A329 Test Footage (Day & Night)

[Panzer Platform]

How about some raw test footage from the A329 courtesy from our friend Pawel from https://www.youtube.com/@SklepHADRON
He just uploaded a YouTube Short saying the footage out of the camera looks good, but YouTube compression degraded the quality quite a bit;

For this reason he uploaded 14 three minute clips.
Half daytime / night time front & rear into a public google drive so you can see the raw uncompressed videos;
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1v78Cw5oDvr8k-SsVVW7W1F-rZy0aXBsb?usp=sharing
He recommends watching the videos on a large 4K TV.
I watched them on my 4K 43” Samsung TV, and they look pretty good.

I watched all the night time clips, and I can read most license plates.
So it looks like the HDR is working OK.
Pawel does not provide the firmware version in the camera at the time of filming but it was recorded on September 30, 2024.
He also doesn’t say if the CPL Filters are on, or off.
Also, I think because he’s in Poland het set the camera to 50Hz instead of 60Hz so the lights maybe flickering a bit.



Here’s some screenshots from the YouTube videos with my iPhone;

 

[TonyM]

He recommends watching the videos on a large 4K TV.
I watched them on my 4K 43” Samsung TV, and they look pretty good.

Sadly, I don't own any 4K display devices so I'll take your word that the videos look good at that size.

Judging only by the lack of reflections, I'd say he is using a CPL at night.

 

[Panzer Platform]

Sadly, I don't own any 4K display devices

I‘ve only been in the 4K TV club for 74 days.
The only reason I bought a 4K TV was for testing dash cams, (watching dash cam footage).
Before I got this 4K TV all my dash cam testing was viewed on a Samsung 32” 720p TV from 2010. Lol

Here is my 4K TV’s specs;
SAMSUNG 43" Class TU690T (released 2022) Model # UN43TU690TFXZA
I paid $218; https://www.walmart.com/ip/seort/1668182216
I did a ton of research, bought, and returned two other 43” TV’s before I settled on this one.
I’ve never used the “smart” internet features or watched any TV programs on it.
I only use it as a computer monitor connected to my Chromebook with an HDMI cable.
You’d think 43” would be overkill for a computer monitor that is only 3 feet from my eyeballs, (just measured) but it’s a game changer.
Most of the time when I’m watching dash cam test footage I can read license plates without zooming, I just have to pause.

 

[Agie]

I‘ve only been in the 4K TV club for 74 days.
The only reason I bought a 4K TV was for testing dash cams, (watching dash cam footage).
Before I got this 4K TV all my dash cam testing was viewed on a Samsung 32” 720p TV from 2010. Lol

Here is my 4K TV’s specs;
SAMSUNG 43" Class TU690T (released 2022) Model # UN43TU690TFXZA
I paid $218; https://www.walmart.com/ip/seort/1668182216
I did a ton of research, bought, and returned two other 43” TV’s before I settled on this one.
I’ve never used the “smart” internet features or watched any TV programs on it.
I only use it as a computer monitor connected to my Chromebook with an HDMI cable.
You’d think 43” would be overkill for a computer monitor that is only 3 feet from my eyeballs, (just measured) but it’s a game changer.
Most of the time when I’m watching dash cam test footage I can read license plates without zooming, I just have to pause.

Lol I hated when manufacturers and the public called it smart TV years ago, to indicate a TV that could be connected to the internet. Thankfully that trend died off.

You have a pretty basic TV there, decent enough for 4K but pretty far off for displaying HDR content unfortunately. But I don't think anyone is screaming out to marvel at dashcam footage in HDR though.

Also that YouTuber is pretty useless if someone wants the nitty gritty of proper TV testing, go to Rtings.com instead....

 

[Panzer Platform]

You have a pretty basic TV there

You always find a way to sh*t on me.
That’s fine, I guess I deserve it.

far off for displaying HDR content

What do you mean it won’t display HDR content.
The specs say it has HDR 10, HLG.
Is that not HDR, I don’t understand?
Sometimes when I watch YouTube videos when I select the resolution with the gear icon it will display HDR.

 

[Agie]

You always find a way to sh*t on me.
That’s fine, I guess I deserve it.

What do you mean it won’t display HDR content.
The specs say it has HDR 10, HLG.
Is that not HDR, I don’t understand?
Sometimes when I watch YouTube videos when I select the resolution with the gear icon it will display HDR.

