DR900S-2CH Purple artifacts

Tomcat

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I bought 2 Dr900s 2ch 16gb kits from amazon one to upgrade my existing kit the other one to install on my mothers car so my mother and brother now both have dashcams installed. the dr750s set i already had is working fine in my brothers car however these 2 dr900s kits have some issues
I noticed a weird purple artifacting glare that shows up from time to time both in parking mode and while driving in the bottem right corner on both front cameras.

I run the cameras with the HDR night vision option enabled brightness setting 3.
The codec setting i use is Hvec 265 and quality settings are at extreme
Both cameras feature a 128gb samsung pro endurance micro sd
Both kits came with the latest Dr900s firmware installed both seem to be the UK version i can see on the box.

I have tested if the purple glare would show up when i watch the same footage on my smartphone as to make sure it is not a driver related issue with my computer i also updated the codecs with the latest Klite pack and the AMD radeon drivers just to make sure.
however it still shows up the purple glare on both my computer and smartphone.
it happends on both DR900s front cameras at exact the same spot.

I have reinstalled the firmware on both cameras with the same latest firmware version 1.012v to see if that would fix it but it still shows up.

I have added a few images and removed some stuff so i dont invade other peoples privacy too much.

I hope you guys might know what causes this problem and if it is a defect or something else.
 

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Thank you for your response. I will contact them today. Not good that both dr900s cameras have this right out of side of the box. :/

i put in 3 screenshots more of a open scene:
apart from the purple artifacts can you tell me if the sharpness is upto the dr900s standards?
 

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Well, well, well, what do we have here? This is much more than just a sensor failure, it seems like a design flaw. :) Other examples here.

Ad the sharpness, it looks quite blurry to me. Try to turn the camera off, wait few minutes, turn it back on and compare the footage before and after. The reason why here.
 
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apart from the purple artifacts can you tell me if the sharpness is upto the dr900s standards?
might not be fair to judge the quality when it has a failing image sensor, keep in mind Blackvue are known for features, they're not cutting edge quality so need to keep your expectations realistic
 
Judging sharpness you need to do on a image from when the car are not moving, the recommendation are to find a place where you have a lot of smaller detain at different distances to your car.
filming down a street lined with houses, or a parking lot with store fronts in the background
 
Judging sharpness you need to do on a image from when the car are not moving, the recommendation are to find a place where you have a lot of smaller detain at different distances to your car.
filming down a street lined with houses, or a parking lot with store fronts in the background
I guess the reason for posting images of driving under trees is that that is when the DR900 has the biggest problems with sharpness - not enough bitrate to maintain a detailed image! Not an issue of lens sharpness.

Vortex Radar covered this in his last 4K dashcam video:
 
Yeah when the footage go into minecraft mode, sharpness are also out the window.
But most cameras have this problem in high information processing areas, but some are more pronounced than others. The general FIX is to up the bitrate of the recordings but that also make the files much larger, so you do get upwards of 2 X larger files before bitrate fix that problem.

Also why if you want to record cinematic drive footage, you should not use a dashcam for that.
 
I contacted Amazon i can send both camera's back and recieve a refund. They cannot replace the camera's with good ones. So i might take it as it is and buy something else after the refund. I like blackvue for there features and ease of use, DR900s has a nice wide view angle which should protect my car atleast from the front side. I dont like the purple artifacts im glad you guys told me it is a defect. i also agree with Nath on the out of focus issue. i noticed this here as well. it goes out of focus and at other times it is sharper by quite a margin. Nath do you still have this issue or did you get it fixed?
i didnt have the issues with the rear camera you experienced.

the 750s i had didnt seem to have any focus issues. that the night vision on the dr900s is darker on the front is something i can live with.

Im glad with all your answers nigel and kamkar1, i agree i dont need the double bitrate for cinametic images. im glad blackvue managed to have the 4k footage at roughly the same file size as it was with the 1080p 750s
I mainly need a reliable parking mode and a good overview so my car wont get vandalized when im parked at a store or when im training at the gym.

The ham question is how do i know i buy a good DR900s? can i safely buy another dr900s 16gb version from another place or should i opt for a more costly 32gb version to be safe? is this purple artifacts an issue with a certain batch of them?
or should i reconsider my options with other models im also impressed by viofos a129pro.
 
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Either 16 or 32 GB are way too small memory cards, i have no idea why they sell cameras with such small cards, you need at least 128 GB memory card for a 2 channel system, and gladly more of one of the cameras are 4K
 
I have the same problem with my 900s. I reported the fault to the UK distributor and they confirmed a faulty sensor. Unfortunately the camera was only a 6 months out of its one year warranty, the UK distributor stated they would need to ship it back to South korea for repair and I should get the camera back after 8 weeks. The original thread here https://dashcamtalk.com/forum/threads/partial-red-cast-flash-on-video-footage.40665/ Not impressed :(
 
@Estoril Sport Actually, i added your thread few posts above. :ROFLMAO:

... Nath do you still have this issue or did you get it fixed?
i didnt have the issues with the rear camera you experienced.
I got replacement for the unit which was losing focus. The one with the purple tint was replaced as well but that was my last unit because i refused to get a fourth one (or fifth, i'm not sure anymore :p ) so seller gave me a refund.
 
