A119 first impressions

[thancam]

Using low contrast, so the dark area is not too dark, that's why M6 plus is more bright in some area.

curios... because as i saw, the daynight quality of M6+ is pretty good too. It is only not too sharp because low bitrate ( 10Mbps). So why does others dashcam don't using low contrast before ?
PS: Can you explain to me: what and how is using low contrast ? Does this like when i use photoshop and make everything brigher by adjust a light button?

 

[DavidUK]

Question: As a layman and first time user looking to buy, is it the intention to replace the current sensor with the Sony sensor to create the A119S or will this version be a "Super" dash cam in comparison with the one for sale right now?

Surely one A119 with whichever is the better sensor would be a better idea rather than many A119 versions each with a sensor which does something slightly better than the original, but also some things slightly worse?

Help me, I'm confused as to which sensor model I should be looking into?

 

[jokiin]

the OV4689 version will support higher resolutions, smaller pixel size can offer a sharper image in daylight, Sony version can do better low light due to larger pixels, depends which is more of a priority for you as to which you would choose, Sony version will be more expensive as the sensor cost is a lot higher than the OV sensor

 

[Nigel]

the OV4689 version will support higher resolutions, smaller pixel size can offer a sharper image in daylight, Sony version can do better low light due to larger pixels, depends which is more of a priority for you as to which you would choose, Sony version will be more expensive as the sensor cost is a lot higher than the OV sensor

They both seem to work at night when driving in city lighting, so unless you are going to be driving in the dark without any lights then I think the real difference is that the A119 gives the option of higher resolution while the A119s gives less motion blur, not just at night but in all conditions. If you are only going to be recording at 1080 resolution then the A119s will be better in almost all lighting conditions, if you prefer higher resolutions then the A119s does not provide them.

We can probably expect the A119s to have a more expensive lens to go with the more expensive sensor, and a higher price as a result.

 

[DavidUK]

Hmmm.... I would have expected one version which could do both day and night well, not one for each. Sounds like I have to have two dash cams on my screen to get the best of both worlds? Surely this is like me wanting to buy a digital camera which does depth of field well, and has a good optical zoom, but then finding I have to buy two identical looking models, one for each purpose! That alone would put me off the manufacturer's ability to "get it right". No doubt there are compromises which have to be made within any current camera, but these are not amplified to the public's awareness by physically bringing out two identical looking versions.

I suppose cars themselves have the same issues with different trim levels, but as price increases you don't lose any features, as you would with the higher priced A119S not being so good in daylight as the A119.

So, as a prospective retail customer the availability of two A119 models causes me more caution as I decide which to buy, and it also makes me want to look elsewhere for one dash cam which will do both day and night time capture well. This means trying to check whether both of these modes in another model are better than the poorer mode in the A119 (poorer night mode) or A119S (poorer day mode).

 

[jokiin]

Hmmm.... I would have expected one version which could do both day and night well, not one for each..

the difference is not significant, the OV4689 version is still very capable

 

[Nigel]

Surely this is like me wanting to buy a digital camera which does depth of field well, and has a good optical zoom, but then finding I have to buy two identical looking models, one for each purpose!

Try buying a DSLR, yes you can buy one camera but if you want that zoom plus a wide angle with huge depth of field then you will need 2 lenses!

I suppose cars themselves have the same issues with different trim levels, but as price increases you don't lose any features, as you would with the higher priced A119S not being so good in daylight as the A119.

If I'm going to drive down the motorway then the Rolls Royce is a great choice, but if I'm going to the race track then the much cheaper MG is considerably better!

There is always a compromise to be made, but if your happy with 1080 HD resolution as most people are then the choice will be easy, if you want 4K resolution then neither is any good You cant get a 4K dashcam that is good in the dark.

 

[gretl4]

The M6 plus have less contrast, and the car plate number is not so clearly.
The Sony sensor have WDR, and have much ability to collect more light, will add more bright in night video to see how it performs.

The OV4689 is advertised with some multi-exposure HDR features . Did you enable them on the a119?

 

[thancam]

The OV4689 is advertised with some multi-exposure HDR features . Did you enable them on the a119?

