BlackVue X Plus Series Rear Camera - Dark Rear Video

rcg530

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In September 2021, Pittasoft sent me a DR900X-2CH Plus dash cam to review. A month or so after the review, I retrieved video files from the microSD card for comparison with video from another dash cam that I was reviewing. I noticed that the front and rear video from the DR900X-2CH Plus camera had different exposure levels causing the video from the rear camera to be much darker than the video from the front camera in similar lighting situations. I reported the issue to Pittasoft and after trying a couple different DR900X-2CH Plus cameras (front and rear) it appeared it was not a hardware issue.

The X Plus series firmwares no longer allow the user to configure the camera exposure levels. It's a firmware based decision on how to adjust the exposure level of the cameras for the lighting conditions.

Pittasoft sent me a DR750X-2CH Plus dash cam to see if the same issue occurred with that dash cam. The rear video from the DR750X-2CH Plus dash cam was darker than the front camera in a variety of lighting situations. In the DR750X-2CH Plus case, the same image sensor is used in the front and rear cameras (Sony STARVIS IMX327). The expectation was that the front video should be slightly darker than the rear video since the DR750X-2CH Plus front camera captured video at 60 fps vs the 30 fps for the rear camera with the same image sensor when both are exposed to similar lighting conditions.

The test setup was modified to have the front and rear dash cameras on the same window in my car (front windshield) to make sure both cameras were run with the same lighting conditions. The rear camera continued to record darker video than the front camera. I moved the DR750X-2CH Plus dash cam to another vehicle to make sure the issue was not vehicle / glass in the vehicle specific. None of my vehicles have any tint installed. The video from the test in the second vehicle was the same as the first vehicle - darker video from the rear camera.

Pittasoft tested another DR750X-2CH Plus dash cam in their office before sending it to me for testing. Their testing did not show any or much of a difference in the video brightness/exposure level. I installed the second DR750X-2CH Plus dash cam in my vehicle and the rear camera again captured darker video than the front camera in many situations.

Recently, I started reviewing the DR750X-3CH Plus dash camera that Pittasoft sent to me. The 3-channel configuration has the additional USB connected 720p 30 fps interior camera, the same rear camera and similar front camera (different firmware than 2-channel). The front camera in the 3-channel configuration records the front video at about 67% of the bitrate of the 2-channel front camera to allow the processor to handle the video from the interior camera. The end result is that the rear camera video is still darker than the front camera video.

The DR900X Plus, DR750X-2CH Plus and DR750X-3CH Plus all have the same rear camera (model RC110F) and all of the dash cameras that I've tested so far that use that rear camera have this issue of creating darker rear video in many situations.

x_series_rear_camera_rc110f.jpg (pic of RC110F rear camera)

For the past several months, I've been working with Pittasoft to try and track down what the root cause is for this issue. The issue best presents itself when the sky has clouds present that cover the sun to some degree. The front camera will leave the sky/clouds/sun somewhat overexposed to record the ground level objects at a decent exposure level. The rear camera adjusts the exposure level to the point of making the sky/clouds/sun not overexposed thus resulting in the ground level objects being underexposed and sometimes too dark to be useful.

My original DR900X-2CH Plus installation required the firmware setting of "Rear Camera Orientation" to be set to "Rotate video 180°" because the rear coaxial video cable length required me to install the rear camera rotated 180 degrees. I've continued that in most of my testing, but I have configured some of my test configurations to not have the rear camera rotated 180 degrees to see of that and/or the firmware setting to rotate the video caused the issue. It does not seem to matter which way the rear camera is installed (rotated or not). I've also gone through several aiming changes of the rear camera to make sure it isn't pointed too much towards the sky or ground. The vertical level adjustment has not significantly impacted the exposure level of the rear camera.

DR750X-2CH Plus (front / rear - both on front windshield) - Left = Front / Right = Rear
dr750x2chplus_overcast_missouriflatrd.jpg

The next examples are from the DR750X-3CH Plus with front and rear cameras on the front windshield.

You can see a somewhat darker rear camera image (right side) than the front (left side) with clear / sunny skies.
dr750x3chplus_clear_skies_20220204.jpg

dr750x3chplus_clear_skies_us50_20220204.jpg

The next example is with the "perfect" lighting conditions to show the greatest difference in the exposure levels of the front / rear cameras:

dr750x3chplus_cpd_22020205_overcast.jpg

I will update this thread when more info becomes available for this issue.
 
