Buffered Parking mode

[TonyM]

My A129 recorded 688No 45-second video clips in buffered parking mode today, over an 8 hour period in a quiet car park. It was windy, so I suspect tree movement triggered most of the recordings.

I don't think any kind of notification is going to be useful, nor do I want that many files going to the RO folder. I simply take 5-10 seconds to quickly walk around the car and look for obvious damage before getting in and driving away.

 

[viofo]

So i understand this correct, that when buffered parking mode is enabled with g-sensor and motion detection, files will only be saved in case of one of the sensor sensed something and then (iirc) +-15s of that event will be saved to sd-card, but not into the RO-folder?

@viofo Will there be any indicator that motion was detected or the g-sensor sensed something? If not, will there be a setting where i can set the files to be stored in the RO-folder?
I'm asking because if you don't see any damage at first glance (e.g. in the dark), you drive off, possible clips will be overwritten after driving for hours.

Hope you get my point

It is possible for the camera to notify the user there is an event triggered file recorded while parking like we can use Bluetooth and Wi-Fi to do the notify, or even just make some beeps or text message warning on display.
We have forwarded this requirement to Novatek before for saving the files under different folder while in parking mode.

 

[TonyM]

I admit that notifications for g-sensor triggered events saved in the RO folder could be useful, if you fail to noticed that someone bumped your car while you were away.

 

[jokiin]

I admit that notifications for g-sensor triggered events saved in the RO folder could be useful, if you fail to noticed that someone bumped your car while you were away.

for G-Sensor it would be useful, for motion detect it would be full of false positives

 

[Frederick]

I registered an account because no one had brought up the idea of using RO for the g sensor and the regular folder for motion. But there it is! Please consider implementing this.

 

[Joshude]

Yep, i like that idea, too!
And a notification if something triggered by the g-sensor has been stored in the RO-Folder (e.g. a beepcode oder a flashing display)

 

[TonyM]

I registered an account because no one had brought up the idea of using RO for the g sensor and the regular folder for motion. But there it is! Please consider implementing this.

That is how it works now. Regular driving and motion detection are both stored in the main folder. Regular driving files have a suffix F and R. Parking mode files have a suffix PF and PR.



G-sensor triggered events, and user-triggered events, are saved separately in the RO folder.

 

[Frederick]

Is that the same for the new buffered parking mode? People were saying triggered files ended up in RO, and most of them were false positives, filling up the memory card needlessly. So viofo responded saying they were changing that behavior. Or perhaps I misunderstood those comments.

 

[ranova]

Is that the same for the new buffered parking mode? People were saying triggered files ended up in RO, and most of them were false positives, filling up the memory card needlessly. So viofo responded saying they were changing that behavior. Or perhaps I misunderstood those comments.

Yeah, thats the current behavior in the beta firmware. Viofo said they will change that by final firmware.

 

[TonyM]

Is that the same for the new buffered parking mode? People were saying triggered files ended up in RO, and most of them were false positives, filling up the memory card needlessly. So viofo responded saying they were changing that behavior. Or perhaps I misunderstood those comments.

You understood those comments correctly. Viofo have responded by changing the folder for the motion detect recordings. That's part of the beta testing process - making improvements based on user feedback.

 

[OzAdam]

To make the buffered parking mode (or any parking mode in general) actually useful there must be some kind of user alert that shows the camera has activated and captured events when it starts up next. As TonyM states someone might not notice right away the car has been damaged until days later.

I very nearly purchased (but didn’t) the blackvue DR900S just based on the fact for its buffered parking mode as well as its voice alerts. As I’m sure many here know that it has a voice alert feature that says “An impact was detected during parking mode”. This is an excellent must have feature.

The Thinkware F800 Pro alerts and speaks how many events have been detected in parking mode – eg “During parking mode events detected - 3” – even better.

I have been searching for a year now for a great 2 channel dashcam that has it all in terms of solid core features – day and night video quality, buffered parking mode and reliability. Looks like Viofo is now bringing the buffered feature to its cams which is great news!

I eagerly await and hope the upcoming 4K 129 Pro is excellent as I will purchase units for my 4 cars. The DR900S simply hasn’t got good reliability or image quality from my research. I have 4x 119 Pros in my cars which do a great job but I do want front and rear coverage with a buffered ignition-off triggered parking mode.

@viofo Please do ensure the camera will alert us when a G-Sensor impact triggers the buffered parking mode next time the camera starts up. Perhaps even how many events could be also displayed. Furthermore and this is what the DR900S does – to reduce false positives from opening and closing doors and the trunk, the dashcam ignores all events occurring within 3 minutes before the dashcam exits parking mode when the car starts.

Also can it do voice? I do especially like the aspect where the DR900S speaks out that recording has started, memory card faults, parking mode status and whatnot. To keep both sides happy, in a menu perhaps we can select onscreen/beeps or voice or both systems so the option is able to be changed for user preference.

@viofo Please also consider adding a parking mode timer feature. Example an option after 1-24 hours (adjustable) shut down camera until next time the car starts. Great for when the car is parked in a secure garage and there is no need for overnight recording.

 

[jokiin]

you only want to be notified of G-Sensor events, the buffer is used for motion detect which can result in many hours of nothing being recorded

 

[OCD Tronic]

I’d rather use constant 30fps low bitrate recoding mode with a large memory card in my own vehicle. No need to depend on motion detection triggers working 100% then. I guess it might cut down reviewing footage later on but still. Good to have all options available.

 

[OzAdam]

you only want to be notified of G-Sensor events, the buffer is used for motion detect which can result in many hours of nothing being recorded

Oops! Yes I should have clarified this. I edited my post to include that.