That is a pretty horrid trackrecord of defective DR900s pieces bro i understand why you went viofo, are they all defective or is it something that will happen to just earlier batches? those from amazon i bought may be defectives resold i think,
maybe i should avoid those 16gb models as they have set 32gb for the newest batches produced.
Or i might better pay the premium to buy them from one of the official channels.
Can i trust a dr900s 2ch or should i just get 2 dr750s 2channels?
or can i rely on viofo?

we really need the parking mode on all our cars for obvious reasons: overview of dashcam + vandalism

That last incident is why i bought the dr750s 2ch dashcam i was just at the grocery store for a couple of minutes and that is what happend and ofcourse no one has seen a thing. that is one of a string of such incidents,my mothers car and my brothers car are also targeted. this is a real life human troll.

Im determined to capture footage of her in the act and put an end to it by legal means.
 
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That is a pretty horrid trackrecord of defective DR900s pieces bro i understand why you went viofo, are they all defective or is it something that will happen to just earlier batches? those from amazon i bought may be defectives resold i think,
maybe i should avoid those 16gb models as they have set 32gb for the newest batches produced.
Don't know about early batches. I was waiting quite some time until i bought my DR900S because of overheating issues (if i remember correctly, it was after firmware v1.008) and i got those replacements during first year of use.

Or i might better pay the premium to buy them from one of the official channels.
I bought it from official distributor.

Can i trust a dr900s 2ch or should i just get 2 dr750s 2channels?
or can i rely on viofo?
Not sure anymore. I have two A129Pros and both have even worse issue - it just stops recording randomly or turns off completely and God knows when we'll get a firmware addressing those issues (if ever). All my units DR900S on the other hand had some minor issues in compare to "not record at all" and the only time they failed was summer because of overheating (every 10 minutes turned off for 5 minutes of cooldown), otherwise the "recording function" :LOL: was quite rock solid.


EDIT: Sorry, i have to correct myself. One of my DR900S's rear camera had been disconnecting randomly as well. :p
 
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Thank you for your response. If not for recording bug the A129pro could be my top pick it is a great cam at a very attractive price. They dont sell the thinkware U1000 here in the netherlands trough official channels other models are available.
I dont want to be without parking mode until the amazon has made the refund i also dont want to take another gamble with a greychannel kit at discount price.
Altough the amazon price was pretty attractive at €443,- while trough official vendors they sell for atleast €529,- per kit. if they were not defective on arrival it would have been a good deal.
I also recently bought a 4k anlapus cctv system from them that works great.
Here in the Netherlands all Dr900s that are sold from official retailers are the same price of €529,- for the 32gb version. which is quite a difference with the US were trough official vendors you can get them for $419,-
the 16gb cams that are sold at discount trough market places and discounters are what i think grey channel products. Given the defects some have experienced with the dr900s i dont want to take another gamble for a lower price.
Yesterday i orderd 2 Dr900s 2chs from coolblue which is an offical Blackvue retailer. today i went to pick them up from the store.

I just finished doing my first testdrive from the city back to my home with the first cam. so far so good no purple artifacts yet and the front image is way sharper and more crisp. licence plates and street signs are more readable especialy of cars that are incomming in the opposite lane on the front. its a big difference in video quality. I will do some more driving and test the other kit as well.

Im glad you guys helped me to see what the standards are for these cams. I dont need cinametic images but i needed to know if these dr900s cams are good.
those other 2 definitely both had the artifacts and the focus issue.

edit: the second kit has the same issue : Purple flashing
Guess i have to return that one 2 :(
 
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Just thought of providing an update! Previously I was informed that the issue I was experiencing was due to a faulty CMOS filter (in having a red case for a few seconds flash on the video footage) original thread https://dashcamtalk.com/forum/threads/partial-red-cast-flash-on-video-footage.40665/ I returned the camera back to the UK distributor to get it repaired (after agreeing a cost of £36 + plus the cost to posting the camera to them). Only to find today after calling them on the phone (not received any update for over two weeks), that there is nothing wrong with the camera and they have not ben able to find any faults with it from there tests!

The Support guy asked me if my car has a heat resisting windscreen, if so then there is a incompatibility with the High Dynamic Range (HDR) mode on the DR900S and windscreens that have heat resisting coating.
I confess this is a new one to me, also he mentioned that HDR only benefits the night mode and that HDR should be switched off for normal driving! I have never heard of this issue being reported before! Has any one else heard of it?
 
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The Support guy asked me if my car has a heat resisting windscreen, if so then there is a incompatibility with the High Dynamic Range (HDR) mode on the DR900S and windscreens that have heat resisting coating.
I confess this is a new one to me, also he mentioned that HDR only benefits the night mode and that HDR should be switched off for normal driving! I have never heard of this issue being reported before! Has any one else heard of it?


I recently reviewed the DR900X-2CH (which has the same camera as the DR900S) and I encountered footage with red/purple flares occurring at certain locations with the sun shining into the car at a particular angle.

I contacted Pittasoft support about the issue and I was instructed to turn off the HDR Night Vision feature (by setting to off or on only for parking mode). I did make that change (on only during parking mode) and it did seem to resolve 99% of the red/purple flares I was encountering. I don't know/believe that my windshield has a heat resistant coating. It's an ex-police car (2014 Chevy Caprice PPV).

At 14:28 in my review video is where I discuss this issue.

 
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