DR900S Night Vision quality

danlat1415

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Dash Cam
BlackVue DR900S - 2ch with B-124 battery hardwired
I've got both the DR900S-2CH and DR750S-2CH in different cars and both have the usual great features but neither camera is outright better than the other.

The DR900S have excellent image quality and detail in the front camera, but very poor night vision camera, as it doesn't have a low light image sensor.

The DR750S have reasonable image quality on the front camera, but qually good night vision/low light quality.


For example - if my cars are parked at night somewhere, the DR900S just records very small lights of cars passing by or street lights in the distance but the picture is mainly black and virtually unusable, unless it's in a very well lit area.

The DR750S still show all the features of the scenery and you can clearly see people walking past and details of other cars driving by - much more useable night video.


As BlackVue have decided to focus more on fleet companies in 2019 and so far only plan to release the DR750X which is the same as the DR750S but with mobile data capability, the change of getting a good 4K dual channel dashcam with equally good night vision/low light quality is very slim.


Are there any alternative dash cams out there at the moment that provide;
- dual channel (front and rear)
- WiFi
- time lapse parking
- 4K front (whilst rear is also recording - some reduce quality if rear is in use)
- GOOD NIGHT VISION

If not already out in the market, due to come out in 2019.

Price isn't an issue - but I don't want to be running separate cameras, I'd prefer to have an all in one setup like the BlackVue (front and rear cameras).

I'll also probably keep the setup with the Power Magic Ultra B-124 running the cameras to save the life of the car batteries - as the dash cam connects to it with the cigarette charger.
 
You're not going to get decent night results from any 4k camera unless they start using larger sensors, to date no one is doing that
 
As per my understanding from reviewers feedback, its the only true 4k dash cam out there.

If you are welling to exclude the 4k requirement, you will have some options like the F800pro
 
Thanks.
I saw the F800 Pro, but it's bulkier, you can't mount upside side and invert the camera like the BlackVue (if your mounting position is awkward) and is limited to 30fps even at 1080p, unlike the DR750S which does 60fps
 
Thanks.
I saw the F800 Pro, but it's bulkier, you can't mount upside side and invert the camera like the BlackVue (if your mounting position is awkward) and is limited to 30fps even at 1080p, unlike the DR750S which does 60fps

if night results are important to you you'd want 30fps anyway
 
And if it has a CPL Filter remove that too... Let in as much light as possible....
 
4K from a ASP-C sensor size would be nice, but not sure if there are any usable "just" 4K ( 8 mpix ) sensors, my own ASP-C camera are +20 mpix so while it is a much larger sensor it also have a lot more pixels and so they are smaller and then not that good at capturing light fast.
I don't think we will be seeing really interesting 4K dashcams anytime soon, maybe in a couple of years.
It is also to a large degree a matter of the prise on those usable sensors, and support in the hardware used to build dashcams.

4K are the future for sure, but it is not just around the corner, so anything you can get now will be a compromise most likely in low light performance.
 
4K from a ASP-C sensor size would be nice, but not sure if there are any usable "just" 4K ( 8 mpix ) sensors, my own ASP-C camera are +20 mpix so while it is a much larger sensor it also have a lot more pixels and so they are smaller and then not that good at capturing light fast.
I don't think we will be seeing really interesting 4K dashcams anytime soon, maybe in a couple of years.
It is also to a large degree a matter of the prise on those usable sensors, and support in the hardware used to build dashcams.

4K are the future for sure, but it is not just around the corner, so anything you can get now will be a compromise most likely in low light performance.

the hardware is starting to become available, will take a while, we've been looking at bigger sensors already but right now there is no suitable lenses available that are good enough for what we need, that is the stumbling block at the moment
 
the hardware is starting to become available, will take a while, we've been looking at bigger sensors already but right now there is no suitable lenses available that are good enough for what we need, that is the stumbling block at the moment
You don't need a bigger sensor with a big expensive lens, just go for many small sensors with small cheap lenses, like the new Nokia phones. Five sensors = 5x more light collected:

1516562059_petra_medium.jpg
 
hehe that's also a way to do it, but i would feel even more silly if i was carrying one of those up and coming Nokias.
 
5 x the problems
Yes, but they are only small problems instead of really big ones!

It also gives you extra possibilities, like making one of them a 4K sensor so that in good light you can manage real 4K while in low light you can use the Starvis sensors, and fitting one of them with a zoomed in lens for high detail of number plates, and making one of them a monochrome IR sensor for 4x more sensitivity than Starvis...
 