I'm still worse, both cameras on the dr 750x plus lte have a very dark picture. Haven't you solved the problem?Screenshot_20220302-081345.jpg
 
I'm still worse, both cameras on the dr 750x plus lte have a very dark picture. Haven't you solved the problem?View attachment 59932
I'm still waiting on Pittasoft Support/Engineering to produce a resolution to this issue.
 
still waiting on Pittasoft Support/Engineering to produce a resolution to this issue.

You have me a little concerned about this issue. I hadn't noticed it before, but my rear video may indeed be darker than the front video on my new dr750x 2ch LTE Plus. I will look into this more tomorrow.

Does it sound to you like Blackvue will be able to fix this issue? Otherwise I just might need to exchange my dashcam for another model or make. Any suggestions? Thanks.
 
You have me a little concerned about this issue. I hadn't noticed it before, but my rear video may indeed be darker than the front video on my new dr750x 2ch LTE Plus. I will look into this more tomorrow.

Does it sound to you like Blackvue will be able to fix this issue? Otherwise I just might need to exchange my dashcam for another model or make. Any suggestions? Thanks.
I believe that Pittasoft should be able to resolve this issue. The DR750X Plus dashcams have the same image sensor in the front and rear cameras and the front exposure settings are appropriate in most every lighting situation.

I've put a lot of hours of testing multiple dashcams (DR900X-2CH Plus, DR750X-2CH Plus, DR750X-3CH Plus) in my main test vehicle and in a second test vehicle to find the issue located in the RC110F rear camera and/or firmware selected exposure settings for that camera. I didn't notice the issue during my review of the DR900X-2CH Plus dashcam because the daytime lighting conditions during my review were mostly of clear skies (California summer - no rain / clouds most of the time). Late October 2021 / Early November 2021 appears to be when I first reported the darker rear camera video to Pittasoft which started the long series of tests that I've been conducting on this issue.

I've provided Pittasoft numerous samples of this issue along with detailed reports of the situations that replicate it best.

I believe this should be a firmware fixable issue.
 
Thanks for your reply. I have sent an email to Pittasoft/Blackvue asking about their timetable for a resolution.
 
Just a bit more history on when I started spending time to diagnose this issue. I have provided numerous raw video files and screenshots to Pittasoft over the past several months while investigating this issue with them. I thought I would include some of the screenshots from the various emails I've exchanged with Pittasoft on this issue.

Screenshots from front/rear video generated by a DR900X-2CH Plus dashcam on 04-Nov-2021. The front and rear cameras are on their respective windows in the car, but you can definitely see that the rear video brightness level is far too dark for the given lighting conditions.
x_plus_rear_video_dr900x_plus_04-Nov-2021.png

DR900X Plus Rear Camera: Rear of vehicle facing east during the morning (cloudy / high fog) - 17-Nov-2021 (DR900X Plus = Left / Zenfox U1 = Right)
dr900x_plus_rear_11172021_084719.pngzenfox_u1_rear_11172021_084719.png

These next two screen shots are from that same date in the morning, but with the rear of the vehicle facing west (away from any direct sun influence) and with it still being a cloudy / high fog day.
dr900x_plus_rear_11172021_084102.pngzenfox_u1_rear_11172021_084102.png

Another multiple rear camera example: the BlackVue rear cameras almost look dark enough to suggest I was driving at sunset/sunrise when it was around 8:30 am.
x_plus_rear_video_06-Dec-2021.png

Left = DR750X Plus Front Camera (no CPL filter) / Right = DR750X Plus Rear Camera (facing front) - 15-Dec-2021

This example has the sun behind a thin cloud layer just off of upper center of the camera field of view. The “Mobil” gas station sign can be read in the front camera video, but the rear camera video it’s almost impossible to make it out if you didn’t know what it was to begin with.

dr750x2chplus_15-Dec-2021.png

22-Dec-2021: Here are a few side-by-side DR750X-2CH Plus front (left) / rear (right) after I adjusted the field of view and with mostly overcast skies. The DR750X Plus front camera did not have a CPL filter installed.

