A129 Pro Duo 4K Bufferd Parking Mode!

[Sdeel7491]

Hi just had a chat with Becky on Viofo website, she told me that the new Pro Duo 4K will not have the same problems that myself and other owners of the A129 Duo with Bufferd Parking Mode are having.

Can anyone useing the Pro Duo 4K camera confirm that !

 

[TonyM]

I assume you are referring to the g-sensor in parking mode? EDIT : I've not done any parking mode impact testing with the Pro, since I am not sure how to simulate a real impact without damaging my car.

There is a good chance that they share the same hardware, so any changes from Viofo could be applied to both cameras.

 

[Nigel]

Can you summarize what your problems are, then we can check if they are there or not... and make it a really simple summary, not many pages of posts!

 

[viofo]

I thought you may refer to the G-sensor not so sensitivity while in parking mode compared to normal recording?

 

[Sdeel7491]

When I set the cam to parking mode motion detection and set motion detection to its lowest settings! The Bufferd Parking Mode works but I get loads of 45-60 seconds recordings of nothing on it apart from trees or plants moving a bird flying over! Change of light!
And I've never known the g-sensor work even in the higher setting.

 

[Nigel]

When I set the cam to parking mode motion detection and set motion detection to its lowest settings! The Bufferd Parking Mode works but I get loads of 45-60 seconds recordings of nothing on it apart from trees or plants moving a bird flying over! Change of light!
And I've never known the g-sensor work even in the higher setting.

For the Buffered Parking Mode:

Currently there is no option to turn the motion detection off, so it is inevitable that there will be a lot of small files showing something moving, and most of those will not be interesting since damage to your car rarely occurs. The small files do not use much card space, only 47MB each, so even having hundreds of them is not an issue other than finding the one that you want, which hopefully you will rarely need to do.

Do you want a Parking Mode Motion Detection - Off option? That would miss things that don't trigger the g-sensor, so I'm not sure that it is desirable...

On my testing the g-sensor does trigger, and I hear the g-sensor beeping. Not sure if it triggers a file or not since I can't trigger it without moving the camera enough for visual motion detection to also trigger, and the files from visual motion detection and g-sensor trigger look the same to me. I think it would be good to have the g-sensor files identifiable in some way, by file name, location, attributes or whatever.

 

[jokiin]

On my testing the g-sensor does trigger, and I hear the g-sensor beeping. Not sure if it triggers a file or not since I can't trigger it without moving the camera enough for visual motion detection to also trigger, and the files from visual motion detection and g-sensor trigger look the same to me.

easy to test, cover the lens so visual motion won't be the source of the trigger

 

[Nigel]

easy to test, cover the lens so visual motion won't be the source of the trigger

I put it in a box, put the lid on the box, waited a few minutes, then shook the box.

Problem is that the g-sensor only triggers its beeping if I take the lid off the box, seems to think that if there is only blackness to see then there is no point recording video! As soon as I take the lid off the box the motion detection triggers, before I've had a chance to trigger the g-sensor. With the lid off the box the g-sensor triggers easily, but the motion detection always triggers first.

Maybe I need to put a torch inside the box, but then it needs securing so that neither torch or camera can move when I shake the box...

 

[jokiin]

I put it in a box, put the lid on the box, waited a few minutes, then shook the box.

Problem is that the g-sensor only triggers its beeping if I take the lid off the box, seems to think that if there is only blackness to see then there is no point recording video!

taking the lid off will trigger motion detect due to change in lighting, it's not going to analyse a G-Sensor event and decide that the video is black so no point recording, from your test it is not triggering, cover the lens is easier, no need to put it in a box then

 

[Nigel]

it's not going to analyse a G-Sensor event and decide that the video is black so no point recording

Only other explanation I have is that maybe the g-sensor will only trigger and beep if motion detection has already triggered a recording, but that would not be good for recording an impact with your car that was out of sight of the lens. Of course a proper impact will move the car and trigger the motion detection anyway.

I think replacing the g-sensor with "Sound Detection" so that unusually loud noises trigger the recordings would be more useful!

 

[TonyM]

With the lid off the box the g-sensor triggers easily, but the motion detection always triggers first.

What does the motion detection trigger? An event recording, or just a parking mode recording?

maybe the g-sensor will only trigger and beep if motion detection has already triggered a recording

If the g-sensor can only be triggered when recording is already in progress, that could explain a few things, including your reports that the g-sensor works in low bitrate parking mode. I'm not sure it's true that the g-sensor can only be triggered when the camera is recording.

Can you test this:
- Trigger a 30s recording by motion, cover the lens, then try to trigger the g-sensor during the 30s recording

 

[Nigel]

If the g-sensor can only be triggered when recording is already in progress, that could explain a few things, including your reports that the g-sensor works in low bitrate parking mode. I'm not sure it's true that the g-sensor can only be triggered when the camera is recording.

Can you test this:
- Trigger a 30s recording by motion, cover the lens, then try to trigger the g-sensor during the 30s recording

Yes, the g-sensor will beep if I bump the box within 30 seconds of putting the lid on, after 30 seconds it doesn't until I remove the lid again.

What does the motion detection trigger? An event recording, or just a parking mode recording?

It records a PF/PR file in the normal recording folder with the Read Only attribute set, which I think are supposed to loop separately to the normal F/R files after filling 30% of the card space, although I'm still testing that bit since it takes many days to collect enough files, and although I could cheat and create some files, doing that did not end well!

 

[TonyM]

If the g-sensor can only be triggered when recording is already in progress, that could explain a few things, including your reports that the g-sensor works in low bitrate parking mode.

Yes, the g-sensor will beep if I bump the box within 30 seconds of putting the lid on, after 30 seconds it doesn't until I remove the lid again.

So, are we thinking that in Auto Event Detection mode (buffered parking mode) the A129 Pro, and likely the standard A129, will only respond to the g-sensor if a motion-triggered video recording is currently in progress?

 

[Nigel]

So, are we thinking that in Auto Event Detection mode (buffered parking mode) the A129 Pro, and likely the standard A129, will only respond to the g-sensor if a motion-triggered video recording is currently in progress?

As far as I can see with the A129 Pro, that is correct. I haven't tested an A129 Duo, partly because I don't have one capable of parking mode, although I could test an A129 IR.

I think I have seen some posts about the A129 Duo that have said that it has worked when in the car, but I don't know how they knew it was triggered by the g-sensor and not the motion detection?

 

[TonyM]

I think I have seen some posts about the A129 Duo that have said that it has worked when in the car, but I don't know how they knew it was triggered by the g-sensor and not the motion detection?

I'll do some A129 testing later