A139 Pro Test & Review PP

CaptureYourAction said:
Viofo and A139 Pro, A119 Mini and A229 users all state they do not work well. I believe it's something to do with the new chipset and may be something Novatek/Viofo can "fix" at some point. Time will tell.
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There is a standard specification for SD cards. If a particular card is not compatible with a particular device, it means at least one of the card or the device is not compliant with the specification.
I get really annoyed by manufacturers claiming a particular card does not work with their device without specifying the actual cause of the incompatibility. When this happens, I tend to blame the device manufacturer since other devices work with that card.
If device manufacturers have evidence that the card is at fault, they should publish the specifics of the fault instead of implying that it is the cards fault with no evidence.
 
DAP said:
There is a standard specification for SD cards. If a particular card is not compatible with a particular device, it means at least one of the card or the device is not compliant with the specification.
I get really annoyed by manufacturers claiming a particular card does not work with their device without specifying the actual cause of the incompatibility. When this happens, I tend to blame the device manufacturer since other devices work with that card.
If device manufacturers have evidence that the card is at fault, they should publish the specifics of the fault instead of implying that it is the cards fault with no evidence.
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It would be great if all cards with similar specs were universally compatible across all dash cameras, but unfortunately it's just not the case. Without knowing the components of each card, I'm not sure it's feasible for dash camera manufacturers to fully understand why a certain cards work or don't work. It's well known that the older SanDisk Ultra cards were troublesome in a lot of cameras. Even the new Ultras, which initially seemed promising, can cause issues in some cameras. Lexar used to be a reliable brand for dash camera use, but when the were purchased by a Chinese company, something changed and they became very unreliable.
The older Samsung Pro Endurance cards (white and black) I believe still work well in the newer Viofo cameras, but the newer ones (white and blue) do not. They are the same model, just updated in some way which is causing issues. To me, this seems like a card manufacturer issue. Likely a different controller, but I'm not sure Samsung would be willing to let anyone know for sure. Maybe Novatek needs to look into why some usually reliable cards aren't working with their newest chipsets, not sure. Maybe a SDK update is needed? For now we just need to go with what works and avoid what doesn't.
I remember when I used to build my own PC's years ago and it was sometimes tricky finding memory that worked well with a certain motherboard. Not sure if this is still the case anymore.
 
CaptureYourAction said:
It would be great if all cards with similar specs were universally compatible across all dash cameras, but unfortunately it's just not the case. Without knowing the components of each card, I'm not sure it's feasible for dash camera manufacturers to fully understand why a certain cards work or don't work. It's well known that the older SanDisk Ultra cards were troublesome in a lot of cameras. Even the new Ultras, which initially seemed promising, can cause issues in some cameras. Lexar used to be a reliable brand for dash camera use, but when the were purchased by a Chinese company, something changed and they became very unreliable.
The older Samsung Pro Endurance cards (white and black) I believe still work well in the newer Viofo cameras, but the newer ones (white and blue) do not. They are the same model, just updated in some way which is causing issues. To me, this seems like a card manufacturer issue. Likely a different controller, but I'm not sure Samsung would be willing to let anyone know for sure. Maybe Novatek needs to look into why some usually reliable cards aren't working with their newest chipsets, not sure. Maybe a SDK update is needed? For now we just need to go with what works and avoid what doesn't.
I remember when I used to build my own PC's years ago and it was sometimes tricky finding memory that worked well with a certain motherboard. Not sure if this is still the case anymore.
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All of that is just anecdotal information. The manufacturer has the test equipment (or should) to probe the signals and find out exactly what went wrong to cause a failure. They would immediately know if the memory card was out of spec or the chipset they are using is out of spec. It is not that difficult, usually, to find the source of a problem like this. I ran into several ICs that did not perform to their data sheets specifications when I was designing test equipment (mostly Cypress)
The IBM PC world is a mess with many products not following the specifications, or interpreting the specifications in their own unique way, requiring software hacks to work around hardware bugs. This is not a good thing.
 
I finally got around to installing the "REAR" remote camera for the A139 Pro at the top of my driver side A pillar.
I started by mounting the "INTERIOR IR" camera at the same location on the passenger side.
Shoutout, and big thanks to Alex from Viofo for sending out a 1M "short" cable, because I was not crazy about stuffing the included 6M cable in my headliner.
So far I really like the POV's of these remote cameras.
If I had a convertible sports car, (no rear window) I think I would prefer this set up in lieu of installing an external waterproof camera on the rear trunk lid.

Back in 2020 I made a 4-Channel set up with two A129 Plus units by installing the remote cameras on two fixed rear windows.
I really like the POV's of the remote cameras, but this time I wanted to try something different ever since I saw @rcg530 review of the new Thinkware Multiplexer with the external side view cameras.
So far I think the angle of the driver side camera will be useful for capturing merging onto the freeway, and lane changes.
This would have been a lot easier if I could have stuck the remote cameras to my windshield with the included 3M adhesive tabs, but I couldn't figure out how to get the angle of adjustment right, so I resorted to using two old 1/4 ball mounts.

