A329 Improvement Wishlist

[Nigel]

Hi
I whant to buy a229 pro, but now i whait for a329, but, i whant 3 ch, no lag, and most important, to see plate night !
A229 pro it is very poor image night, i see in more review !
I dont see release date
A229
A229 plus
A229 pro
...
A329
A329 plus
A329 pro

You may be waiting for some time, so if you want a 3ch soon, go for the A229 Pro/Plus, they are pretty good at night compared to everything else, just not perfect. Maybe the reviewer didn't turn the HDR on?

If you want the very best image quality, you could get an A329 for the front and interior and an A119 Mini 2 for the rear. That will leave you without any IR illumination for the interior at night, but you can always install IR bulbs in your standard vehicle interior lighting.

Alternatively, wait for the A139 Pro to be updated, it is about time Viofo improved the low bitrates in 3ch mode, and the A139 is now the oldest model, the 1ch and 2ch dashcams have been updated since the A139 was released, so maybe an A339 will be the next model release in 6 months time?

 

[Paul Iddon]

Ok thanks, sad, i whait a329 pro in 2025 september-octomber

There will be no 3ch version, any time.

Viofo just stated "we will not develop 3CH version on A329"

 

[beiberic]

You may be waiting for some time, so if you want a 3ch soon, go for the A229 Pro/Plus, they are pretty good at night compared to everything else, just not perfect. Maybe the reviewer didn't turn the HDR on?

If you want the very best image quality, you could get an A329 for the front and interior and an A119 Mini 2 for the rear. That will leave you without any IR illumination for the interior at night, but you can always install IR bulbs in your standard vehicle interior lighting.

Alternatively, wait for the A139 Pro to be updated, it is about time Viofo improved the low bitrates in 3ch mode, and the A139 is now the oldest model, the 1ch and 2ch dashcams have been updated since the A139 was released, so maybe an A339 will be the next model release in 6 months time?

But how, you can put a329+a119 mini 2 ?
Or
A229 pro can have 4k rear ?
...
I whait to see, a329 if not have 4k rear i not buy !
...
And i see on a329 for rear camera, it's a different kind of plug, I don't know what it's called.
...
I was about to buy my a229 pro 3ch, but after reading the forum, I saw that most of you are not very satisfied, I'm glad I didn't buy, now I'm following the forum to see what happens, I hope I won't be disappointed!
For me, the most important thing is not to be lazy and to see the registration plates well at night

 

[Panzer Platform]

Did someone say 100mbps

 

[Panzer Platform]

For me, the most important thing is not to be lazy and to see the registration plates well at night

No dash cam will guarantee night time plate capture.
Your expectations are unrealistic, and setting yourself up for disappointment.
Currently, the best chance of night time plate capture is the RTC300 Telephoto, or A119 Mini 2.

 

[Nigel]

And i see on a329 for rear camera, it's a different kind of plug, I don't know what it's called.

That is a coax plug, much thinner wire, easier to install.

I was about to buy my a229 pro 3ch, but after reading the forum, I saw that most of you are not very satisfied,

We are never satisfied, we always want improvements, even when it is already the best dashcam on the market!

The problem is, some of the other cameras, such as the A119 V3 and A139 Pro, can do a little better in some circumstances, so people know that the A229 could be improved, so they want it improved. Maybe the A329 will be an improvement on the A229, wait and see...

I whait to see, a329 if not have 4k rear i not buy !

You may have to wait another year or two for a good dashcam with 4K rear!
I think the 8K front + 2K rear dashcam should come first...

Your expectations are unrealistic, and setting yourself up for disappointment.
Currently, the best chance of night time plate capture is the RTC300 Telephoto, or A119 Mini 2.

Yes, the RTC300 does really well at night.

 

[Agie]

View attachment 74050

Usually 4k60 or 1080p60 is at a much higher bitrate even on phone cameras for years upon years, so makes total sense here. Presuming with the much more efficient CPU and Bluetooth/WiFi chipsets, there was much more headroom to handle the increased bitrates.

And throw in the better heat dissipation too just to be sure. Very nice.

 

[Panzer Platform]

more efficient CPU and Bluetooth/WiFi chipsets, there was much more headroom to handle the increased bitrates.

 

[lufa6977]

It seems like the 329 will stay at 2 channel, but most everything else will be an improvement over the 229. The new processor will be a big factor.

2 channels is sufficient. Let's hope VIOFO has the sense to use that second channel as a rear camera or interior camera, maybe even a telephoto camera. Versatility is far better
than limitation.

 

[Paul Iddon]

2 channels is sufficient. Let's hope VIOFO has the sense to use that second channel as a rear camera or interior camera, maybe even a telephoto camera. Versatility is far better
than limitation.