Driving east with the sun behind the car but the sun is still behind some clouds.
dr750x2chplus_22-Dec-2021_01.png

Driving west and executing a lane change. The sun is behind the clouds in the upper left/center of the picture.
dr750x2chplus_22-Dec-2021_02.png

Driving west with sun more fully behind the clouds than the previous picture.
dr750x2chplus_22-Dec-2021_03.png

11-Mar-2022: No update has been received from Pittasoft in several weeks. I've asked for an update on this issue from Pittasoft just a few days ago. I was hoping to include some sort of "fix" for this issue as part of my DR750X-3CH Plus review, but no fix or info was available before the release of that video.
 
Just a bit more history on when I started spending time to diagnose this issue. I have provided numerous raw video files and screenshots to Pittasoft over the past several months while investigating this issue with them. I thought I would include some of the screenshots from the various emails I've exchanged with Pittasoft on this issue.

Screenshots from front/rear video generated by a DR900X-2CH Plus dashcam on 04-Nov-2021. The front and rear cameras are on their respective windows in the car, but you can definitely see that the rear video brightness level is far too dark for the given lighting conditions.
View attachment 60013

DR900X Plus Rear Camera: Rear of vehicle facing east during the morning (cloudy / high fog) - 17-Nov-2021 (DR900X Plus = Left / Zenfox U1 = Right)
View attachment 60018View attachment 60017

These next two screen shots are from that same date in the morning, but with the rear of the vehicle facing west (away from any direct sun influence) and with it still being a cloudy / high fog day.
View attachment 60016View attachment 60015

Another multiple rear camera example: the BlackVue rear cameras almost look dark enough to suggest I was driving at sunset/sunrise when it was around 8:30 am.
View attachment 60021

Left = DR750X Plus Front Camera (no CPL filter) / Right = DR750X Plus Rear Camera (facing front) - 15-Dec-2021

This example has the sun behind a thin cloud layer just off of upper center of the camera field of view. The “Mobil” gas station sign can be read in the front camera video, but the rear camera video it’s almost impossible to make it out if you didn’t know what it was to begin with.

View attachment 60022

22-Dec-2021: Here are a few side-by-side DR750X-2CH Plus front (left) / rear (right) after I adjusted the field of view and with mostly overcast skies. The DR750X Plus front camera did not have a CPL filter installed.

Driving east with the sun behind the car but the sun is still behind some clouds.
View attachment 60025

Driving west and executing a lane change. The sun is behind the clouds in the upper left/center of the picture.
View attachment 60024

Driving west with sun more fully behind the clouds than the previous picture.
View attachment 60023

11-Mar-2022: No update has been received from Pittasoft in several weeks. I've asked for an update on this issue from Pittasoft just a few days ago. I was hoping to include some sort of "fix" for this issue as part of my DR750X-3CH Plus review, but no fix or info was available before the release of that video.
Thank you very much for sharing this information. If it were not for you, this problem which affects all newer Blackvue dashcams, would be getting swept under the rug.

I am 100% are that your efforts will result in changes that impact all newer Blackvue users for the better. Thanks again for your diligent analysis and for sharing your results!
 
We finally had another cloudy/rainy morning here in Northern California. Here's another example of the rear camera video being underexposed (dark) compared to the front camera video and both camera's having the same image sensor. The camera is a DR750X-2CH Plus with both cameras mounted on the front windshield.

dr750x2chplus_15-Mar-2022.png
 
We finally had another cloudy/rainy morning here in Northern California. Here's another example of the rear camera video being underexposed (dark) compared to the front camera video and both camera's having the same image sensor. The camera is a DR750X-2CH Plus with both cameras mounted on the front windshield.

View attachment 60064
That's another good example of the problem with the rear dashcams. I think more "noise" needs to be expressed by BV dashcam users so that BV doesn't continue pretending there isn't a problem.

Btw I got an email a while ago from tech guy #1 (Andrew) who seemed to know nothing about the RMA-return that tech guy #2 (Romeo) initiated. He said in his email that they were still analyzing the 2 video clips I sent them.

I told him to get up-to-date with his team about my situation, and thatI expect a communication today from somebody. - - I will telephone them in an hour or so if I do not get a reply before then.

I have a funny feeling this is going to take a while to get resolved.

Ps: Have you seen any of the other reviewers, Vortex, etc. mentioning this issue? I sure haven't and surely they must know about it. What do you think!
 
Ps: Have you seen any of the other reviewers, Vortex, etc. mentioning this issue? I sure haven't and surely they must know about it. What do you think!
To the best of my knowledge, I'm the first/only reviewer that has pointed out this issue in my reviews of the BV dashcams.

