Finally some good news for BlackVue.
In this post I would like to simulate one of the worst lighting conditions I’ve experienced with a dash cam.
And that’s driving directly into the sun during sunrise, and sunset when the sun is at a “low angle”.
I tried to simulate this during the actual hours of sunrise & sunset but, weather conditions were not cooperating.
I was getting too much cloud cover during these times of the day, and it caused a diffused lighting situation, instead of the concentrated sunbeam I was after.
So I decided the next best thing was to film around 2PM, and tilt the testing rig to capture the sun in the high center portion of the image frame.
In an effort to keep testing conditions “baseline” no cameras have CPL Filters installed, (especially since BlackVue does not offer optional CPL’s for the rear cameras).
Also, I figured CPL Filters are for reducing “windshield glare” and since I have the testing rig out in the open not behind a windshield I would not use them for this test.
Another testing note worth mentioning is the first time I performed this test I had the A139 Pro HDR set to “On”.
I discovered setting HDR to “Off” provided the best image quality under these specific lighting conditions.
When comparing the Front BlackVue cameras the first thing I noticed was both lens flares appear to be in almost the same location in frame.
@Mtz should be proud of me for aligning both camera’s horizon line so evenly. Lol
The next thing I noticed is the DR970X Front is overall brighter and is providing more detail of the tree right in front of the camera, as well as the houses across the street.
The next thing I noticed is the DR970X Front is overexposing the sun & clouds.
Overall I think the DR970X looks better than the DR900X Plus.
Now let’s talk about the “What have you done for me lately A139 Pro?”.
It does a good job showing detail of the Sun, and clouds.
But everything else just looks terrible.
Believe me, I filmed a second & third video with HDR “On” and it looked worse.
Now let’s talk about the BlackVue Rear Cameras.
The DR900X Plus Rear looks OK, but it does look a little underexposed, (too dark).
I also do not see any fine detail of the tree right in front of the camera.
The houses across the street look OK, and I can make out the Ford Explorer driving by.
The DR970X Rear looks much brighter.
I’m seeing the fine detail in the tree right in front of the camera, the houses across the street look good, and the Ford Explorer driving by looks better.
However, the sun & clouds are completely overexposed, (way too bright).
Oh yeah the lens flare on both rear cameras are again almost in the same exact spot.
I would like to give myself another attaboy for getting the rear camera horizon line adjustment near identical to each other.