A119 Mini - Review / Testing

[Panzer Platform]

Right on Robert,
I really like the HDR Timer.

Is it fair to say HDR on the A119 Mini should "only" be used during Low Light & Night Time?
And is not advisable during bright daylight?
If this is true I just had a silly thought.
Most cars with automatic headlamps use a "light sensor" to turn on / off the headlamps.
Of course this would add unnecessary cost, and system complexity but, would it be possible to enable / disable HDR with a light sensor on the dash cam.
Believe me, I'm not asking for more unnecessary features & functions on a dash cam when getting the basics right is so hard to do in the first place. lol
I'm just wondering if it's possible.
-Chuck

 

[Dashmellow]

If this is true I just had a silly thought.
Most cars with automatic headlamps use a "light sensor" to turn on / off the headlamps.
Of course this would add unnecessary cost, and system complexity but, would it be possible to enable / disable HDR with a light sensor on the dash cam.

Been there, done that, man.

Going quite aways back now on the forum, a lot of members have suggested the same idea, including me.

At one point, a commercial light sensing dash cam was introduced by SeeZeus/Shadow brand called the Shadow 1S. Despite some flaws, it was actually pretty cool, but not much ever came of it and so far nobody's picked up the mantle with the concept.

Shadow 1s Car DVR FullHD 30FPS with light sensor by SeeZeus

Shadow 1s official page. It is the new 2016 Car DVR from Shadow SeeZeus which is using an interesting light sensor to increase brightness in low light conditions. After a quick test I see this feature is working, is called Night Vision in menu and when is adding the most bright the image become...

dashcamtalk.com

 

[Panzer Platform]

I feel so late to the party. lol

 

[IAmATeaf]

Whatever you do don’t click on the link for the manufacturers Shadow website [emoji15]

 

[Darren_L]

Hi, It must be hot these days in your place. Waiting for your new heating test result. Thanks a lot.

 

[Darren_L]

Hi, It must be hot these days in your place. Waiting for your new heating test result. Thanks a lot.

@rcg530

 

[rcg530]

I will be taking my car out tomorrow morning to the local post office as I usually do on Tuesday mornings. It's currently 10:45 PM and the outside temperature is still 89 F. It will be a warm dat tomorrow. My drive to the post office will be a short one, but I'll try and leave the A119 Mini dash cameras running in low bitrate parking mode when I arrive home in the "hot" garage.

I also have a new test firmware installed in both A119 Mini dash cameras which is reported to fix the "yellow tint" color issue with HDR enabled during daytime recording.

 

[rcg530]

Heat Testing - In Hot Garage

I ran a heat test with two VIOFO A119 Mini dash cameras and one VIOFO A229 Duo dash camera. One A119 Mini had HDR enabled and one did not have HDR enabled. The A119 Mini dash cameras have test firmware version V1.1_20220902 installed which has an adjustment to the HDR mode colors (removing most of the overly yellow hue to many objects). The A229 Duo has test firmware version V1.0_0810 installed.

I ran the heat test inside of my garage since it was an extremely hot day outdoors (high was 115 F) and I had more options to power the dash cameras over a longer period of time with the car located in the garage. There was no direct sunlight exposure during this test run, but air temp in the closed garage rose to a max of 102 F.

All three dash cameras where configured with a resolution setting of 2560x1440p 30 fps. The A119 Mini dash cameras had their case temperature run about 49 F / 28 C degrees above the air temp in the garage. The A229 Duo's front camera had a similar temperature gap as the A119 Mini. The A229 Duo rear camera ran about 12 F / 7 C degrees above the air temp in the garage.

 

[Panzer Platform]

Wow, look at all that data. lol
Good work.

Are you allowed to tell us the change log for the A229 test firmware?
Did the clock display on the LCD get "seconds"? (before it just showed hours : minutes)

 

[rcg530]

Are you allowed to tell us the change log for the A229 test firmware?
Did the clock display on the LCD get "seconds"? (before it just showed hours : minutes)

I don't know what was changed, but I've asked for a list of changes from VIOFO. The clock display on the screen does include seconds.

