Best DashCam for Streaming?

[AK4FD]

Hello all,

New user to the forum here. I have been an avid Storm Chaser for the past 17 years and have been wanting to finally get into the 21st Century like others have. Currently I own a Vava 2K Dual DashCam and for the most part it’s great, but I am wanting one that streams video live when I am out chasing tornadoes and storms. I see models like BlackVue are popular but have read some pretty negative reviews about BlackVue, specifically the DR900X model.

I currently use a GoPro Hero 9 video camera but it’s a pain because of the batteries not lasting long and you have to link it to WiFi which is linked to a smartphone app which ties up my phone and other stuff I don’t need to be worrying about while driving. I am simply looking for a dash camera that can stream video live and in real-time, using a web address link that I can post for the public or stream to a particular app like Twitch or YouTube. I like the option of a 4G/LTE SIM option but WiFi also works as I have a mobile Wi-Fi (Mi-Fi) device. I would like some recommendations from any of you about what I am looking for, especially if you chase storms or live stream your dash cams. Thank you in advance!

 

[kamkar]

Welcome to the forum AK4FD.

I cant think off any dashcam really being meant for live streaming, but i think it have been advertised in some, mostly kickstarter projects.
When it come to live view it is mostly the ability to remotely access the camera and view what the cameras see right now, and access what they have recorded, even if that is not far from streaming via some service.

I am currently backing a kickstarter camera that have the option for a SIM card and acting like a AP in your car, and all the other smart things, but i cant recall live streaming being one of them, but there is a quick UL to some social media. https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/dride-4k-next-gen-connected-dashcam#/
I have access to 2 nationwide 4G networks, but i am sure i would not be able to drive the 40 min long drive to my mothers place and stream that live,,,,, i know i cant cuz somewhere on the route i am dropped to 3G though just for a short while of course.
And this is little old flat Denmark, even if as i understand it tornado ally are not really in mountainous area.
Of course now that several ( 3 at least ) nationwide 5G networks are going up it seem like 4G will also get revamped as 3G are taken down, so in the future things in Denmark might be better in regard to signal strength.

The GP9 cant you have that on a power source all the time, i can run my dji osmo action that way, the battery dont even have to be in it as i recall, but then there is the overheating problem as these little action cameras are not really made for sustained recording without being out there in the action and so get some degree of passive cooling.

It could also just be that my brain have not picked up on cameras with this feature, after all i am severely biased against live streaming and any modern form of social media, and on top of that a avid phone hater ( i actually only carry one now so my old and sick mother can reach me )

 

[AK4FD]

Welcome to the forum AK4FD.

I cant think off any dashcam really being meant for live streaming, but i think it have been advertised in some, mostly kickstarter projects.
When it come to live view it is mostly the ability to remotely access the camera and view what the cameras see right now, and access what they have recorded, even if that is not far from streaming via some service.

I am currently backing a kickstarter camera that have the option for a SIM card and acting like a AP in your car, and all the other smart things, but i cant recall live streaming being one of them, but there is a quick UL to some social media. https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/dride-4k-next-gen-connected-dashcam#/
I have access to 2 nationwide 4G networks, but i am sure i would not be able to drive the 40 min long drive to my mothers place and stream that live,,,,, i know i cant cuz somewhere on the route i am dropped to 3G though just for a short while of course.
And this is little old flat Denmark, even if as i understand it tornado ally are not really in mountainous area.
Of course now that several ( 3 at least ) nationwide 5G networks are going up it seem like 4G will also get revamped as 3G are taken down, so in the future things in Denmark might be better in regard to signal strength.

The GP9 cant you have that on a power source all the time, i can run my dji osmo action that way, the battery dont even have to be in it as i recall, but then there is the overheating problem as these little action cameras are not really made for sustained recording without being out there in the action and so get some degree of passive cooling.

It could also just be that my brain have not picked up on cameras with this feature, after all i am severely biased against live streaming and any modern form of social media, and on top of that a avid phone hater ( i actually only carry one now so my old and sick mother can reach me )

Well from what I hear the BlackVue DR900X and other BlackVue DR750/750 series will live stream real-time, apparently it uses the 4G/LTE SIM card and streams the data to the BlackVue Cloud which someone can use a link from the BlackVue Cloud to view the real-time video streaming. That is what I heard anyways that it streams to the Cloud which can be used to view the footage real-time. Not sure how true that is or how it works.

