A119 Mini Test & Review PP

[Panzer Platform]

You forgot to specify the settings under which the DVR was tested and now works 12-16 hours a day.

My appologies K,
Please forgive my inexperience, I knew I forgot something. lol
I've been using 2K@60fps, High Bitrate, Normal Recording Mode.
-Chuck

 

[Panzer Platform]

2560x1440 is standard 2K, it will match 2K monitors, so if you have a 2K monitor then it may be the best choice.

2560x1600 ... I suspect we only have this choice because some other dashcam manufacturer provides it and Viofo didn't want to be beaten on resolution!

2592 x 1944 ... This is the maximum resolution the sensor can manage, so records the most "detail".

However, all these will be at native sensor resolution, with one image pixel for each pixel on the sensor, the only difference is that the top and bottom have been chopped off, and a tiny amount of side for the 2K width resolutions, just to make them standard. If you do not need the sky, because you are not recording meteors, and do not need the front of your car and part of your dash in the image, because they never change and there is nothing interesting there anyway, then the extra pixels are useless! And since they use up a small amount of the bitrate, the best resolution of those is probably the standard 2K.

There is also the 2560x1080 resolution, which is also at native sensor resolution, but with even more of the meteors and some clouds chopped off, which should free up quite a bit of bitrate for improving image quality - that should really be the best choice...

I haven't done a proper test on them all, so that is somewhat from theory, if you notice that it is wrong then discuss...

Right on Nigel,
Thank you for the break down, and explanation.
All those resouloution choices in the camera menu can be really confusing, especially to the "average" consumer.
For my application, I'm only interested in resoloutions that are the "standard" 16:9 widescreen since I like to upload my videos to YouTube.
Any black bars are kind of annoying to me.
I also really like the 60fps framerate.
-Chuck

 

[Dashmellow]

If you do not need the sky, because you are not recording meteors, and do not need the front of your car and part of your dash in the image, because they never change and there is nothing interesting there anyway,

You often make this comment, Nigel but I have to disagree with you.

For many dash cam users the "sky" can often include many important mundane details other than "meteors" and so it can be worthwhile to include the "sky" in your video. It depends entirely what happens to be within your field of view at any given moment. Objects that appears in the "sky" may actually be much closer. For example, you may need to document that an overhead traffic light was green as you enter an intersection, or perhaps capture a bridge or overpass you are traveling towards or under. One time, I captured a bunch of kids who were throwing rocks off of an overpass onto the interstate highway below and damaging car windshields. My dash cam video helped the police identify the culprits.

I know from your older posts that you disdain including the hood or front of your car in your dash cam videos. Here I disagree as well. If I were in an accident I would want to capture the point of impact even if another car hit my fender from the side. This is also especially useful when parked as it provides better coverage of my vehicle and indeed is integral to the 360º coverage my four cameras provide all around my vehicle went parked.

 

[Kremmen]

When I got my new car I tried the 1080 option and for some reason it affected the EV sensor. The video was very dark. Opened it back out to 1440 and it brightened up again.

Don't know why, sounds illogical, but that's what happened.

My bottom line though is the same as DM, I find the extra detail useful, especially high mounted traffic lights.

 

[Karagandinez]

This dispute about resolution: "what is better and what is worse" has always been and will always be.
Everyone chooses what he likes best.
Highly installed traffic lights in my areas of movement are not observed.
And personally, I really like the resolution of 2550x1080 and I use it willingly.

 

[Dashmellow]

This dispute about resolution: "what is better and what is worse" has always been and will always be.
Everyone chooses what he likes best.
Highly installed traffic lights in my areas of movement are not observed.
And personally, I really like the resolution of 2550x1080 and I use it willingly.

I agree. Everyone should use the settings they prefer.
What members should not do is condescendingly enjoin other members what settings to use, declaring they "do not need the sky, because you are not recording meteors".

 

[Karagandinez]

What members should not do is condescendingly enjoin other members what settings to use, declaring they "do not need the sky, because you are not recording meteors".

I completely agree.
Everyone makes his own choice.
And not only in the settings of the DVR.

 

[Nigel]

For example, you may need to document that an overhead traffic light was green as you enter an intersection,

2560x1080 resolution, without losing any traffic light detail from the image above:



...and that is with the horizon higher than recommended and more than enough car front to judge distances from. The lens could be pointed up a quite a lot, which would also remove some of the fisheye from the side roads and buildings caused by the camera looking downwards.

