a139 pro - low light condition w/ hdr off causes video problems

[gb25]

I'm on my second a139 pro. I was sent a replacement after having video quality problems with the first one. The second one did the same thing but seemed like it was a little better. After seeing Panzer Platform's post I knew what was going on.

I did some testing on the cameras in my office at work. I would turn the light off then block the window and it would cause the image to start flickering and show static. Doing this only caused problems with 2k 60fps mode. All of the 30fps modes worked fine.

This morning on the way to work I checked and it was doing it in 4k 30fps mode. It wouldn't do it as long as I had my headlights in the center of the frame. If I tilted the lens up or down so that the light was at the top or bottom of the frame it would start flickering.

HDR on fixes it but I'm not sure that I want to use it. I've sent videos to viofo.

 

[TonyM]

Does it do the same thing in parking mode, (recording without headlights)?

 

[gb25]

Not sure, I haven't tried it yet. The parking mode has been kind of buggy too so I haven't done much testing with it.

I've got the parking recording time set to 1 hour now instead of 12 hours and it's working like it should. The camera uses a lot more power than I was expecting and I guess the hardwire kit was hitting the low voltage threshold and something went wrong with the shutdown. The camera would still be powered on (but locked up) well after the parking timer had lapsed.

I'll try to check the parking mode tonight or tomorrow to see what it does.

 

[gb25]

I should also mention that these latest videos were with the CPL off. The first camera I used the CPL pretty much all of the time. I think that's probably why it was worse than the second one. The added darkness from the CPL was just enough to cause the problem.

 

[gb25]

It also does it in parking mode. I set it to low bitrate recording. I thought it was set to 4k 30fps but this morning when I checked the video it was 2k 30fps.

 

[TonyM]

It also does it in parking mode. I set it to low bitrate recording. I thought it was set to 4k 30fps but this morning when I checked the video it was 2k 30fps.

The resolution changes automatically from 4K30 to 1440p30 in parking mode. I understand that is to reduce power consumption and/or heat generation.

 

[kamkar]

That footage cant be right.
Unsure if Viofo people are on CNY holiday yet or what, but for sure something they want to take a look at.

 

[TonyM]

It looks like the metering struggles when the ambient light level is very low. I have seen the gain & noise go rather high when driving on unlit roads at night, but I have not yet observed any flickering, either when driving or parked.

I've seen that flickering issue before when I was doing low light testing.
When ambient light drops below a certain level the camera starts freaking out trying to compensate.
Here's a test clip;

 

[marcog1842]

@gb25 Have you found a solution yet? I do have the exact same problem with my A139 pro.

 

[gb25]

Tech support eventually sent me a beta firmware to try. Version V1.1_0314. It seemed to fix the video problems in these videos. But I was having problems with the camera working in 2 or 3 channel mode so I quit using it.

The camera would randomly switch from 3ch to 2ch or 2ch to 1ch recording. While trying to aim the cameras I noticed that the recording would switch if the cable was moved much at all. The connectors seemed to fit really loosely. I bought new cables and it still did it. So I don't trust it much unless it's running 1 channel.

 

[VIOFO-Support]

Tech support eventually sent me a beta firmware to try. Version V1.1_0314. It seemed to fix the video problems in these videos. But I was having problems with the camera working in 2 or 3 channel mode so I quit using it.

The camera would randomly switch from 3ch to 2ch or 2ch to 1ch recording. While trying to aim the cameras I noticed that the recording would switch if the cable was moved much at all. The connectors seemed to fit really loosely. I bought new cables and it still did it. So I don't trust it much unless it's running 1 channel.

Could you please open a ticket here to get help from our customer service:

Submit a ticket

support.viofo.com

We need more details to figure out the problem for you.

 

[marcog1842]

@gb25 Have you found a solution yet? I do have the exact same problem with my A139 pro.

I had opened a support ticket and was told to do a firmware update which seems to have solved the problem for me.