In parking mode the Thinkware F800 Pro does both buffered motion detection recording as well as buffered G-Sensor impact recording with spoken alerts for both events upon engine startup.
The downside is anything moving triggers the motion alert which results in too many warnings and sadly Thinkware never thought of a way to reduce / control these nuisance alerts where as Blackvue has by via providing adjustable alert options in its menu.

Viofo could implement a menu that could adjust whether the user wants to be alerted about motion detection parking events and if multiple are recorded, display or announce the number captured. Much like how Blackvue does it.

I’d rather use constant 30fps low bitrate recoding mode with a large memory card in my own vehicle. No need to depend on motion detection triggers working 100% then. I guess it might cut down reviewing footage later on but still. Good to have all options available.

The key is "good to have all options available" as you say. See, I don’t want my camera to be recording nonstop. Only when needed on impact or someone moving in font / behind my car. This saves wear on the SD card and lowers power consumption but having the choice is what matters.

Seems like companies these days are making choices for users instead of offering choice most of the time. Offering choices in regards to features would make a product and brand standout in a market of compromise. Don’t like being alerted? Provide the menu option to turn it off. Programmatically it is not hard to do. These simple things make all the difference.

I assume Viofo want to become the market leader in dashams (hence the release of the upcoming 4K A129 PRO). Hence it can be presumed they are taking aim at the premium end of the market now where Thinkware and Blackvue are both positioning themselves.

To do so - take the best features of Thinkware and Blackvue then correct any illogical decisions they made to improve on the feature set and think of use-case scenarios that actually make sense to user needs. Furthermore provide a great dual channel 4K quality system (day, night and plate readability) with a buffered and flexible parking mode (with alerts both spoken and onscreen which the choice to adjust) then price it slightly lower. These are aspects that I look for and would pay for. I’m sure many others would also. With that said, offering the soon to be released buffered parking mode on the Viofo cameras is a big step in the right direction.

But anyway, I for one find it a must to be alerted for parking events or it becomes a real frustration as you have to keep manually checking for footage. It becomes a chore rather than a convenience. Tell me what I need to know when I need to know. Make things convenient for the user.

 

[Sergiosmvc]

I think i found another bug in the version 1.7

Moments ago when i went to my car the cam was with both leds solid red.

The car was parked during this afternoon but there were no footage.

It's the second time that appends..

 

[Finger]

I think i found another bug in the version 1.7

Moments ago when i went to my car the cam was with both leds solid red.

The car was parked during this afternoon but there were no footage.

It's the second time that appends..

Happened to me the other day on my first try of the firmware.

Parked at 10am and it recorded motion till 12pm then stopped recording until I drove away later that day at 4pm

Sent from my SM-N950F using Tapatalk

 

[Sergiosmvc]

@viofo

This morning the same thing.
When i entered into the car the cam was on but there were no footage from entire night...

 

[Sadoka]

Does the video quality also improve with this new firmware? For example to 22Mbps for each camera? Because to be honest, the video quality is too low to clearly read license plates with the official firmware.

 

[jdct]

Good idea for support other sensors, is there something introduction or spec for the sensor you mentioned?

@viofo -- With regard to my previous suggestion of adding to some future dashcam model the ability to trigger a buffered parking mode recording event from an external sensor (shock,proximity,ultrasonic, etc.) to which you expressed some interest, I recently had a new twist on the idea that would likely not require any hardware changes to the current A129 dashcam itself, and it might just be able to be implemented within the buffered parking mode firmware.

In short, if you can modify the firmware to always write all buffered parking mode memory to the storage card when the accessory wire receives power (even every time the car is turned on), then that behavior could effectively also be used as an external buffered parking mode event trigger. Owners would be then able to trigger a buffered parking mode recording event from an external sensor by applying a temporary positive voltage to the accessory wire on the HK3 hardwire kit.

Of course, a ground input trigger (pulse) would be greatly preferred because nearly all external sensors provide a ground output trigger (pulse), but if the above firmware only method would work (only you Viofo guys know the important details within the dashcam architecture), then you could implement a ground input trigger (pulse) entirely within a new hardwire kit design by adding another (fourth) input wire and a circuit to send temporary power on the accessory wire up to the dashcam to cause it to write the buffered parking mode memory to the storage card. And this would not even require activating any new wires between the hardwire kit and the A129 dashcam. (In a more ideal design for a new hardwire kit with external ground input trigger capability, the hardwire kit would also have the option of being able to power up the dashcam from an off state too -- even if the battery voltage is below the configured minimum threshold, and especially so if it the dashcam in buffered parking mode was powered off because of a low battery situation -- so long as it is only powered up for a short time.)

If you like this new idea, and I really hope that you do because I would love to add a proximity sensor to my A129 dashcam installation, I am quite capable of working around the present limitations of the HK3 hardwire kit in order to send an ACC positive power pulse or longer time delayed ACC power application. (It would be great if the A129 could discern between an accessory wire pulse (< 0.5 sec) and a longer application(> 0.5 sec) in order to determine if an external trigger was being sent or accessory power to fully activate the camera is applied. (I know this will come down to what the chip is capable of), but I could work with either case to implement a working external trigger solution.

Thanks for a reasonably good camera system and especially for interacting with owners/users to make them even better.

 

[DarthMaul]

I thought the advantage of buffered parking mode over low bitrate parking mode is that you get better image quality because buffered uses high bitrate?

I guess many people will use the buffered mode with impact detection only, no motion detection, and then they will want highest bitrate...

+1