Dead blackvue… what next?

vibeone

Member
Joined
Jan 15, 2013
Messages
91
Reaction score
36
Country
United Kingdom
I’ve had a dr650s for a good few years but it seems dead (done the usual with cards, seems to be best dependant but just freezes and restarts at random.. no message other than the startup messages).

what do I go for? Thinkware or blackvue seem best for cloud. I like cloud but don’t need it - I do need wifi access from my phone though. Major problem I have had with all cameras really is painfully slow transfer speed. Is thinkware or blackvue newer models better for this?

happy to go elsewhere but I’ve been out of this game a while. Based in the UK so need night quality as much as day really

happy to spend - but only on the right kit. Also happy to go for. Lesser brand!

not confined by 4K - is the 750x better than the 900x for nighttime given the 4k sensor at night issue?
 
As far as Blackvue, I believe the leading model is the DR750X-Plus. Regardless of not having 4K, Sony's enhanced night vision looks very promising. There are some pretty decent videos, but I'll give it up to one of the site's sponsors, @BlackboxMyCar

 
I actually went for a Thinkware U1000 (1ch) for a very low price from amazon warehouse, which turned up in mint condition. I'm in the process of adding the rear camera this week (it's on order). I'm not running it at 4k - but at Quad 60fps instead. Does anyone know if a 4k camera running at a lower resolution resolves any of the small sensor/pixel density problems?

Loving the camera - had no problems with hotspot setup although I accept it's a bit picky, seems fine.
 
If you are thinking if the camera use pixel binning for a lower resolution, then no i do not think the U1000 do that, it probably just use less of the pizels on the sensor and so low light performance should not change, might actually get worse if you run it at 60 FPS cuz that mean it can not go below 1/60 second exposure times.
 
That's a fair point - true. I've always considered FPS a priority over resolutions - aware we are probably out of scope of this thread, but has anyone put any research into it?

I'd have gone for a non-4k camera to be honest, but I wanted the better video quality of Thinkware over Blackvue, and the only Thinkware with battery protection built in is the U1000 as far as I'm aware. Should also point out that I'm happy with the quality - just want to get the best out of it.
 
I did compare 2 similar cameras mounted side by side, recording 60 and 30 FPS, all other settings left to automatic.
If the 60 FPS camera captured any little detail so did the 30 FPS camera, at best the difference in plate capture was minimal, but technically the 60 FPS camera give you 2 X more chances of a usable capture, but practically it is just a waste of FPS.

Remember just CUZ the 30 FPS camera can use a 2 X longer exposure time, that is only in low light, and then it dont really matter much unless you drive at crawl speeds.
In the daytime with sun / overcast / rain / fall - winter - spring ASO plate capture was the same on the 2 cameras.
 
I did compare 2 similar cameras mounted side by side, recording 60 and 30 FPS, all other settings left to automatic.
If the 60 FPS camera captured any little detail so did the 30 FPS camera, at best the difference in plate capture was minimal, but technically the 60 FPS camera give you 2 X more chances of a usable capture, but practically it is just a waste of FPS.

Remember just CUZ the 30 FPS camera can use a 2 X longer exposure time, that is only in low light, and then it dont really matter much unless you drive at crawl speeds.
In the daytime with sun / overcast / rain / fall - winter - spring ASO plate capture was the same on the 2 cameras.

So realistically we end up at personal preference between the 2. I may therefore try 4K and see which I prefer. The Quad 60fps is running at around 200meg per 1 minute file (currently only 1ch), and I find that quite manageable.

Thanks for your help!
 
I was convinced back then that 60 FPS was the new black, but i had to revise that stand after my experiment.
Now i am more convinced that HDR could be good, but i have yet to see that work well in a dashcam.

So for me now 60 FPS are only usefull to slow down some idiot in traffic 50 % so people on youtube can enjoy his idiocy for longer.

If you are into making cinematic drive videos, then 4K will be good as you can crop in a little in the footage so you do not have dash or A pillars in the footage, but otherwise dashcams are not suited too well for this kind of recordings when you have seen recording from the people that make really nice drive videos.
Then using other cameras you also get a much higher bitrate which will do wonders for little details in the video.

60FPS for cinematic drive videos will also be good.
I have made some test recordings with 4K/60 from my dji osmo action camera, look really good but not usable for dashcam unless it is bright sunshine.
 
Last edited:
I was convinced back then that 60 FPS was the new black, but i had to revise that stand after my experiment.
Now i am more convinced that HDR could be good, but i have yet to see that work well in a dashcam.

So for me now 60 FPS are only usefull to slow down some idiot in traffic 50 % so people on youtube can enjoy his idiocy for longer.

If you are into making cinematic drive videos, then 4K will be good as you can crop in a little in the footage so you do not have dash or A pillars in the footage, but otherwise dashcams are not suited too well for this kind of recordings when you have seen recording from the people that make really nice drive videos.
Then using other cameras you also get a much higher bitrate which will do wonders for little details in the video.

60FPS for cinematic drive videos will also be good.
I have made some test recordings with 4K/60 from my dji osmo action camera, look really good but not usable for dashcam unless it is bright sunshine.

To be honest, and you will all probably say "why have you spent £400 on a camera then" - all I really need is damn good video quality for IF an event occurs. I don't want to sound like a know-it-all arse, but I've had dashcams for years and years and I'm beyond the whole "must post to facebook" type stuff (although I used to!). So for me a dashcam is all about top quality reg plates, and superb quality. On that, it sounds like the difference between 30fps 4k and 60fps quad is pretty minimal. I'll stick with 60fps because I love the smoothness.

As for why I went for the thinkware.... I don't need cloud, so although I know Blackvue is better, Thinkware's effort is fine. I could have gone for a A129 pro, but I had a bad experience with the A129 a year or so back and ended up reverting to my 650s! Thinkware seemed the obvious choice in the end.
 
Back
Top