spent putting this together.

I think the Panorama was your long-term overall favourite ... is it still? Never heard of the brand Papago before.

I'm hoping that your DIMIKA review is next in line for 'uploading'.

You welcome.
Only my own personal curiosity and desire to understand "How Things Work", "How stuff made", "How it's made" etc , @ Discovery programs, - my favourite ones ;) pushes me to spend countless hours on different tests and I am happy to share my knowledge here with others, same way as I do learn from all other members of DCT. We all helping each other ! ;)
Actually Papago has very good promising product. I will introduce it soon.
I have many favourites but non of them is my ideal Maybe I am too fussy ? :)
 
Thanks for that! Was just about to post a video from this morning of my WF1 along a tree lined street where the road was very noticeably pixelated, but I see the same effect in your comparison above both for my camera and the other three you tested.
I am a bit disappointed that the technology that is common right now isn't able to produce a better quality image - maybe I was naive when I bought my camera a few months ago, thinking that 1080p HD would mean very high quality images with no artifacts (like what you'd see from an F1 in-car camera, for instance, or a GoPro unit).
Ah well, just means I'll be upgrading as the technology improves.
 
Thanks for that! Was just about to post a video from this morning of my WF1 along a tree lined street where the road was very noticeably pixelated, but I see the same effect in your comparison above both for my camera and the other three you tested.
I am a bit disappointed that the technology that is common right now isn't able to produce a better quality image - maybe I was naive when I bought my camera a few months ago, thinking that 1080p HD would mean very high quality images with no artifacts (like what you'd see from an F1 in-car camera, for instance, or a GoPro unit).
Ah well, just means I'll be upgrading as the technology improves.

You are welcome.
Within price-range you pay for present retail sold dashcams, I havn't seen or heard of any that could cope 100% with tree-line pixelation.
We can not compare to the latest GoPro because it's within different ( way much higher ) price-range, different technology and has it's own drawback if used only as a dashcam on every day basis.
However in some stage of this year we must see new technology being developed to much better performance in those stress-scenarios, but for sure it will cost much more.
Let's wait and see.
 
Yes, I will be patient and wait for the next step up in quality.
By the way, I decided to upload my example of the blocky image problem.

 
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