A129 Video artifacts

[joshh520]

I've got the camera set to highest bitrate and 1080p30 (2 channel limit) and it just seems to have more compression artifacts than my A119. Granted the A119 I have set at 1440p30 but, at least to me, it seems less like resolution pixelation and more compression artifacts. Like if you save a jpeg over and over too many times. I know two separate vehicles two different days isn't an ideal comparison but they're same road just different directions similar times of day and weather conditions. You can really see the artifacts I'm talking about in Capture2.jpg where I've circled them in red.

Is anyone else having a similar experience?

 

[jokiin]

foliage is the hardest to deal with, the more of that you have in view the harder the camera has to work, the A119 is probably running higher bitrate which will give it an advantage for this type of scene

 

[joshh520]

Yeah I'm wondering if it might also be related to the different windshield angles too and the excess glare in the Volt. The A119 is in my GMC Sierra and the A129 is in my Chevrolet Volt. I have the new A129 CPL on the way and I'm hoping that might help the compression coding by reducing some of that glare and reflection of the dashboard.

 

[jokiin]

different vehicle and different reflections will have an impact also

 

[kamkar]

Yeah a situation like that is what a call a high impact scenario, it happen with most cameras as we are still limited to moderate bitrates, which i think are the main cure for this problem.
I have a camera running a modified firmware doing 40 mbit, that to a large degree have taken care of that problem, but this also mean on that camera a 3 minute segment are 1000 MB in size.
This same camera also generate a lot of heat, but so far it have survived a year with my moderate level of driving.

So two of my biggest wishes for dashcams are:
Another mans of storage, some form of solid state storage.
Then when thats in place larger file size / bitrate will matter little to me ( need quick transfer to a intermediate media to get some footage off dashcam, something like a USB Thumb drive )

Biggest stumbling block here will be thermal performance, and price for such a setup.

 

[joshh520]

Yeah looks like the bitrate on the A119 (right) is over double the A129 (left). And the A119S was reported to have the same 20Mbit/s bitrate as well as the A119. Makes me wonder why they dropped it so much on the A129.

 

[TonyM]

Yeah looks like the bitrate on the A119 (right) is over double the A129 (left). And the A119S was reported to have the same 20Mbit/s bitrate as well as the A119. Makes me wonder why they dropped it so much on the A129.

In the A129 menu you have two bitrate options. Those values look like you are using the lower setting.

 

[kamkar]

8 mbit are low indeed, you are probably on the low setting, even if it is VBR ( Variable Bit Rate ) then it should be at full tilt in the daytime.

 

[joshh520]

I'll double check but I specifically remember setting it to High/Highest both in the app and when reviewing the options on the menu on the camera itself.

 

[Harsh]

Correct, bitrate doesn't look right for 'High'.

 

[joshh520]

Top files were set to low, bottom files were set to high. Left side is front cam right side is rear cam.

 

[Nigel]

You have a big white hood in the first image, that never changes so needs very little of the bitrate. The same area on the 2nd image is not only moving but has the non-moving reflections overlayed on it, a combination which needs a lot of bitrate, your CPL will help with that.

I'm not sure what bitrate is used on the current firmware, but surly it has an option for more than 8Mb/s ?

 

[joshh520]

I should note the screen shot of the "low" vs "high" setting bitrate checks were static video for about 10 seconds each just parked in front of the garage. If changing scenery could affect bitrate.

 

[kamkar]

VBR will throttle bitrate back if there are nothing going on in the footage, like filming a wall in daytime or driving at night where most that is seen are just black.

 

[Nigel]

I should note the screen shot of the "low" vs "high" setting bitrate checks were static video for about 10 seconds each just parked in front of the garage. If changing scenery could affect bitrate.

Are you looking at the properties of the files straight from the SD card?

 

[joshh520]

Alright did another test. This time did a loop around the neighborhood. Starting and ending in my driveway. Same loop both times. Was a hair under two minutes (loop set to 1 minute).

 

[joshh520]

Are you looking at the properties of the files straight from the SD card?

Yes for some reason at least on my work laptop it's not showing it to me anywhere else.

 

[Nigel]

The High setting should give a higher bitrate than the Low!

Did you use the app, or was it the menus to set the bitrate? Whichever it was I suggest trying again with the other method, no need to go for a drive, just walk in front of the cameras.

 

[joshh520]

Fired up my mac with VLC on it and watched the bitrate in statistics . Bitrates were consistently between 7500-8200 on Low 7800-8800 kb/s on high on the front and 6500-7500 on both settings on the rear. I'm going to wait until the CPL filters get here and do more testing after the glare hopefully gets eliminated.

 

[joshh520]

The High setting should give a higher bitrate than the Low!

Did you use the app, or was it the menus to set the bitrate? Whichever it was I suggest trying again with the other method, no need to go for a drive, just walk in front of the cameras.

I've tried doing it both ways. I've noticed for some reason (not sure if it's meant to) but seems you have to disable wifi to access the menu directly on mine.