 

[kamkar]

Yeah i am not familiar with the Blackvue brand of Thinkware which also deploy smarts, the price of those are a bit more than my pension can carry.
The dride camera was a cheap way to get my feet wet in this newfangled stuff, so this old dog can learn some new tricks. ( getting 2 x 4K - front / rear + SIM option )

The smart cameras steaming to a cloud are pretty much the norm, but i am not entirely sure that entail live view.
Normally it is only meant for events, and so keeping the data volume down as mobile data are still expensive in large amounts or flat rate.
A flat rate subscription here ( mobile - talk & data ) are teh same as my home gigabit internet are ( sadly only on cable in this apartment )
Strangely mobile data subscriptions are even more expensive, making me wonder why when a mobile subscription, which are in essence the same cost less.
A 1080p dashcam generate 300 - 400 MB of data every 3 minutes, or a good 100 MB every minute, if it was was to be transmitted to a cloud or just streamed live, it would burn thru data.
Hence why many now support station mode so when you get home and within range of your home wifi the dashcam can transfer data to your home cloud / NAS i assume, and that way save on mobile data.
Also most often you also have to pay for the cloud storage, maybe outside a small free space.
I do know that in chasing, one + is to be able to offload / sell your footage to the networks fast, but i am not sure if they like a "maybe" flaky 1080p live stream, or prefer to buy the beefy high bitrate raw footage, possible in 4K resolution to broadcast XX minutes later.

On my phone i have 30 hours speech and 30 GB data which is way overkill, as in a month i only use 2 GB data and 1 hour speech,,,,, 2 hours speech if it have been a really really bad month.
Sadly a clone SIM card to share data on are not a option here, so when i get the new camera i will have to get a second SIM card,,,,, which in itself just blow my mind, but i am probably also going to scrap that again after a few months.
I Pay 14 USD/mo for my phone subscription, and for the new camera i plan on getting the same deal.
I pay 30 USD/mo for my home gigabit on cable ( flatrate ), but if the apartment had fiber it would be the same price, though i would have 900 mbit more upload on fiber.
Flatrate mobile ( speech & data ) are also 30 USD/mo here, where as a 100 GB mobile data subscription are 23 USD/mo ( 4G all over and 5G going up as i type, with all " players " expecting nationwide coverage in a year or two )

 

[kamkar]

What i would do as a chaser is to put CCTV cameras on my car, those funneled thru a mobile WIFI can be remotely accessed, and if you have PTZ cameras even remotely operated / controlled if you have given that privilege to a guest account on the devise.
So i would for sure have a nice 4K PTZ camera on a short mast on the roof,,,, with a wiper of course cuz some times,,,,, rain / rain wrapped.
And probably a few regular fixed wide angle cameras on the / inside the car within viper coverage for the general perspective.
Setting up a guest account on the NVR ( i use a Network based system at home so a Network Video Recorder ) you can assign rights to any or all cameras, and rights to operate Pan / Tilt / Zoom too if you want.
The NVR have a regular RJ45 plug which i assume could plug into a mobile wifi, or you can put wifi on the sucker too, newer devises probably have wifi build in too these days, i have not looked much into home CCTV since i am setup for a while.

For sure talk to some CCTV guys for options, there are also CCTV forums just like this dashcam one.
A network camera on a NVR you can also record a high bitrate primary stream, and broadcast a lower bitrate secondary stream, so in my book you get the best of both worlds.

 

[DrekiTech]

For best video quality, you might be best suited with a camera that has AV or HDMI output and using a computer to live stream. Most dashcams I have used personally I find the video quality via the app or cloud to be quite poor in terms of resolution and frame rate.

For example, a Gopro type action camera tends to have better streaming capabilities. With my DJI app it can livestream pretty solid 720p HD via the phone app directly to youtube. Other action cams I have used have HDMI out or USB webcam feature and can combo with a computer and a hotspot for 1080p+ quality. Using a cable offers optimal frame rate and resolution because there is no loss in transmission over wi-fi but it is pretty clunky to set up versus just using an app. An action cam may also have built in stabilization which could smooth out bumps if anything gets rough.

I have not tested BV Cloud yet - that and thinkware are next on my list so I'll have better answers in a week or two. BVs big push is towards connected cams this year, and live fleet driver monitoring so I am pretty keen to test and see how their cloud and live view compares to other cameras.

Edit: on Blackvue's page it looks like remote cloud/live view is capped to 720x480.

Edit2: It looks like BV used to support yt / fb streaming directly through their apps but it has gone away. Crazy! today I learned something new.

 

[kamkar]

Yeah D1 is pretty basic to say the least, i am most of all inclined to call that a personal insult if someone showed me that quality of video, would probably trigger me like vertical video do.
i know the Osmo action can stream via the phone, but i wouldn't even attempt that if i had a UFO hovering above me.
Besides it also require a social media account and dont have that aside for youtube, and that i wouldn't even enter in the APP and share with dji.

It is no doubt the future as there are many,,,,, i dunno,,,,,, " scrambled egg heads " out there to cater to, the 8 or so people i would want to share something with, well they can wait until i see them or get home at least.

 

[Nigel]

One option is to use one of the cameras that supports RTSP or HTML streaming, and then use a computer of some sort to forward that stream to Youtube.
On the Viofo cameras, the HTML stream is fairly low resolution, but it does work, although you need to turn the wifi on manually before you can use it, probably not ideal when a storm is chasing you, it is one more thing to remember! Might be worth looking into since it is probably a reliable way to get a live stream, you are never going to get a 4K mobile stream working well, and I think quality is going to be similar to the GoPro although the exposure is handled differently.

 

[Amalia23]

Thinkware is a good tool and the price is various, you may choose the one that will fit you.

Regards, Amalia, web-designer, Work Time.