Buffered Parking mode

[StrayCam]

lol...it's 12:15 a.m. here!!! - - Close enough for some here to feel the recent earthquake in Southern California, but far enough away not to be directly impacted!

I was wondering where you were since your profile/sidebar says Shenzhen, China & Sydney, Austailia; clearly you're in Sydney now! Well, I'm very grateful that you helped me through all my problems! - - I was thinking I was going to need a replacement camera... Luckily, things are working now!!! - - Thanks again Jokiin!!!!

 

[jokiin]

I was wondering where you were since your profile/sidebar says Shenzhen, China & Sydney, Austailia; clearly you're in Sydney now!

yep I'm generally in one of the two depending on time of year

 

[BCHobbyist]

Please try this new 1.9 beta, g-sensor sensitive improved in parking mode.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1sXsvOUkrHLfTAKSita835OoAFyIkLFlo

Decided to fully test Beta v1.9T firmware to confirm known Parking Mode glitches still exist.
FW1.9T Beta Test A129 setup parameters with Default Settings + power cycle between each 2 hour test :

Resolution = 1920x1080P 30fps
Bitrate = High
Loop Recording = 3 min
Video Format = MP4
Time-Lapse Recording = Off
Motion Detection = Off
Wi-Fi = Off
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Test #1 = PASS
Parking Mode = Auto Event Detection
Parking G-sensor = High Sensitivity
Parking Motion Detection = Low Sensitivity
G-Sensor = Off (same results with Low)

after 5 min activation delay no visual motion during first 1 min
PF clips = 45 seconds , 83 MB , 15 Mb/s , Standby Mode activated with no visual motion.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Test #2 = FAIL
Parking Mode = Auto Event Detection
Parking G-sensor = High Sensitivity
Parking Motion Detection = Low Sensitivity
G-Sensor = Off (same results with Low)

after 5 min activation delay continuous visual motion during first 1 min
PF clips = 3 min , 335 MB , 15 Mb/s , continuous recording Standby Mode never activated.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Test #3 = FAIL
Parking Mode = Auto Event Detection
Parking G-sensor = High Sensitivity
Parking Motion Detection = Medium Sensitivity
G-Sensor = Off (same results with Low)

after 5 min activation delay no visual motion during first 1 min
Memory card 75% full records PF clips normally until only 1.2 GB free space triggers blue screen message :
All data will be deleted = Cancel or OK (repeated beeps waiting for user input for +15 mins)

A129 Firmware v1.20 - v1.9T Failures
Memory card FULL warning should ONLY appear when Loop Recording is set to OFF.
Parking Mode should NOT record using Loop Recording setting when too much visual motion is detected during and after 5 mins Parking delay activation.

 

[Sdeel7491]

Great thanks for your swift reply! Will try those settings tomorrow!
Cheers

Well tried the camera with your adviced settings today! The first thing that happened was when putting the camera into the mount and putting the two cables into the camera before switching ignition on the camera started! When I turned ignition on just carried on recording as it should, but when turning off ignition it shuts down and doesn't switch to parking mode. And when ignition switched on it starts as normal!

 

[RavenManiac]

@BCHobbyist, thanks for testing the G-Sensor with the new v1.9 firmware.

You have clearly shown that there is still some kind of glitch with the Parking Mode. Out of curiosity, did you find any parking mode combination that worked well on a consistent basis?

 

[ERANY]

@viofo

Yes! I get exactly same problem. The cam remains on without recording anything. Like you i switched to low buffered mode.

That bug was on V1.7 and is not fixed yet.



Thanks

Same here - sometimes on but not recording anything... as if it was freezed
& sometimes just shuts down
V 1.8 seems to be very problematic. buffered mode is absolutely not stable.
please keep sharing info.

 

[BCHobbyist]

@BCHobbyist, thanks for testing the G-Sensor with the new v1.9 firmware.

You have clearly shown that there is still some kind of glitch with the Parking Mode. Out of curiosity, did you find any parking mode combination that worked well on a consistent basis?

The most reliable is continuous Parking Low Bitrate Recording Mode at 4 Mb/s which uses the most memory card space and works from Power Banks and most modified firmware.

 

[TonyM]

The most reliable is continuous Parking Low Bitrate Recording Mode at 4 Mb/s which uses the most memory card space and works from Power Banks and most modified firmware.

I'm on v1.9 and likewise switched back to low bitrate recording today. I use buffered parking for testing, but prefer low bitrate for personal use every day.

 

[RavenManiac]

I'm on v1.9 and likewise switched back to low bitrate recording today. I use buffered parking for testing, but prefer low bitrate for personal use every day.

How much recording time do you get when you use low bitrate recording? Also, which setting are you using? Thanks!

 

[TonyM]

How much recording time do you get when you use low bitrate recording? Also, which setting are you using? Thanks!

Low bitrate 4Mbps parking files are 31MB per minute per channel
High bitrate 17Mbps driving files are 122MB per minute per channel

On average, I reckon I drive for 90min per day, and I record while parked at work for 8.5 hours (510 minutes).
2 x 31MB/min x 510min = 31620MB (30.8GB)
2 x 122MB/min x 90min = 21960MB (21.4GB)
Daily use = 30.8 + 21.4 = 52.2GB

My 128GB microSD card has a usable capacity of 119GB.