HRD is useless in dashcam, it make everything blurry. WDR is the one we need

 

[gretl4]

HRD is useless in dashcam, it make everything blurry. WDR is the one we need

HDR multi-exposure is what you want to be able to see number plates at night that would otherwise be overexposed. Watch for 5+ seconds starting at 1:12 and look at the plate and streetlight

What exactly do you do to get a WDR image? If it's just some image manipulation then you could do the same in a video editor after recording. If you are taking multiple exposures then you may as well call it HDR.

 

[jokiin]

the challenge is the HDR works great when still but suffers when moving, would be nice if there was a better balance there somewhere

 

[viofo]

curios... because as i saw, the daynight quality of M6+ is pretty good too. It is only not too sharp because low bitrate ( 10Mbps). So why does others dashcam don't using low contrast before ?
PS: Can you explain to me: what and how is using low contrast ? Does this like when i use photoshop and make everything brigher by adjust a light button?

Low contrast is good for action camera, user can add contrast in software editor, but I don't think user will take much time to edit dash cam video.
I think the sharp is not much related to the bitrate, maybe 10Mbps is enough for Hisilicon chipset.
I also checked the DDPAI official youtube channel, seems have same effect.
I have some other dash cams based on Hisilicon platform, will also do some check.
As @jokiin said, different hardware have different characters.

I will share some daytime video for reference.

 

[thancam]

HDR multi-exposure is what you want to be able to see number plates at night that would otherwise be overexposed. Watch for 5+ seconds starting at 1:12 and look at the plate and streetlight

What exactly do you do to get a WDR image? If it's just some image manipulation then you could do the same in a video editor after recording. If you are taking multiple exposures then you may as well call it HDR.

But dashcam capture moving objects almost all the time and using HDR to catching moving object is bad.

Low contrast is good for action camera, user can add contrast in software editor, but I don't think user will take much time to edit dash cam video.
I think the sharp is not much related to the bitrate, maybe 10Mbps is enough for Hisilicon chipset.
I also checked the DDPAI official youtube channel, seems have same effect.
I have some other dash cams based on Hisilicon platform, will also do some check.
As @jokiin said, different hardware have different characters.

I will share some daytime video for reference.

I think dashcam was used to record evens. Don't need beautiful footage. So dashcam needs a bright and clean image, not a beautiful footage. That's my point of view.

 

[nfshp253]

I'm very interested in purchasing the A119. May I know what's the bitrate for the 1080p60 videos? And should I wait for the A119S if my priority is to capture license plates while in motion?

 

[viofo]

I'm very interested in purchasing the A119. May I know what's the bitrate for the 1080p60 videos? And should I wait for the A119S if my priority is to capture license plates while in motion?

We suggest use the 1440p instead of 1080P, the bitrate is 20Mbps.

 

[niko]

We suggest use the 1440p instead of 1080P, the bitrate is 20Mbps.

I am on the go so I can not calculate, but I assume the proportional ratio of 1440p 20Mbps bit-rate is similar to 1080p bit-rate.

 

[viofo]

I am on the go so I can not calculate, but I assume the proportional ratio of 1440p 20Mbps bit-rate is similar to 1080p bit-rate.

Yes, 1080P 60fps bitrate is also 20Mbps, we can still improve it, but don't think it make much sense, afraid taking space too fast for high bit-rate.

 

[niko]

Yes, 1080P 60fps bitrate is also 20Mbps, we can still improve it, but don't think it make much sense, afraid taking space too fast for high bit-rate.

I think 1080p 60fps 20Mbps is fair enough for stable performance.

 

[nfshp253]

Okay so I assume 1080p60 at 20Mbps will be better than 1440p at 20Mbps? Is there a 1080p30 @ Mbps? I don't mind large file sizes since my microSD cards are huge and I take it out every day or two. There should be an option that maxes out what the processor can achieve, maybe like 24Mbps or even higher. Last question, should I wait for the A119S model?

 

[niko]

Okay so I assume 1080p60 at 20Mbps will be better than 1440p at 20Mbps? Is there a 1080p30 @ Mbps? I don't mind large file sizes since my microSD cards are huge and I take it out every day or two. There should be an option that maxes out what the processor can achieve, maybe like 24Mbps or even higher. Last question, should I wait for the A119S model?

With high rate of data recording it is more important not size of memory card, but its type and writing (deleting/overwriting) technical specs.