 

[Nigel]

Right on Nigel,
Thank you for the break down, and explanation.
All those resouloution choices in the camera menu can be really confusing, especially to the "average" consumer.
For my application, I'm only interested in resoloutions that are the "standard" 16:9 widescreen since I like to upload my videos to YouTube.
Any black bars are kind of annoying to me.
I also really like the 60fps framerate.
-Chuck

Well don't worry too much about it, since as you have already worked out, there is not a lot of visible difference between them!

Uploading wider widescreen videos to Youtube works quite well, especially if people are viewing on devices that have wider than 16:9 screens. My iPhone is closer to the 2560x1080 aspect ratio than to the standard 2K 2560x1440 16:9 aspect ratio, if I view a video at full screen on that, the top and bottom of the 16:9 image get chopped off anyway!

 

[Dashmellow]

2560x1080 resolution, without losing any traffic light detail from the image above:

View attachment 60857

...and that is with the horizon higher than recommended and more than enough car front to judge distances from. The lens could be pointed up a quite a lot, which would also remove some of the fisheye from the side roads and buildings caused by the camera looking downwards.

So, all you've done here Nigel, is crop off the bottom of my image leaving the sky in place while ignoring what I actually said. Obviously, a different resolution setting would not work like that even if I were to adjust the angle of the lens. And moving the goalposts and changing the subject always seems to be your standard style of argument.

I made it absolutely clear that my preference is to include the hood and front fenders of my vehicle in the image so that I have adequate coverage from the sides during an impact and that this approach is important to me because it works in concert with all four of my cameras to provide full 360º video coverage all around my vehicle with overlapping views from each lens. I also find it valuable to capture the "sky". The A119 V3 has a narrower angle of view than most other dash cams and this is yet another reason for my choice of resolution setting. Barrel distortion is minimal on this camera.

I never said my purpose for including the front of my vehicle was merely to "judge distances from" as you put it. (although including the front of your vehicle in the image does indeed do that). I do recall that we've previously had this same discussion and your preference as demonstrated in your screen shots at the time was to exclude all but the tiniest, barely visible portion of the front of your "bonnet" which to my mind is wholly inadequate. Most people would likely not take such an approach even if you happen to champion it.

Obviously, you are still clinging to your own overweening notions of trying to dictate what settings preferences others should chose for their cameras while at the same time side stepping your original supercilious remarks about "not recording meteors", etc.

Despite the fact that you find anything outside your personal frame of reference to be anathema to the point where you tell others what to do or not do Nigel, people should experiment with their camera settings, observe the results and then do what they find works best for their needs and preferences.

 

[DrekiTech]

The 1080p is also a mid-frame crop at 1:1 pixel with no binning on my FW. This is a bit awkward I am not sure a dashcam user would want to zoom in this much. Even more awkwardly, it crops off the info text.

Edit: Side tangent, if you have an old version of the Viofo app installed, be sure to update it before connecting to the camera, otherwise it could be very very broken lol

 

[Nigel]

The 1080p is also a mid-frame crop at 1:1 pixel with no binning on my FW. This is a bit awkward I am not sure a dashcam user would want to zoom in this much.

I would have scaled down the 2K image to FHD for the FHD mode, but that is not necessarily what people want either.

Why would people select the FHD modes?

If it is to save memory and extend recording length, it would be better as far as evidence gathering is concerned, to reduce the bitrate setting, not the resolution setting.

If it is because their computers can't manage 2K, well they shouldn't have bought a 2K dashcam!

The only advantage I see for a full sensor, scaled FHD recording is to obtain a higher frame rate, but the current Viofo A119 Mini firmware provides 60fps at both 2K 16:9 and 2K 21:9 resolutions, and it doesn't provide more fps in any resolution, certainly isn't a reason to provide the FHD 30fps mode.


One reason for selecting FHD is to chop the edges off, because that is where you get most reflections, bits of unwanted car trim, and other unwanted image artifacts, so if you want to record a movie, the mid-frame FHD crop is ideal, and it concentrates all the bitrate on the important part of the image. Recording your movies at 2K doesn't give you a better outcome if you were going to chop the edges off anyway, it just wastes bitrate on unwanted image, the current FHD modes do give the best possible quality for movie making.

Even more awkwardly, it crops off the info text.

Maybe people want to crop off the info text when movie making, it is really annoying if you switch to movie mode and forget to disable all the overlay settings! Or if you forget to turn one back on again afterwards.

 

[Privateer]

Hi,

May I ask those with an A119 mini, some questions:

1. Is the A119v3 GPS module compatible with the A119 mini, or are they different sizes or connections?
2. Does the voice announce when the unit has a GPS lock (useful for devices out of reach, i.e. in the rear window)
3. Can Dashcam Viewer software interpret the GPS data yet?
4. Is the Wifi for viewing footage on iPhone/Android app and for making settings changes?
5. If more than one A119 mini is in the vehicle, can the app work with the appropriate unit?