I got the 900S 2-CH dash cam late October last year. It's actually currently the best dash cam on the market better than any Navman product. With the 900S you can read number plates much more further away than 1440p and 1080p dash cams aka Navman and other brands. The front cam records in 4k 30fps. It suffers during cloudy days since it doesn't have a Sony Starvis sensor. Only the rear cam has a Sony Starvis sensor. However the rear dash cam only does 1080p 30fps and performs poorly at night. The front cam though does a fairly good job at night as long as vehicles aren't flashing their high beams at you.

Here's one of my videos of how the 900S performs at night.

However it is one of, if not, the most; expensive dash cams on the market. Blackvue New Zealand charges NZ$1,088 for the Blackvue 900S 2-CH and Blackvue's latest Parking Mode battery. Pretty much no one so far does both front and rear 4k dash cams. Gopro has released a Gopro Hero 7 4k 60fps it might work but it technically isn't a dash cam but can be used as one. Even my Samsung S9 has better night recording quality than the rear dash cam to my 900S 2-CH.

Professional high end photography/video cameras can easily cost hundreds or even a couple thousand dollars. But the 900S does a fair job.

Maybe in 2019 this year, they can release a model with both front AND REAR 4K recording. Cause 1080p is pixelated and useless cause cars registration plate numbers need to be within a car length away in order for a 1080p camera to read it. In 2018 Blackvue delayed the release of the 900S cause they weren't happy about the night time performance. I don't think the sony starvis sensor performs well at night which could be why Blackvue decided NOT to put a Sony Starvis sensor in the FRONT dash cam which is 4k. It would also be good to see 4k 60FPS cause there can be regular gitters when watching your video in only 30fps cause 30fps is by no means not always smooth.
 
My solution? I rund a DR900S-2CH AND a A119, great day coverage with greater chances of capturing identifiers if needed in 4K and outstanding night coverage for $89 (or so) with the A119. Plus I like having a second front camera "just in case" anyways. :)
 
I've got both the DR900S-2CH and DR750S-2CH in different cars and both have the usual great features but neither camera is outright better than the other.

The DR900S have excellent image quality and detail in the front camera, but very poor night vision camera, as it doesn't have a low light image sensor.

The DR750S have reasonable image quality on the front camera, but qually good night vision/low light quality.


For example - if my cars are parked at night somewhere, the DR900S just records very small lights of cars passing by or street lights in the distance but the picture is mainly black and virtually unusable, unless it's in a very well lit area.

The DR750S still show all the features of the scenery and you can clearly see people walking past and details of other cars driving by - much more useable night video.


As BlackVue have decided to focus more on fleet companies in 2019 and so far only plan to release the DR750X which is the same as the DR750S but with mobile data capability, the change of getting a good 4K dual channel dashcam with equally good night vision/low light quality is very slim.


Are there any alternative dash cams out there at the moment that provide;
- dual channel (front and rear)
- WiFi
- time lapse parking
- 4K front (whilst rear is also recording - some reduce quality if rear is in use)
- GOOD NIGHT VISION

If not already out in the market, due to come out in 2019.

Price isn't an issue - but I don't want to be running separate cameras, I'd prefer to have an all in one setup like the BlackVue (front and rear cameras).

I'll also probably keep the setup with the Power Magic Ultra B-124 running the cameras to save the life of the car batteries - as the dash cam connects to it with the cigarette charger.
You do realise that the only way to view the proper 4K resolution you record to get the high qaulity resolution is to watch it on a 4K device if you are just watching the videos on a say iPhone 8PLUS or something without 4K the picture is going to be pretty bad
 
OMG can you (not just @Mookie01 ) please stop this BS about 4k footage needs a 4k monitor?! There is a feature called "ZOOM" so you are able to view 4k footage detail even via 720p display...
 
Yeah, using the BlackView viewer on the PC, that 4K helps out when I want to center in on a license plate and blow up the image.
 

Not lies, rather, user experience in real life. Tried Navman products and the Blackvue 900 stands out on top. Though some other brands have better video quality at lower resolutions. Blackvue 900's 4k recording is compressed and the bit rate is LESS than the recommended bit rate for video recording suggested by YouTube and Google.
 
Not lies, rather, user experience in real life. Tried Navman products and the Blackvue 900 stands out on top. Though some other brands have better video quality at lower resolutions. Blackvue 900's 4k recording is compressed and the bit rate is LESS than the recommended bit rate for video recording suggested by YouTube and Google.

Yeah, the bitrate is the biggest problem here, and the fact that they don't let us adjust the actual bitrate with the granularity it needs is a major failing.
 
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