Blackvue releasing Starvis 2 models, DR970X Plus

[Vortex Radar]

I just saw a note on Blackvue's website that they're releasing Starvis 2 models including the DR970X Plus and DR970X LTE Plus, as well as a new DR970X Box Plus.

They're also using a larger aperture lens, support HEVC (and H.264 still), use faster shutter speeds to better freeze motion, and finally have a high bitrate including 60Mb/s for the front cam (up from 25 Mb/s).

Specs-wise, that sounds great, and personally I'm ready to say good riddance to my DR970X.

[Press Release] BlackVue To Unveil New STARVIS 2-Powered 4K Cloud Dash Cams At SEMA 2023 In Las Vegas

South Korean Dashboard Camera Manufacturer To Unveil Upcoming 4K Cloud Models, Including Box, Featuring Sony STARVIS 2 Sensors, New Lenses And HEVC Compression SEONGNAM — October 30, 2023 — BlackVue Dash Cameras is thrilled to give visitors of the 2023 Specialty Equipment Market Association...

blackvue.com

 

[ImpliedConsent]

I got burned with the 970X. Next upgrade had better be miles ahead of their competitors. This is just playing catchup.

 

[kamkar]

60 MB/s HEVC that i would mark as very desirable, then again i would probably also want another kind of storage than a small card.
I suppose that 970 BOX plus is the high bitrate thing ? i would assume it take something like that to successfully pull that off.
Even if it dont look to have very much space / way of improved cooling, TBH i would expect something with the volume of a 4 pack ( can ) of beer / softdrink to really be useable.

 

[Nigel]

I suppose that 970 BOX plus is the high bitrate thing ?

If they put 60Mb/s in the others then ImpliedConsent is likely to get physically burned as well as mentally

 

[Agie]

I just saw a note on Blackvue's website that they're releasing Starvis 2 models including the DR970X Plus and DR970X LTE Plus, as well as a new DR970X Box Plus.

They're also using a larger aperture lens, support HEVC (and H.264 still), use faster shutter speeds to better freeze motion, and finally have a high bitrate including 60Mb/s for the front cam (up from 25 Mb/s).

Specs-wise, that sounds great, and personally I'm ready to say good riddance to my DR970X.

[Press Release] BlackVue To Unveil New STARVIS 2-Powered 4K Cloud Dash Cams At SEMA 2023 In Las Vegas

South Korean Dashboard Camera Manufacturer To Unveil Upcoming 4K Cloud Models, Including Box, Featuring Sony STARVIS 2 Sensors, New Lenses And HEVC Compression SEONGNAM — October 30, 2023 — BlackVue Dash Cameras is thrilled to give visitors of the 2023 Specialty Equipment Market Association...

blackvue.com

Cool so matching the A229 Pro in 1 channel mode. The f1.7 aperture sounds nice though.

 

[Nigel]

I suppose that 970 BOX plus is the high bitrate thing ? i would assume it take something like that to successfully pull that off.

The press release actually says that they all have 60Mb/s bitrate H265, although maybe not if you are using the cabin or rear cameras.
The cases must be too small for reliable 60Mb/s... unless they have a major improvement in processor efficiency?

The f1.7 aperture sounds nice though.

Your old A119 V3 is better at f1.6, f1.7 doesn't sound like a major dashcam innovation.

 

[Agie]

The press release actually says that they all have 60Mb/s bitrate H265, although maybe not if you are using the cabin or rear cameras.
The cases must be too small for reliable 60Mb/s... unless they have a major improvement in processor efficiency?

Your old A119 V3 is better at f1.6, f1.7 doesn't sound like a major dashcam innovation.

Disassembly time to see if there's any heat sinks or thermal solutions haha

Fair about A119 v3, to be honest I'll take any improvement no matter how small. Not mind blowing but any is any. Will be interesting to see how Blackvue deals with IQ and will be with Starvis 2 etc

 

[Nigel]

Disassembly time to see if there's any heat sinks or thermal solutions haha

You think Vortex will take a screwdriver and thermal camera into SEMA 2023 for us?