Many thanks,
Robert.

 

[Panzer Platform]

Hi,

May I ask those with an A119 mini, some questions:

1. Is the A119v3 GPS module compatible with the A119 mini, or are they different sizes or connections?
2. Does the voice announce when the unit has a GPS lock (useful for devices out of reach, i.e. in the rear window)
3. Can Dashcam Viewer software interpret the GPS data yet?
4. Is the Wifi for viewing footage on iPhone/Android app and for making settings changes?
5. If more than one A119 mini is in the vehicle, can the app work with the appropriate unit?

Many thanks,
Robert.

Hello Robert,
1.) No, check out the photos on Nigel’s post.
2.) No, but that is a wonderful idea for a firmware update, (DDPAI Mini 5 does that).
3.) Unsure, check RetroCarGuy530’s post.
4.) Yes.
5.) You can only connect to one camera at a time, not simultaneously.
-Chuck

 

[rcg530]

1. Is the A119v3 GPS module compatible with the A119 mini, or are they different sizes or connections?

The A119v3 and A119 Mini use different GPS modules. A229 Duo and A119 Mini use a new 5-Pin GPS module.

2. Does the voice announce when the unit has a GPS lock (useful for devices out of reach, i.e. in the rear window)

No announcement is made when a GPS lock is obtained. Only a change in the icon color (red-to-green) on the screen occurs.

3. Can Dashcam Viewer software interpret the GPS data yet?

I submitted A119 Mini sample files to @traveler a few weeks ago. Yes, Dashcam Viewer was capable of displaying A119 Mini GPS data, but not able to display the GPS data from the A229 Duo files.

4. Is the Wifi for viewing footage on iPhone/Android app and for making settings changes?

Yes

5. If more than one A119 mini is in the vehicle, can the app work with the appropriate unit?

Yes. Each A119 Mini would have its own unique SSID Wi-Fi network. You can only have the VIOFO app connected to one dash cam at a time since you must pre-establish the Wi-Fi connection before using the VIOFO app.

 

[Privateer]

Thank you to both @Panzer Platform and @rcg530 for your detailed replies. They are much appreciated!

The A119 Mini sounds like a good unit, especially if Viofo could add the audio confirmation when a GPS lock is obtained.

Regards,
Robert.

 

[Nigel]

Thank you to both @Panzer Platform and @rcg530 for your detailed replies. They are much appreciated!

The A119 Mini sounds like a good unit, especially if Viofo could add the audio confirmation when a GPS lock is obtained.

Regards,
Robert.

Why is GPS lock confirmation important?

The GPS units are pretty reliable in getting a lock, are you not going to drive until it is locked, or...

 

[Privateer]

Hi @Nigel,

It's an old habit from when I had RoadHawk units; if you didn't get a GPS lock whilst stationary, the RoadHawks would take ages to lock when moving.

In my Land Rover Discovery 2, the front Viofo A119 v3 will generally get a GPS lock within 15 to 20 seconds of recording. The front Viofo A119 v3 in my Land Rover Defender generally takes longer as I have an external roll cage with a bar that goes over the windscreen. Each vehicle's rear Viofo A119 v3 units generally take a little longer to lock onto GPS.

I like to have GPS, and thus GPS lock confirmation because I want to have the coordinates always available for me to extract for speed cameras and other things of interest. This is done from the front dashcam footage, and if both dashcams are synchronised via GPS, then it's easier to splice the footage from both cameras together.

I would like GPS lock confirmation just to know when my rear dashcam has got a lock.

Regards,
Robert.

 

[Panzer Platform]

I love the A119 Mini voice notifications so much I made another video including all notifications.

1.) No SD Card
2.) SD Card Error - Please Format
3.) SD Card Format Successful
4.) MIcrophone OFF / ON
5.) Wi-Fi ON / OFF
6.) Video Protected - Locked File
7.) Parking Mode Started
8.) Normal Recording Mode Started
Are there any other Voice Notifications that I missed?

@Privateer had a good question about if there is a voice notification for when the GPS Module gets signal, and is connected.

This reminded me of my DDPAI Mini 5 that has this feature.
I wonder if Viofo can add this voice notification with a firmware update?

A119 Mini Voice Notifications;

-
DDPAI Mini 5 - GPS Connected;

-Chuck

 

[kamkar]

My side system the K2S have the GPS connected / GPS disconnected voice announcement.
TBH i think it is a bit much and in my book one of the unwanted "noises" from a dashcam.