Lol you don't deserve it, but these TV companies deserve flak - even the new Sony Bravia 3 which is at same price point I bought my 2016 Sony X800D (paid 540 USD new back then) has worse contrast and a few other things than mine. Which is strange considering you'd think there would be progress in eight years of tech... That's why I haven't upgraded my TV in the time since, because it does contrast, black levels, HDR etc fairly ok. I can't justify forking out thousands for OLED, VRR 4k@120 just because I have a playstation 5 now lol.

Never said it didn't display HDR content which it does, but it doesn't have wide colour gamut which is a mainstay of HDR, see screenshot below and review link is here: https://www.rtings.com/tv/reviews/samsung/tu690t. I spent a few hours back in 2016 on Rtings and a few other websites trying to wrap my head around what the hell HDR was, but it's not too hard

 

[Panzer Platform]

Lol you don't deserve it, but these TV companies deserve flak - even the new Sony Bravia 3 which is at same price point I bought my 2016 Sony X800D has worse contrast and a few other things than mine. Which is strange considering you'd think there would be progress in eight years of tech... That's why I haven't upgraded my TV in the time since, because it does contrast, black levels, HDR etc fairly ok. I can't justify forking out thousands for OLED, VRR 4k@120 just because I have a playstation 5 now lol.

Never said it didn't display HDR content which it does, but it doesn't have wide colour gamut which is a mainstay of HDR, see screenshot below and review link is here: https://www.rtings.com/tv/reviews/samsung/tu690t. I spent a few hours back in 2016 on Rtings and a few other websites trying to wrap my head around what the hell HDR was, but it's not too hard

OK, I read the articles.
It sounds like I got basic 4K TV for $218 that will not be "colorful".
Can you recommend a Samsung TV for me that you approve of?

 

[Agie]

OK, I read the articles.
It sounds like I got basic 4K TV for $218 that will not be "colorful".
Can you recommend a Samsung TV for me that you approve of?

It's hard to explain to someone unless they've seen HDR content. Which first time to me was the weirdest thing ever because things like the white sky in movies, looked like someone had shone a torch in my eyes - had this white bright glow to it. Other colours apart from white were quite saturated and popping.

Depends what your needs are to be honest. Like I said, your TV is basically fine cos you bought it for 4K watching, which it nails. The other thing I forgot to mention is that HDR needs to be 10bit too, if it's 8bit only you won't see all the colour effects I'm talking about. Because 8bit is basically the 16 million colours we've been displaying for the last 20 years anyways - 10bit is a billion colours. So yeah, a decent and expected HDR TV would have 10bit or 12bit panel and wide colour gamut.

HDR in dashcams with our Sony sensors is 8bit as far as I know, I need to have a look at MediaInfo (windows program), it will say whether a file is 8bit or 10bit or whatever but I'm pretty sure it isn't. Cell phone cameras are 10bit HDR when they capture video for a lot of midrange to high end, mine captures it.

As for Samsung TVs, you'd have to pay a lot more I think. I've never had issues with Sony in all my years, they tend to use LG panels I think though. If you're watching HDR movies or on YouTube or streaming services, then by all means get a better TV but if not, I'd save your cash.

 

[Nigel]

So yeah, a decent and expected HDR TV would have 10bit or 12bit panel and wide colour gamut.

10 bit is as much as your eyes are going to be able to see, 12 bit is for cameras so that you have some room for making adjustments in the video editing. So while you may want a 12 bit HDR camera, HDR10 is fine for a display, unless you are a professional video editor.

If you want your dashcam video to have a wide colour gamut, you are going to need a dashcam with an image sensor that has a wide colour gamut. How wide can you actually get out of a Sony Starvis sensor?

Realistically, a wide colour gamut is not going to help with license plate reading, but the 10 bit HDR can, it gives 8x the number of brightness levels, so when @Panzer Platform complains about not being able to have both license plates and road signs correctly exposed, the HDR10 effectively gives 8x the exposure range, and the answer is yes, you can have everything correctly exposed, although there are of course still limits! (8x the exposure range is maybe not technically correct, but if you don't worry about the brightness levels being correct then it is correct, currently we don't have correct brightness levels anyway due to trying to squash a huge exposure range into only 8 bits, which is not sufficient.)

 

[Agie]

10 bit is as much as your eyes are going to be able to see, 12 bit is for cameras so that you have some room for making adjustments in the video editing. So while you may want a 12 bit HDR camera, HDR10 is fine for a display, unless you are a professional video editor.

