A229 Plus Test & Review PP

[Agie]

Out of interest, I tested my very simple Mobius 1 in the same way. I have often regarded the boot up time to be rather short. The result was 7.4 seconds, not much less than the A229 1-CH.

View attachment 68246

Do you think the A229 Pro/Plus has such long times because it's checking the storage on the bigger microSD cards? (Ones above 64gb). Can't think of any reason why it should take so long for ours...

 

[Panzer Platform]

I doubt measuring again will show any difference.

Difference: 28℉ (16℃)

A229 Plus Test & Review PP

Just having fun till the facts arrive Keep "just for fun" in your A229 thread, my thread is all business. lol This post is for @VVonderwalle Q: Does the A229 Plus have the same heat sink as the A229 Pro? A: You tell me, (plus is middle).

dashcamtalk.com

 

[LateralNW]

Difference: 28℉ (16℃)

A229 Plus Test & Review PP

Just having fun till the facts arrive Keep "just for fun" in your A229 thread, my thread is all business. lol This post is for @VVonderwalle Q: Does the A229 Plus have the same heat sink as the A229 Pro? A: You tell me, (plus is middle).

dashcamtalk.com

16c wth!
From first time to second time you tested heat difference?
Crazy if yes.

 

[Panzer Platform]

From first time to second time you tested heat difference?

I received the A229 Pro 9/11/23, and took a preliminary heat measurement.
I received the A229 Plus 9/26/23, and took a preliminary heat measurement.
On 9/27/23 I took the third heat measurement, but this time both cameras were side by side in the same ambient temperature conditions.
Previously they were in different ambient temperature conditions.

 

[Panzer Platform]

HORIZONTAL FOV - CONFIRM & VERIFY
The A229 Pro & A229 Plus FRONT cameras have the same 140° “Wide Viewing Angle” specification.




Since both FRONT cameras have the same 140° specification their recorded footage should appear identical if placed in the same location.
I needed an elevated platform, and something in the background so here’s what that looks like.



Looking at the two screenshots it appears the A229 Pro has a wider FOV.




Q: Which one is 140°?
A: I don’t know.
Q: How much wider is the A229 Pro?
A: Based on Kentucky Windage my guess is 10°.
Q: Is this a big deal, does this really matter?
A: Any incorrect specification is false & misleading in the eyes of the consumer.
Q: What does this 10° guess look like outside?
A: Have a look see.




Oh yeah, I compared some other cameras that have the same 140° specification.
This is the LEFT side FOV.
M1: Original A119 Mini
M2: A119 Mini 2
229S: A229 Plus Front
129P: A129 Pro Front
WM1: WM1
139P: A139 Pro Front
229P: A229 Pro Front
229: Original A229 Front
129S: A129 Plus Front

 

[VVondervvall]

Good to check however I'm a bit confused.

The first comparative on the papers the difference pro>=>plus looks massively wider then in the night shots which are quite close, and not entirely of the "usual suspects", 229S is the plus? 229 is Duo? 229P is Pro (not P P Plus?)

 

[Panzer Platform]

Good to check however I'm a bit confused.

Sorry for the confusion.
I'm working on a better explanation.
Check the A229 Pro thread for posts from Nigel, and DT MI.

A229 Pro Test & Review PP

Sorry to intrude, but does this reboot issue occur if you’re using the hardwire kit or is it only with the cigarette lighter charger connection?

dashcamtalk.com

M1: Original A119 Mini
M2: A119 Mini 2
229S: A229 Plus Front
129P: A129 Pro Front
WM1: WM1
139P: A139 Pro Front
229P: A229 Pro Front
229: Original A229 Front
129S: A129 Plus Front

 

[JDtime]

Have you experienced any frame drops? I caught one reviewing video yesterday.

 

[Panzer Platform]

In this post I would like to compare the Horizontal FOV of the Front, Rear, and Interior cameras.
The A229 Plus 3-CH has a specification of 140° + 160° + 150° + FOV.




I updated my work bench with more wallpaper, and a ruler.
I’m hoping the additional wallpaper will help identify focus issues.
I’m hoping the ruler will make it easier taking measurements.
I adjusted the distance of my platform jig so the camera lens is 50 centimeters from the wall.
Shoutout to @Karagandinez and @gse for helping me with that.
I made a new platform jig because @Nigel suggested the camera lens should be the same height as the ruler.
The jig is now 11 inches tall, the same height as the bottom of the ruler.
The center of the lens is the same hight as the center of the ruler.
I made sure the jig was “square” with a level, if the image looks “tilted” it’s possible the lens in not “aligned”.