Average recording time = 119/52.2 = 2.2 days

 

[ranova]

I ultimately went back to 1.5 with low-bitrate recording. Any miss in recording can be devastating. Hopefully viofo figures it out!

 

[StrayCam]

Low bitrate 4Mbps parking files are 31MB per minute per channel
High bitrate 17Mbps driving files are 122MB per minute per channel

On average, I reckon I drive for 90min per day, and I record while parked at work for 8.5 hours (510 minutes).
2 x 31MB/min x 510min = 31620MB (30.8GB)
2 x 122MB/min x 90min = 21960MB (21.4GB)
Daily use = 30.8 + 21.4 = 52.2GB

My 128GB microSD card has a usable capacity of 119GB.

Average recording time = 119/52.2 = 2.2 days

Tony-

Thanks for the above breakdown...very helpful!

I'm using fw 1.5 that Jokiin helped me with until things get sorted out with Viofo's firmware updates.

Question about battery usage. Of these modes, do you have an idea if the car battery usage would be similar?

1. Low Bit Rate overnight parking.
2. Parking Mode - Buffered (when it's working properly)
3. Parking mode - Not Buffered (1.5)

Thanks for any info on this.

 

[RavenManiac]

Low bitrate 4Mbps parking files are 31MB per minute per channel
High bitrate 17Mbps driving files are 122MB per minute per channel

On average, I reckon I drive for 90min per day, and I record while parked at work for 8.5 hours (510 minutes).
2 x 31MB/min x 510min = 31620MB (30.8GB)
2 x 122MB/min x 90min = 21960MB (21.4GB)
Daily use = 30.8 + 21.4 = 52.2GB

My 128GB microSD card has a usable capacity of 119GB.

Average recording time = 119/52.2 = 2.2 days

Yes, I agree. Very helpful. Thanks, Tony.

 

[StrayCam]

Tony-

Thanks for the above breakdown...very helpful!

I'm using fw 1.5 that Jokiin helped me with until things get sorted out with Viofo's firmware updates.

Question about battery usage. Of these modes, do you have an idea if the car battery usage would be similar?

1. Low Bit Rate overnight parking.
2. Parking Mode - Buffered (when it's working properly)
3. Parking mode - Not Buffered (1.5)

Thanks for any info on this.

Does anyone know the approximate car battery consumption under the above 3 modes?

 

[TonyM]

Does anyone know the approximate car battery consumption under the above 3 modes?

I don't think there's much difference between them. The sensor is continuously active, and the camera is either recording, or is running motion detection and writing to the buffer.

Possibly non-buffered parking mode uses less if it's set to g-sensor trigger only, without motion detection. But that would be the least reliable option for actually capturing video you might later need.

 

[StrayCam]

I don't think there's much difference between them. The sensor is continuously active, and the camera is either recording, or is running motion detection and writing to the buffer.

Possibly non-buffered parking mode uses less if it's set to g-sensor trigger only, without motion detection. But that would be the least reliable option for actually capturing video you might later need.

Thanks very much Tony. - - That makes sense!

 

[LMJ]

The most reliable is continuous Parking Low Bitrate Recording Mode at 4 Mb/s which uses the most memory card space and works from Power Banks and most modified firmware.

I never installed my 3 wire kit and aborted the idea of fuse taps etc. IMO if capturing stuff when your car is parked then low bit rate with a power bank is the way to go. Very pleased.

 

[StrayCam]

What type of battery pack do you use?

I'm thinking an advantage of buffered parking mode (if it ever gets working properly) is that your camera will alert you to the times when there was something that triggered the camera... And you would only be viewing those "select triggered-events". - - With low-bit-rate recording all the time, one would have to go through lots of recorded video to see if there was anything important/noteworthy.... Or am I missing something?

 

[popi_k]

@viofo The new version of buffered "Auto Event Detection" is fab (if it will work properly) - now it makes sense to use it as unbuffered version is pointless. Unfortunately the newest version of firmware is not stable. I've noticed that everything is working fine until I enable WiFi do something via the app and disable WiFi. After that unit seems less responsive, sometimes pressing the button makes the sound but no action is performed, left LED is blinking from time to time, image on the screen is not fluid (it freezes for half a second regularly) and after a while unit stops writing anything on the card. After a while longer unit itself is not responsive at all and needs to be reset. The new functionality is great, it just records what is needed (well almost) but for the time being I am back with V1.5 which is just very stable.
BTW, I'm using 3 wire kit with fuse taps (which is great!), after each upgrade I always reset unit to default and format SD card.

 

[RavenManiac]

power bank is the way to go

Using lithium-ion power banks in cars can be very dangerous as these devices don't typically do very well with heat and can, on occasion, catch on fire or even explode. Make sure you check the operational temperature range for your particular battery. I would also suggest that you consider something like the Cellink Neo, which is a Lithium Iron Phosphate battery that's specifically designed for dashcams and is safe to use in higher temperature environments. https://www.amazon.com/gp/B06ZZ4W66R