 

[Panzer Platform]

Hooray, that was one of my suggestions. lol

 

[rcg530]

Today, I drove my car on my weekly shopping trip route. Please note that VIOFO is still working to adjust the colors with HDR enabled for A119 Mini. I just thought I would show you an example of how the A119 Mini with HDR enabled during daylight hours is still a bit odd looking even with a test firmware V1.1_0902 installed which did reduce some of the excessive bright yellows. I’m including screenshots from all seven (yes seven) dash cameras I have on my front windshield. All have CPL filters installed except for the BlackVue DR750X-2CH Plus rear camera (I have the front and rear cameras for that dash camera on the front windshield).

My car had just come to a stop but the GPS speeds on the various cameras were just a little behind showing a non-zero speed value. I only mention that so you know the screenshots are from when the car was not moving.

The A119 Mini with HDR enabled and test firmware V1.1_0902 is the one that stands out as the most inaccurate colors. The other dash cameras have colors that are fairly accurate (including Vantrue E1 with and without HDR enabled).

BlackVue DR750X-2CH Plus – FW V1.011 – Front w/CPL (left) - Rear wo/CPL (right)


Vantrue E1 – FW EBH261 – No HDR – w/CPL


Vantrue E1 – FW EBH261 – HDR – w/CPL


VIOFO A119 Mini – Test FW V1.1_0902 – HDR On – w/CPL


VIOFO A119 Mini – Test FW V1.1_0902 – HDR Off – w/CPL


VIOFO T130 – FW V1.2_0815 – w/CPL

 

[rcg530]

I just released a video on my channel discussing how the VIOFO A119 Mini firmware was recently updated to include HDR video support.

The video is focused on the A119 Mini, but I also use two Vantrue E1 dash cameras in that video. One with HDR enabled and one without HDR enabled.

 

[rcg530]

I was given a test firmware for the A119 Mini with the white balance "optimized" when HDR is enabled. My daytime test shows it's a bit better than a previous test firmware, but it looks like more work is necessary.

Two A119 Mini dash cameras are mounted next to each other on the front windshield. Both have test firmware v1.1_20220922 installed and both have a CPL filter installed.

Left = HDR Enabled / Right = HDR Disabled

 

[Panzer Platform]

I'm confused.
I thought HDR was for night time use only?

 

[rcg530]

I'm confused.
I thought HDR was for night time use only?

It is most helpful at nighttime. It shouldn’t turn daytime footage into cartoon looking footage. When the Vantrue E1 has HDR enabled [via 2560x1440(HDR) 30 fps resolution setting], the daytime footage colors look “normal”.

 

[rcg530]

This is not quite an apples-to-apples comparison with the BlackVue example being from 2021, but it's an example of an older BlackVue DR900X (not the Plus version) with HDR enabled and its video footage still has normal colors during daytime recording.

BlackVue DR900X Front Camera with HDR Enabled - 07-May-2021


A119 Mini with test FW V1.1_20220922 with HDR enabled - 30-Sep-2022


A119 Mini with test FW V1.1_20220922 with HDR disabled - 30-Sep-2022


On my next test trip, I'll swap which A119 Mini has HDR enabled. That will eliminate any possibility of it being a dash camera specific problem.

 

[rcg530]

I reconfigured the two A119 Mini dash cameras in my car. The A119 Mini on the left previously had HDR enabled and the right did not have HDR enabled. I swapped those settings to see if the odd looking footage was a result of the left A119 Mini having hardware problem or was it related to the HDR feature being enabled. The odd looking footage is a result of the HDR feature being enabled. HDR being enabled in the daytime has not resulted in this type of odd looking footage in other manufacturer's dash cameras. I want to get the A229 Duo reinstalled to test that one too.

Left = HDR Disabled / Right = HDR Enabled

 

[Dadi_T]

You are wasting your time. HDR it's only for night time use. That's why it's programmable.
There is no need for HDR in day time.

 

[rcg530]

You are wasting your time. HDR it's only for night time use. That's why it's programmable.
There is no need for HDR in day time.

VIOFO has been working with me to optimize the color/white balance of the A119 Mini daytime footage with the HDR feature enabled. In the video I put together on 20-Sep, I show that HDR footage from other dash cameras don't have the same issue.