I didn't notice the issue when I first reviewed the DR900X-2CH Plus dashcam back in late August to late September 2021. Now that I know that cloudy/foggy skies cause the "best conditions" for the issue, I can understand how I didn't notice the slightly darker video back in September 2021. The long, dry, hot summer in Northern California did not have any cloudy/foggy days, so the rear video was only slightly darker than the DR900X-2CH Plus front camera. As the year went on into late fall, there were finally some cloudy/foggy/rainy skies which is when this problem is best replicated.

I currently have four BlackVue Plus series dashcams in my possession that have the problem - Qty 2 - DR750X-2CH Plus, Qty 1 - DR750X-3CH Plus, Qty 1 - DR900X-2CH Plus
 
I suppose it's easy to not see the differences in the dashcams. As I mentioned, I would not have discerned it if not for you and your analysis.

I think "at some point" a comment on every new dash cam that Blackvue has should have a warning about this situation including the new truck dashcam.

Unfortunately, I suspect if a firmware upgrade could correct the issue, blackview would have already done so. And a point that you have brought out makes one think... If the rear camera is 30 frames per second there is more light on that rear camera than in the front camera which is 60 frames per second... And yet the rear camera has darker videos!

Luckily the dashcam community has someone like you out there who is analyzing the dashcams for the good and for the bad, or we really would be in the dark!
 
I continue to ask my Pittasoft support contact for an update on this issue. I keep getting "I'll check into it and I'll let you know".

This past week, I received a replacement DR750X-3CH Plus dashcam. The reason for the replacement was because the original DR750X-3CH Plus dashcam had a very sloppy micro USB interior camera connection slot. That looseness allowed the USB cable to travel enough to randomly allow the interior camera to lose its connection to the front camera. The replacement unit has a very good/tight USB connection slot.

With regard to the issue in this thread, the replacement rear camera performs just like all of the other X Plus series rear cameras I've tested. It produces very dark (underexposed) daytime video even compared to DR750X Plus' front camera which has the same exact image sensor.

The DR750X-2CH Plus I have installed in this car has both the front and rear cameras on the front windshield for testing purposes. The DR750X-3CH Plus has the rear camera on the rear window, so I don't have a side-by-side of the front/rear from that camera. I do have an example showing the DR750X-3CH Plus rear camera vs the VIOFO T130 3CH rear camera.

The left (DR750X-3CH Plus rear) image is much darker than the T130 image.
dr750x3chplus_rear_vs_t130_rear_20220325.png

One more example with both BlackVue cameras facing the same direction: DR750X-2CH Plus (left = front / right = rear)
dr750x2chplus_20220325.png
 
Knowing what you know, and I believe you know way more than most, is there any current Blackvue dashcam that does not have the defective dark-rear video footage? Or do all of them have this problem?

Secondly, are you aware of "any dashcam manufacturer", ie. Thinkware, that has good parking mode capabilities, decent cloud features where the rear camera is properly exposed?

Since Pittasoft/Blackvue seems to have little or no interest in fixing this rear-dashcam problem, it may be time to think out of the box...
 
Knowing what you know, and I believe you know way more than most, is there any current Blackvue dashcam that does not have the defective dark-rear video footage? Or do all of them have this problem?

Secondly, are you aware of "any dashcam manufacturer", ie. Thinkware, that has good parking mode capabilities, decent cloud features where the rear camera is properly exposed?

Since Pittasoft/Blackvue seems to have little or no interest in fixing this rear-dashcam problem, it may be time to think out of the box...
I believe all of the X Plus series dashcams that include the model RC110F 1080p rear camera will have the issue. The models that I have tested and that I know have that rear camera and have the underexposed rear camera video are the DR750X-2CH Plus, DR750X-3CH Plus, DR900X-2CH Plus. I have not had the opportunity to try any of the X Plus Truck dashcams to see if those rear cameras have the same issue.

I have not tried any of the current generation Thinkware dashcams. My very first dashcam was the Thinkware F800 Pro. I’ve not been offered any of their recent dashcams to review, so I don’t have any first hand knowledge of their cloud capabilities.
 
I believe all of the X Plus series dashcams that include the model RC110F 1080p rear camera will have the issue. The models that I have tested and that I know have that rear camera and have the underexposed rear camera video are the DR750X-2CH Plus, DR750X-3CH Plus, DR900X-2CH Plus. I have not had the opportunity to try any of the X Plus Truck dashcams to see if those rear cameras have the same issue.