Here are the Horizontal measurements in the center of the recorded footage;
Front: 124.5cm
Rear: 144cm
Interior: 180cm
Interior LED’s On: 90cm
Shoutout to @DT MI for telling me about the Right Triangle Calculator, and @rcg530 for helping me understand it.
Now that we know the Horizontal measurement, and the distance from the lens to the wall we can calculate each camera’s Horizontal AOV.

Here are the “true” Horizontal AOV’s;
Front: 102°
Rear: 110°
Interior: 122°
Interior LED’s On: 84°

Looking at the screenshots three things stand out to me;
1.) The A229 Plus Front is 10° narrower than the A229 Pro Front (112°).
2.) The Rear & Interior cameras are identical to the A229 Pro’s.
3.) When I turn off my garage lights, and the Interior IR LED emitters illuminate the AOV is reduced, and a lot of information is lost on the sides of the image.
I wonder how the A139 Pro IR Interior camera will compare since it has 6 IR LED emitters, instead of the 4 on the A229 Pro.
I guess I will test the A139 Pro 3-CH next.

 

[Panzer Platform]

Have you experienced any frame drops?

You may want to include what firmware version this video was filmed with.
If it was filmed with 0922, I think this issue was fixed with 1009.
I still need to confirm & verify.

 

[Panzer Platform]

IR INTERIOR CAMERA COMPARISON - PROS & CONS
In this post I would like to compare the IR Interior cameras of the A229 Plus & A139 Pro, with their Pros & Cons.
A229 Plus Image Sensor: STARVIS 1 (IMX307) 1080P
A139 Pro Image Sensor: STARVIS 1 (IMX291) 1080P

A229 Plus FOV: 122°
A139 Pro FOV: 124° (2° wider)

A229 Plus IR LED Emitters: 4
A139 Pro IR LED Emitters: 6

A229 Plus Light Sensor: Yes
A139 Pro Light Sensor: No

A229 Plus IR Cut Filter: Yes
A139 Pro IR Cut Filter: No

A229 Plus Cable Connector: USB Type-C to 3.5mm 4-Pin Jack
A139 Pro Cable Connector: Coax

A229 Plus Cable Diameter: (3.4mm)
A139 Pro Cable Diameter: (2.8mm)



During good lighting conditions when both cameras are in full color mode the A229 Plus appears blurry / fuzzy across the entire image.
The A139 Pro appears tack sharp, and just overall “better”.




During poor lighting conditions when the IR LED Emitters are illuminated, and the cameras switch to Black & White mode the A139 Pro becomes blurry across the entire image.
The A229 Plus becomes tack sharp.
It’s almost as if the A229 Plus is “tuned” for poor lighting conditions, and Black & White mode operation, and has sacrificed a small portion of it’s “daytime” full color mode image quality.




Also take note of the A229 Pro’s reduced FOV in Black & White mode operation due to only having 4 IR LED Emitters, compared to the A139 Pro’s 6.
A229 Plus B&W FOV: 84°
A139 Pro B&W FOV: 98° (14° wider)

In a future post I will compare the image quality, and full color to B&W transitions during a mock traffic stop.

 

[Panzer Platform]

Q: Which camera has better “Low Light Sensitivity” A229 Pro 4K (IMX678), or A229 Plus 2K (IMX675)?
A: You make the call.
Btw, Horizontal FOV is;
A229 Pro: 112°
A229 Plus: 102°




Q: Why does the A229 Plus have better Low Light Sensitivity?
A: I’m confident @Nigel will along any minute to tell you why.

 

[Panzer Platform]

@viofo @VIOFO-Support @rcg530 @Agie

I have been able to duplicate a malfunction of the A229 Plus.
The issue is experienced during Live View operation when the the camera is in 2-CH Rear configuration, and the the resolution is set to 2K60fps Front + 2K30fps Rear.
I have determined the issue is NOT power supply related.
The malfunction is intermittent.
I have not been able to duplicate the malfunction on my iOS device yet.
During Live View operation the image of the front & rear camera is lost, delayed, and sometimes experienced interference that looks pixelated / scrambled image on my tablet display.
However, the camera does not reboot, (yet).
I was able to film the malfunction in two videos.

 

[Agie]

@viofo @VIOFO-Support @rcg530 @Agie

I have been able to duplicate a malfunction of the A229 Plus.
The issue is experienced during Live View operation when the the camera is in 2-CH Rear configuration, and the the resolution is set to 2K60fps Front + 2K30fps Rear.
I have determined the issue is NOT power supply related.
The malfunction is intermittent.
I have not been able to duplicate the malfunction on my iOS device yet.
During Live View operation the image of the front & rear camera is lost, delayed, and sometimes experienced interference that looks pixelated / scrambled image on my tablet display.
However, the camera does not reboot, (yet).
I was able to film the malfunction in two videos.

I knew it haha, there are gremlins in there somewhere.