 

[Agie]

You think Vortex will take a screwdriver and thermal camera into SEMA 2023 for us?

He better haha

 

[kamkar]

" Excuse me while i slip behind this curtain to investigate "

 

[Agie]

" Excuse me while i slip behind this curtain to investigate "

That sounds so wrong

 

[kamkar]

I would not recommend to slip into something more comfortable, that might get him evicted from the showroom floor.

 

[Panzer Platform]

Specs-wise, that sounds great,

Wow, that sounds fricken’ awesome.
STARVIS 2
60 Mbps Bitrate
And Dual Codecs, (H264 & H.265).
This is my biggest complaint with Vantrue since 2022, they only offer H.265.
These all sound like steps in the right direction for BlackVue, I wonder how they’re going to walk it back to alienate / disgruntle their loyal customers like usual. Lol
Maybe discontinue all free plans, and require all users to pay a $1 annual subscription fee to use the camera like Musk Twitter. Lol

 

[Vortex Radar]

At the show Blackvue provided me with some sample footage from the DR970X Plus, as well as some day and night comparison footage with the original DR970X so that I could use it in some of my videos. It's the same video clips they had on display at their booth, looping throughout the show. The 970X Plus is using an early and not yet final version of the firmware of course, but they said its video quality should be pretty similar to what we can expect at launch. As you can see, it's a very nice improvement over the previous model.

Regarding the lens aperture, something I didn't realize is that the DR970X has an f/2.8 lens (smaller than I realized) and so the jump to an f/1.7 lens is a 1 2/3 stop improvement which is a big deal, letting in more than 2x as much light.

 

[Agie]

At the show Blackvue provided me with some sample footage from the DR970X Plus, as well as some day and night comparison footage with the original DR970X so that I could use it in some of my videos. It's the same video clips they had on display at their booth, looping throughout the show. The 970X Plus is using an early and not yet final version of the firmware of course, but they said its video quality should be pretty similar to what we can expect at launch. As you can see, it's a very nice improvement over the previous model.

Regarding the lens aperture, something I didn't realize is that the DR970X has an f/2.8 lens (smaller than I realized) and so the jump to an f/1.7 lens is a 1 2/3 stop improvement which is a big deal, letting in more than 2x as much light.

Big jump up and they can compete with the big boys now

 

[jstephens1]

sort of bumed i just upgraded to the 970x 2ch LTE but for $250 it was a good deal. now i know why they discounted them so much

 

[kamkar]

Their footage is sort of the usual, demoing plate capture at slow aggregate speeds, but of course it still demo that new is better than old.
The are also a color temperature difference ( the night time tunnel bit ), the new are more warm looking and the old more cold looking, and i prefer warm.

 

[Dashmellow]

As someone who works with color management and calibration professionally in both digital and print, the goal should always be a neutral color balance where whites appear white and greys appear grey, not tinted warm or cool (unless it is the desired goal). For some reason dash camera manufacturers always seem to have a hard time with this and different cameras within their lineup will often have a different white balance, even sometimes with cameras that have the same chip-sets and sensors as other models. We often see cameras from different manufacturers that use the exact same components yet their white balance is wildly different.

Camera calibration needs a known calibration target to be photographed and the resulting output from the camera to be converted to color values. A correction profile can then be built using the difference between the camera result values and the known reference values. When two or more cameras need to be calibrated relatively to each other these profiles are used with a technique called color mapping. It does not appear that dash cam manufacturers bother with any of this as is customary in higher end cameras.

 

[Vortex Radar]

Just finished up my video going over the new DR970X Plus models and their improvements.

 

[Panzer Platform]

Just finished up my video going over the new DR970X Plus models and their improvements.

Wow!
So excited for BlackVue.
Only needing one Wi-Fi source for two dash cams is going to make a lot of people happy.
And great job providing both Codecs, (H.265 and H.264).
Congrats BlackVue.