so i finally pulled my memory card to see how the video looks on mine - yes, kinda blue but then it's been overcast (when it's not time to consider building an ark), which isn't ideal for checking color quality. plus it seems i mounted it a little too close to the dots at the top of the windshield, so i need to move it down a bit as well, since that might be affecting quality.
anyway, i think i've found a pretty significant bug while at the same time found a really NICE feature. this is with the a119.160321.v1 firmware.
situation - i saw something interesting, so i clicked save, and it started beeping a bunch, (which the beeping has already been changed in the latest firmware, from what i understand).
so here's the GOOD part: it left the original video file in the Movie folder, and then it also made a second, new file in the EMR folder. it appears that the EMR file starts about 13 seconds before i clicked save (the triangle ! button), and ends 22 seconds later - the resulting file is 35 seconds long. to me, that's GREAT that it basically buffers and keeps a part before the event, and also several seconds after. I don't know how it handles it across what would normally be a file break (ie: loop time set to 3 minutes, and you press lock/save at 2:58) but my guess is it would do the same thing - create a 35 second long file. as it happens, i had loop time set to 3 minutes, and since this event happened at roughly 1:30 into the file, it ended the normal file at a length of 2:09.
now for the BAD part. i checked out the regular non-EMR file in the Movie folder, and then looked to see how the overlap was to the next file. the regular file where the EMR file was copied from continues for about 6 more seconds after the EMR file ended and the beeping stops, then it ends. the next file starts approximately
15 seconds later based on the time stamp in the video and the distance traveled in between video files. so apparently it was not recording for about 15 seconds! this is BAD! i checked some other files where i had NOT pressed the lock button, and they had a perfect break between files - no overlap and no missing frames. I left the G-sensor turned on at medium sensitivity and i've expected it to go off a few times since my truck has hard suspension, but it hasn't. but i bet it would do the same thing with regards to losing 15 seconds of video.
i checked a second instance where i'd pressed the button - this time i pressed it at about 2:13, and it beeped until 2:26 (which is where the EMR file ended), and then the file ended at 2:32. timestamp at the 2:32 mark in the video was 14:57:00, and at the start of the next file in the Movie folder, the timestamp (and filename) was 14:57:15. so it seems easy to duplicate.
memory card is an unbranded, made in taiwan 16gb class 4 (whoops, didn't realize it was only class 4 when i put it in the camera) that i've been using in my A118C and in an iTrue X3 for quite some time - both at 1080p30 - without a problem. and as i said, all other normal files on the card are fine, and the break between normal files is flawless. it's only when i create an EMR file by pressing the ! button that the problem shows up.
H2testw said:
Warning: Only 15247 of 15248 MByte tested.
Test finished without errors.
You can now delete the test files *.h2w or verify them again.
Writing speed: 4.65 MByte/s
Reading speed: 18.3 MByte/s
H2testw v1.4
i just started a test on the card with H2testw to check its speed and reliability. write speed seems pretty steady around 4.6-4.7Mbyte/sec, which works out to 36.8-37.6mbps - way more than the bitrate of the videos it creates (about 20mbps), so that's enough room for protocol/driver/etc overhead. however, if it's writing TWO files simultaneously at 20mbps and the card can't be written to at 40mbps, i would expect one of them to stutter or maybe be unplayable, but both are butter smooth 1080p60.
i have not upgraded to the newest firmware yet, but will do it now that i have the memory card out (and now that the 60fps freezing issue has been fixed). then i'll test again at my desk, with it pointing at a clock, and see if it still loses that chunk of video after pressing lock.
i'll also test with an actual class 10 card to rule that out. actually, i'll test w/ a class 10 card BEFORE the upgrade, to see if it's the card or the firmware that fixes the issue (if it's fixed).
I'll add to this post in an hour or so once i'm done with the h2testw test, class 10 card test, firmware update, etc.