I have not tried any of the current generation Thinkware dashcams. My very first dashcam was the Thinkware F800 Pro. I’ve not been offered any of their recent dashcams to review, so I don’t have any first hand knowledge of their cloud capabilities.
I can tell you first-hand that the DR750 2Ch LTE Plus has the same problem which makes sense because it uses the same rear dashcam with the same Starvis IMX327 sensor.

I would think the million dollar question is "Can Pittasoft/Blackvue provide a Firmware upgrade that allows users to adjust the rear dashcam exposure as they used to allow on other older models?

And if so, why haven't they done so yet? - - Pittasoft/Blackvue has known about this problem for at least 5 months!
 
I can tell you first-hand that the DR750 2Ch LTE Plus has the same problem which makes sense because it uses the same rear dashcam with the same Starvis IMX327 sensor.
Just in case another person is viewing this thread, I think you meant to say the DR750X-2CH LTE Plus dashcam has this problem. :)
 
I moved the DR750X-3CH Plus dashcam’s rear camera to the front windshield to have both the front and rear cameras exposed to the same lighting conditions just like the DR750X-2CH Plus dashcam I have on that same windshield. The replacement DR750X-3CH Plus rear video is still underexposed compared to the front video.

We had a rare, for this winter, cloudy day in northern California today. This usually presents the best conditions for the dark (underexposed) rear video problem. The rear camera video is still dark compared to the front camera, just like any other X Plus series dashcam with the same RC110F rear camera.

dr750x3chplus_20220328.png

Here is a screenshot of the DR750X-2CH Plus front/rear video at the same location/time. The rear video is almost identical between the 2CH and 3CH dashcams, but the front video from the DR750X-2CH Plus seems to overexpose the clouds in the sky just a bit more than the DR750X-3CH Plus front camera did.

dr750x2chplus_20220328.png

I've reported this additional set of test results to my Pittasoft support representative. Yet again, I asked for an update on this issue that has been ongoing (for me) since November 2021 when I first reported it after reviewing footage from a DR900X-2CH Plus dashcam.
 
Here's another cloudy day in Northern California. I just got my replacement dashcams back (front & rear) from Blackvue. Both cams are mounted on the front windshield. This 1-minute clip has clouds coming from two directions... pardon the 20 seconds or so at the signal light. Overall, I'd say things look much better! Before, the rear dashcam was noticeably darker. They look pretty similar now.

Front Dashcam Video
Rear Dashcam Video

Btw the rear dashcam is the same model as all the other newer Blackvue rear dashcams - RC110F and I am using the newest firmware for my DR750X-2ch LTE Plus (1002). Here are the 2 video clips with the darker rear dashcam that I shared before on another thread a while back:

Front Dashcam Video
Rear Dashcam Video

If I am missing something obvious, please let me know. I especially appreciate feedback from our resident Blackvue expert - @rcg530.
 
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Here's another cloudy day in Northern California. I just got my replacement dashcams back (front & rear) from Blackvue. Both cams are mounted on the front windshield. This 1-minute clip has clouds coming from two directions... pardon the 20 seconds or so at the signal light. Overall, I'd say things look much better! Before, the rear dashcam was noticeably darker. They look pretty similar now.

Front Dashcam Video
Rear Dashcam Video

Btw the rear dashcam is the same model as all the other newer Blackvue rear dashcams - RC110F and I am using the newest firmware for my DR750X-2ch LTE Plus (1002). Here are the 2 video clips with the darker rear dashcam that I shared before on another thread a while back:

Front Dashcam Video
Rear Dashcam Video

If I am missing something obvious, please let me know. I especially appreciate feedback from our resident Blackvue expert - @rcg530.
It looks like the newer dashcam might produce slightly better rear video than the first one. When there is bright/blue sky in the field of view, my rear X Plus dashcam cameras will yield better (less underexposed) video. In my testing, when the sky in the field of view is slightly darker from being mostly overcast or overcast with the sun behind the clouds directly in the field of view is when the underexposure issue shows itself the best in the video.

I do notice in the new rear camera video that it is "darker" in the areas that I outlined in red in the front camera video. The fence color is darker and the car moving through the intersection is a bit darker.
straycam_dr750xlteplus_20220328.png
 
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