We will see when the test units are sent out and any embargo lifted

 

[lufa6977]

We will see when the test units are sent out and any embargo lifted

What new embargo's are against China? I remember past embargo's people were sweating bullets and nothing embargoed had anything to do with smaller els, based on components and manufacturing. As it is, there is always Taiwan as the middle-man, so to speak. Hell, the U.S. and Europe are still doing business with Russia despite those sanctions.

 

[Paul Iddon]

new embargo's

The embargo of not giving detail to rival manufacturers, nothing else.

 

[Dashmellow]

That is a coax plug, much thinner wire, easier to install.

I don't know what particular coax cable Viofo is using. There are several types of mini coax available. As a radio hobbyist I've been using this type of cable for almost 30 years for antenna connections, in particular RG174. A friend and fellow hobbyist and I purchased a big spool of the stuff and added our own standard BNC connectors which is what you find on most radio equipment but there are a variety of connectors available including mini-coax connectors.

This is a great product that facilitates any kind of installation, is easy to run and very discreet. It tends to perform quite well. Pleased to see Viofo going this route!

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[Agie]

Lol it's been a while since I've been back to Kazakhstan myself

 

[kamkar]

I really like the little Coax cables when i first saw them on Viofo cameras, and i still do CUZ in normal use they have not been a issue for me.
Only the guy breaking into my car and tearing up cameras made me think a little different, and that vaporized when Viofo sent me a new A139 camera to replace the vandalized one.

That is also the only camera i have wired 100 % properly thru the rubber grommet and onto my rear hatch, CUZ it was so easy to do with those little cables.

 

[ogzogz]

At first glance and as a general assessment, we are faced with a new camera that becomes functional over time and takes into account the wishes of the users.

Just like the a229 duo, having a rear camera cable is a good decision. In the past, I said that the cable in the a229 duo model would be healthier instead of the coaxial cable connectors used in the a139 series. I think these connectors are more durable.

It is understood from the use of a coaxial cable that the rear camera does not have its own processor in the a329 model. This means that there will be faster and more stable recording compared to models with rear cameras with different processors.

I can also say that choosing the same rear camera case as the RTC300 case is a better choice in terms of the installability of the CPL500 compared to the CPL300.

There seems to be quite a lot of ventilation space in the main camera. Also, making the cooler as large as possible would be very useful in terms of preventing possible heating problems.

As far as I understand, the a329 seems to be a performance camera without a pro or plus model.

The menu graphic used in the a229 plus and pro series seems to be a bit time-consuming to me. Maybe you can adapt the selectability of the menu graphic to this camera. During installation, a menu setting such as "classic" or "smart menu" can be offered as an option and a setting for this can be added to the menu. The line spacing of the classic menu should be narrower and should be accessible immediately. This may not be very important for standard users. However, it will make it easier to test and experiment.

We will see the rest when we test it.

Congratulations @viofo, in advance for the new camera.

 

[TonyM]

The bitrate is also higher in 4K 60fps mode.

Is there any practical benefit to 4K 60fps over 4K 30fps for dashcam use?

If the DSP and CMOS can handle 4K60, does that make it easier to process 4K30 HDR? Perhaps Clear HDR rather than DOL-HDR?

 

[Paul Iddon]

From the bits I've seen, DOL-HDR looks better, though I'm no expert, so it's just visuals I look at...

 

[kamkar]

If Sony was smart, they would not have pretty girls in their demo footage of HDR

 

[Nigel]

Is there any practical benefit to 4K 60fps over 4K 30fps for dashcam use?

It is smoother to watch, so good for making road trip movies.
Lots of people want to buy 60fps, just because it is "better".
On a race track, it is good for accident footage, when you want to see the details of the accident taking place.

For normal dashcam use, I don't see much benefit, although if the chips are capable of it then why not?

Hopefully A329 has enough bitrate that it is reasonable to "waste" a bit on 60fps. For lower bitrate cameras, and normal dashcam use, it is better to use the bitrate on extra 30fps image quality than on the extra frames.

If the DSP and CMOS can handle 4K60, does that make it easier to process 4K30 HDR? Perhaps Clear HDR rather than DOL-HDR?

No, but if a Sony CMOS is only capable of 4K60 then you can't have 4K60 HDR, so there is a definite advantage of using 4K30 - you get HDR.

As Paul says, for dashcams, DOL-HDR is better than Clear HDR, except maybe for your road trip movies.


So I guess most people will use the A329 at 30fps HDR at night, but 60fps during daytime, except maybe in hot weather. We will have to wait a little longer for a 60fps HDR dashcam...