A118C Novatek 96650 Capacitor Battery Dash Cam@Gearbest

@billknow, I tried both the Mar 12 and Mar 18 firmware. Both seems similar. The March firmware are very different from the original Jan 2015 firmware. Both March firmware introduced a lot of "noise" to the picture, whereas the January firmware did not have that problem. Apart from that, the March firmware are better because of the delayed shutdown, and also better consistent focus.

The original January firmware had better picture quality, but it wasn't always in focus; and the shutdown needed to be delayed.

Do you have an ETA on when we may see another beta/final firmware? I'd happy to test another beta, If the "noise" issue can be corrected, it should be close to perfect.
 
SuperGoop said:
@billknow, I tried both the Mar 12 and Mar 18 firmware. Both seems similar. The March firmware are very different from the original Jan 2015 firmware. Both March firmware introduced a lot of "noise" to the picture, whereas the January firmware did not have that problem. Apart from that, the March firmware are better because of the delayed shutdown, and also better consistent focus.

The original January firmware had better picture quality, but it wasn't always in focus; and the shutdown needed to be delayed.

Do you have an ETA on when we may see another beta/final firmware? I'd happy to test another beta, If the "noise" issue can be corrected, it should be close to perfect.
Click to expand...

Thanks.
I'm still a bit shocked that a firmware can fix focus issue.
 
@SuperGoop - thanks for taking the time to test these firmwares so thoroughly and to share your results with us all. It's stuff like this that makes this forum worth visiting!

I had been planning on testing them myself since I also want the shutdown delay, but not at the expense of video quality. And to be honest, I just haven't had the time to even reinstall the A118C into my car since the road trip.

as for firmware fixing a focus issue - it sounds like maybe it was pushing too much power (or not enough) to the sensor, causing it to overheat after a while, which will affect focus and clarity. changing the voltage is simple in some firmwares, just like over/underclocking and under/overvolting a computer processor. i have a feeling that's waht they did in the firmware. over/undervolting something can also introduce noise to the image, which may be what's going on here.
 
it's like using old microsoft products. ;)

except here things move much faster. of course, the internet wasn't nearly as easy to use as it is today, so contact with the devs was much slower.
 
Gibson99 said:
it's like using old microsoft products. ;)

except here things move much faster. of course, the internet wasn't nearly as easy to use as it is today, so contact with the devs was much slower.
Click to expand...

Some Good cameras are welly supported and firmware updated frequently, if you check mobius firmware change log, the firmware updated from V0.32 to V2.33.
Good news is so many users post testing result and provide useful advice.

About the firmware, I don't recommend use the March 18th firmware, this firmware is only for testing.

I'd appreciate if @Gibson99 can test this 0320 firmware, it is also not officially released.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/22493212/firmware/A118C/A118C_FW_0320.zip

Add some brightness in 0320 firmware, below is some screenshot.

3-A118C.jpg 4-A118C.jpg 15-A118C.jpg
 
I installed the new "A118C_FW_0320.zip" firmware, but haven't tested it yet. I did, however, noticed that in still shows 2015-03-12 under Version on the dashcam itself but the FW should be 2015-03-20.
 
billknow said:
Add some brightness in 0320 firmware, below is some screenshot.
Click to expand...

Looks quite dark. Was it a cloudy day or just another typical heavy polluted day in China? :P
 
Gibson99 said:
Just curious - why me in particular? @billknow - do you have a copy of the original firmware from January 2015 in case we need to go back? I would be a lot more willing to test beta firmwares if I knew I had a "safe" version to go back to if things don't work right.
Click to expand...

Yes, my thought too.
We need a way to revert back to "factory default" state in order to test firmware.
Please provide that to us.
 
we're all beta testers ;)
 
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Is the A118/A118C lens made of glass or some other material?
 
The march 20 FW is better,way better than the 18th,not as much sharp but just a lil bit over the edge,contrast is better and exposure done right.Here is a test footage with the march20 fw.I'll make more tests,hope we have soon an official release.Thanks!
 
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I just tested March 20, 2015 firmware in sunny and rainy/cloudy day. It is much better now. Still a bit of noise in the video, but perhaps that is a fair compromise to get slightly better night quality. Either way, it is acceptable to me now. Better than the original Jan firmware.

The day time is good, I can read licence plates, and the "focus" issue seem fixed. Technically, I don't think the focus can be changed, but the January 2015 firmware would sometimes (say 30% of the time) over soften the picture which gives it an out-of-focus appearance.

The biggest advantage for the March 20th firmware is, of course, the delayed shutdown.

Also, start time to record is a bit quicker, around 10 seconds v.s. around the original 12 seconds . I would not want it any quicker. I prefer to have a delay startup to ensure proper bootup.
 
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