If you want your dashcam video to have a wide colour gamut, you are going to need a dashcam with an image sensor that has a wide colour gamut. How wide can you actually get out of a Sony Starvis sensor?

Realistically, a wide colour gamut is not going to help with license plate reading, but the 10 bit HDR can, it gives 8x the number of brightness levels, so when @Panzer Platform complains about not being able to have both license plates and road signs correctly exposed, the HDR10 effectively gives 8x the exposure range, and the answer is yes, you can have everything correctly exposed, although there are of course still limits! (8x the exposure range is maybe not technically correct, but if you don't worry about the brightness levels being correct then it is correct, currently we don't have correct brightness levels anyway due to trying to squash a huge exposure range into only 8 bits, which is not sufficient.)

That's it, 12 bit is diminishing returns though they will just end up implementing it in consumer tech down to the bottom eventually lol whether we need it or not. Dolby vision is 12 bit, my phone display has it, do I care for it - not really haha .watched a movie once on it then that was it

All this stuff will probably end up on a Starvis sensor or whatever they wish to call it in a few years time, hopefully will advance the dashcam world in some tangible useful way - but time will tell

 

[Panzer Platform]

@Nigel @Agie
I don't really understand what you guys are talking about.
Is my cheap $218 4K TV good enough to test dash cams, (watch test footage) or do I need HDR 10+, and 10bit?

 

[Nigel]

All this stuff will probably end up on a Starvis sensor or whatever they wish to call it in a few years time, hopefully will advance the dashcam world in some tangible useful way - but time will tell

Starvis 2 sensors already have 10 bit output, that is not an issue. Not sure what colour gamuts you can accurately get out of them, they are designed to be good in the infrared, so I suspect the colour output is not going to be very accurate anyway, even if it does look pretty good to the average person, and perfectly adequate for a dashcam that is not accurate anyway due to having to look through a windscreen incorporating UV and IR filters!

@Nigel @Agie
I don't really understand what you guys are talking about.
Is my cheap $218 4K TV good enough to test dash cams, (watch test footage) or do I need HDR 10+, and 10bit?

I think it is going to be perfectly good for many years.

If you were reviewing the latest Canon or Blackmagic professional cameras then it would be inadequate to do a good job, but for reviewing dashcams, there are not going to be many people that can see the dashcam video in significantly better detail than you, most people watch it on their phones these days! You may not have the very best colour or brightness, but that costs $1000s and is unnecessary for watching dashcam video.

We don't have dashcams that output real HDR video yet anyway, so currently you are not missing anything, and when we do get real HDR, it probably won't be the. highest specification HDR anyway! AV1 codec and HDR10 support are sufficient.

 

[Agie]

Starvis 2 sensors already have 10 bit output, that is not an issue. Not sure what colour gamuts you can accurately get out of them, they are designed to be good in the infrared, so I suspect the colour output is not going to be very accurate anyway, even if it does look pretty good to the average person, and perfectly adequate for a dashcam that is not accurate anyway due to having to look through a windscreen incorporating UV and IR filters!


I think it is going to be perfectly good for many years.

If you were reviewing the latest Canon or Blackmagic professional cameras then it would be inadequate to do a good job, but for reviewing dashcams, there are not going to be many people that can see the dashcam video in significantly better detail than you, most people watch it on their phones these days! You may not have the very best colour or brightness, but that costs $1000s and is unnecessary for watching dashcam video.

We don't have dashcams that output real HDR video yet anyway, so currently you are not missing anything, and when we do get real HDR, it probably won't be the. highest specification HDR anyway! AV1 codec and HDR10 support are sufficient.

I'm on the same page as Nigel for the most part, HDR10+ is a Samsung standard that they are pushing for most are on HDR.

By the time it becomes of any use, I think that there won't be any more HDR formats, otherwise will turn into one of those other useless format wars that companies have had over the years

 

[Agie]

@Nigel @Agie
I don't really understand what you guys are talking about.
Is my cheap $218 4K TV good enough to test dash cams, (watch test footage) or do I need HDR 10+, and 10bit?

Sorry going back to the Silicon Power PX10 SSD I mentioned last week or so, stumbled across this review here: https://www.anandtech.com/show/21284/silicon-power-px10-portable-ssd-review-/3

Looking at the graphs seems in the first few minutes of copying it does better than the Samsung T7 at least in terms of burst, which is good when you need to get GBs of footage off the drive in a hurry. I'm looking at getting the drive myself ..