As for what's causing it, anyone's guess at this point :/

 

[rcg530]

I knew it haha, there are gremlins in there somewhere.

As for what's causing it, anyone's guess at this point :/

The testing the @Panzer Platform performed was at my request to see if he could duplicate the reboot of the A229 Plus in 2-channel (front+rear) configuration with a resolution setting of "1440p 60 (front) + 1440p 30 (rear)" and a connected VIOFO app attempting to display "Live View" video.

I have three Android devices that don't display the "Live View" contents other than a blinking red dot in the upper right. If the client device doesn't display the video, eventually the A229 Plus will freeze and then reboot. If the Android device displays any of the video content in the "Live View" panel, the problem does not seem to occur. The contents of the "Live View" panel may be delayed / sluggish which is a problem of its own, but to get the the A229 Plus to reboot, it cannot display any of the provided video. I've tried this with the "Live View" source set to "Rear Overlaid", "Front Camera Only" and "Rear Camera Only" and it doesn't make any difference. If you operate the A229 Plus in 1-channel mode with a resolution of 1440p 60fps, it will display the "Live View" video without any problems and no rebooting of the dash camera.

 

[Agie]

The testing the @Panzer Platform performed was at my request to see if he could duplicate the reboot of the A229 Plus in 2-channel (front+rear) configuration with a resolution setting of "1440p 60 (front) + 1440p 30 (rear)" and a connected VIOFO app attempting to display "Live View" video.

I have three Android devices that don't display the "Live View" contents other than a blinking red dot in the upper right. If the client device doesn't display the video, eventually the A229 Plus will freeze and then reboot. If the Android device displays any of the video content in the "Live View" panel, the problem does not seem to occur. The contents of the "Live View" panel may be delayed / sluggish which is a problem of its own, but to get the the A229 Plus to reboot, it cannot display any of the provided video. I've tried this with the "Live View" source set to "Rear Overlaid", "Front Camera Only" and "Rear Camera Only" and it doesn't make any difference. If you operate the A229 Plus in 1-channel mode with a resolution of 1440p 60fps, it will display the "Live View" video without any problems and no rebooting of the dash camera.

Either way seems to be issues there with rebooting or the live view display issues. Just because one entity cannot replicate the issue doesn't mean that another cannot / that there isn't an issue there, that's just how software development goes.

Hopefully we get fixes soon from the Viofo team ..

 

[ozguy]

Super capacitor appears to have fallen off its mount, unless you removed it?

Did you get an answer to this @Nigel , yes it appears to have fallen off...there is a little strip/gold ribbon at the front of heat sink missing on the plus. Is that the mount?

 

[Deleted member 85644]

Either way seems to be issues there with rebooting or the live view display issues. Just because one entity cannot replicate the issue doesn't mean that another cannot / that there isn't an issue there, that's just how software development goes.

Hopefully we get fixes soon from the Viofo team ..

I mentioned this in another thread and folks graciously ignored it. My two channel A229 Pro has the 2 second delay between the activity and the actual display in live view. That is with the IR camera attached and without the IR camera attached. Happens in both A229 Pro with base FW, not a power issue.

 

[Agie]

I mentioned this in another thread and folks graciously ignored it. My two channel A229 Pro has the 2 second delay between the activity and the actual display in live view. That is with the IR camera attached and without the IR camera attached. Happens in both A229 Pro with base FW, not a power issue.

That's what I mean, some bugs are there and image quality refinements that they're gonna have to go thru. Will investigate more as just got done thru plowing thru the latest Vantrue Nexus 4 Pro firmware and app updates

 

[medic459]

So I saw Vortex Radar's review and was about to buy the A229 plus but then I found this forum/thread and i'm reading all your comments and ... i'm nervous to ask this 'simple' question:

I have an A129 Plus Duo with GPS in my car and i've used it 2x during accidents to prove the other driver was at fault. I'm looking to install a dashcam in my wife's car. So I was going to go with a A129 Pro Duo 4K as a nice upgrade. Then I read about the A139 Pro 4K 2-Channel. Then the A229 Duo ... and now the A229 Plus.

It seems that the A229 has its issues, but many of them might be resolved by future firmware updates?

My question is this: For the regular person who just wants peace of mind/evidence during an accident, is the a229 plus the right choice? I figure the starvis 2 sensor + 2k/4k is better than the a129. If I was going to shell out ~$200 for the A129, does it make sense to pay a few $ more for the A139 or just go straight to the A229 plus?

I check my a129's card maybe 1x every few months just to make sure it's working. I never do a live view. I've never really messed with any of the video settings other than changing resolution/bitrate. I just want a set it and forget install that will protect me in cased of an accident...
So is the A229 plus ok for me?