AndrewL
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- Aug 10, 2015
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I’ve directly compared the A119 (firmware version v2.0) and the A119S (v1.0 production). It’s quick and there’s more work to be done.
The A119 has better video quality in the majority of situations both day night. It’s sharper and has less motion blur.
The A119S has much less distortion in the corners due to the reduced field of view. It has slightly better dynamic range at night, but it’s not a significant improvement even under very low light. The A119S has to be better in most aspects than the A119 to even warrant consideration as its $20 more and I’m not seeing it.
The A119 at 60FPS runs close to natively and there’s not much reduction in quality compared to other cameras. However the A119S has 12% more pixels to record and a 16% reduction in bitrate compared to the A119 (20mbps vs 24mbps respectively). The A119S at 30FPS is 15mbps which is more appropriate and should be an improvement in situations with a lot of details. More testing to come.
From what I understand the A119S’ Sony Exmor IMX291 firmware is still new and image improvements are coming. As well I want to do a number of tests I listed at the bottom. Full review out later. I can post raws if there are requests for specific footage.
Here’s a video combining a few clips, make sure you watch it in 1440P.
As well here are some stills that you can find on IMGUR:
Shows the distortion of the A119 lens towards the corners
A119 is much better otherwise, sharper at much further distances
Overall sharper at night
60 FPS
I also want to bring attention to claims that 60FPS reduces motion blur or are sharper. That is not true. It’s shutter speed which determines how sharp an image is.
60 FPS means each second is divided into 60 frames. Each frame has a max shutter speed (how long the camera lets in light) of 1/60th. However the shutter speed can be much faster let’s say 1/5000th of a second every frame.
This is why during the day if you freeze frame 30FPS video, the license plates are sharp because the shutter speed is very fast. At night there is less light so the camera can compensate by either slowing the shutter speed to increase light or bump up the ISO which increases noise.
Here’s a good image which explains what I mean:
Further Testing
I need to test both camera on both halves of my windshield and on a larger vehicle. This can help rule out distortion and other effects which can cause problems. I want to do some more dynamic range testing which should play into the A119S strengths. The daylight video was overcast, not many shadows.
I also want to more thoroughly test out 60FPS mode.
UPDATE: New Video
Did some comparisons on the left hand side which appears less blurry. A119S looks better and more on par with the A119. The corners the A119S definitely has a lead. In other parts the A119 is sharper. According to the owner of Street Guardian says the firmware has a ways to go so it's possible in the future the video quality will be improved.
Right now I do think the A119 remains better but that may change in the future.
The A119 has better video quality in the majority of situations both day night. It’s sharper and has less motion blur.
The A119S has much less distortion in the corners due to the reduced field of view. It has slightly better dynamic range at night, but it’s not a significant improvement even under very low light. The A119S has to be better in most aspects than the A119 to even warrant consideration as its $20 more and I’m not seeing it.
The A119 at 60FPS runs close to natively and there’s not much reduction in quality compared to other cameras. However the A119S has 12% more pixels to record and a 16% reduction in bitrate compared to the A119 (20mbps vs 24mbps respectively). The A119S at 30FPS is 15mbps which is more appropriate and should be an improvement in situations with a lot of details. More testing to come.
From what I understand the A119S’ Sony Exmor IMX291 firmware is still new and image improvements are coming. As well I want to do a number of tests I listed at the bottom. Full review out later. I can post raws if there are requests for specific footage.
Here’s a video combining a few clips, make sure you watch it in 1440P.
As well here are some stills that you can find on IMGUR:
Shows the distortion of the A119 lens towards the corners
A119 is much better otherwise, sharper at much further distances
Overall sharper at night
60 FPS
I also want to bring attention to claims that 60FPS reduces motion blur or are sharper. That is not true. It’s shutter speed which determines how sharp an image is.
60 FPS means each second is divided into 60 frames. Each frame has a max shutter speed (how long the camera lets in light) of 1/60th. However the shutter speed can be much faster let’s say 1/5000th of a second every frame.
This is why during the day if you freeze frame 30FPS video, the license plates are sharp because the shutter speed is very fast. At night there is less light so the camera can compensate by either slowing the shutter speed to increase light or bump up the ISO which increases noise.
Here’s a good image which explains what I mean:
Further Testing
I need to test both camera on both halves of my windshield and on a larger vehicle. This can help rule out distortion and other effects which can cause problems. I want to do some more dynamic range testing which should play into the A119S strengths. The daylight video was overcast, not many shadows.
I also want to more thoroughly test out 60FPS mode.
UPDATE: New Video
Did some comparisons on the left hand side which appears less blurry. A119S looks better and more on par with the A119. The corners the A119S definitely has a lead. In other parts the A119 is sharper. According to the owner of Street Guardian says the firmware has a ways to go so it's possible in the future the video quality will be improved.
Right now I do think the A119 remains better but that may change in the future.
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