Oh yeah, I think these POV's would also be helpful capturing potential traffic stops by law enforcement, because in my area city police officers usually approach from the driver side. And highway patrol officers usually approach from the passenger side.
As soon as the sun gets a little higher in the sky I'll go out and get some test footage.
-Chuck
 

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Get a SanDisk Max Endurance @piccolo88 The Extreme cards can fail sooner or later (my Extreme Pro card in my A129 failed after 11 months)
 
mj1985 said:
Get a SanDisk Max Endurance @piccolo88 The Extreme cards can fail sooner or later (my Extreme Pro card in my A129 failed after 11 months)
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yeah but its 2x the price and I have 10y warranty. No need to spend 2x the money then I'll have me 9 sd cards replaced if they break every year.
 
piccolo88 said:
yeah but its 2x the price and I have 10y warranty
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Looks like it's a 30 year warranty in Germany :D

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Not sure about Germany, but in other regions the lifetime limited warranty might not cover continuous record and re-record. That's why they have the Max Endurance product line.
 
@piccolo88 The warranty can't fix broken files, when you try to pull the video files of your SD card and realize they are corrupt. But if saving 5€ (128 GB model) is more important for you, it's ok.
 
mj1985 said:
@piccolo88 The warranty can't fix broken files, when you try to pull the video files of your SD card and realize they are corrupt. But if saving 5€ (128 GB model) is more important for you, it's ok.
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does the cam somehow show when the card breaks? I mean in 99,9% of the time you don't need the videos. Its just soooo unlikely that the card breaks just in the moment you need an important video.
or am I seeing this wrong?
 
piccolo88 said:
does the cam somehow show when the card breaks? I mean in 99,9% of the time you don't need the videos. Its just soooo unlikely that the card breaks just in the moment you need an important video.
or am I seeing this wrong?
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Depends on the failure. My Dashcam was working properly
 
One camera I use has a blinking red LED to show it is recording . If the blinking LED suddenly turns solid it means there is a card error but it's easy not to notice right away.
 
piccolo88 said:
does the cam somehow show when the card breaks?
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A229 Duo Test & Review PP

Hey guys, I’m please to announce I didn’t screw up my A119 Mini review too bad, and Viofo decided to send me the A229 Duo for test & review. It was delivered 2 days ago with the latest firmware "0623" , and I’ve only completed some basic preliminary testing. So far my initial impression of this...
dashcamtalk.com dashcamtalk.com
 
piccolo88 said:
does the cam somehow show when the card breaks? I mean in 99,9% of the time you don't need the videos. Its just soooo unlikely that the card breaks just in the moment you need an important video.
or am I seeing this wrong?
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Some dash cams will beep when the card fails, but at best you will get a "card failure" error with no clue as to the actual cause (could be as simple as a dirty contact). Useful error messages would be: "no card detected", "Card too slow", "card corrupted" the last two be symptoms of a worn out card.
The problem is that many dashcams will fail silently whether it is the dashcam, or the memory card that failed, a silent failure could happen months before the event that you need the video from. You won't know that the dashcam has failed unless you are regularly checking that the dashcam is working properly.
 
Hey guys,
I doubt anyone following this A139 Pro thread will be interested in buying a BlackVue dash cam. But, BlackVue sent me the new DR970X that will be released on March 6, and it’s predecessor the DR900X Plus for test & evaluation. I originally only planned on comparing those to cameras against each other, but @Vortex Radar convinced me to throw the A139 Pro into the mix to make things a little more interesting. I leveled up my cardboard box test rig, and made something that can support all five cameras, and a battery pack, (see attached photo).

I plan to put the cameras in as many different “experiments” as possible to see what the Pros & Cons are of each camera. Kind of like I did with the HDR License Plate Readability Test I did in this thread. If you have a minute stop by my DR970X thread, and help me poke & prod some test footage, and screenshots. Much obliged. Here’s the link; https://dashcamtalk.com/forum/threads/dr970x-test-review-pp.48409/post-589381
-Chuck
 

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I previously made a video testing the A139 Pro's IR & Rear cameras mounted on my A-Pillars looking outward, of the front windows toward the rear.
This time I adjusted the cameras so they are looking inward.
I think I like this POV better.
Skip to 1:18 in the video to see.
 
I have another quick question.... Are you satisfied with the image quality of the A139 Pro?
I am very disappointed that it is supposed to be 4K.

I've had several A119 V3's and this one is worlds better than the 4K.
I also had the regular A139 without 4K, which is minimally worse than the 4K but an A119 v3 is better than any A139, 4K or not.

What is good with the 4K, street signs (FPS probably) are better recognized, better readable, but otherwise in general the image quality is very very disappointing.
 
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