Element 2 received and under testing

kamkar

kamkar

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Dash Cam
10 years, many dashcams
So i got this camera from Vantrue to test.
I put it in yesterday, and i can see i put the front camera a tiny bit too close to another camera, but it will work for now.
The rear camera when installing it i was surprised by a sudden strong shower, so that is my excuse for it being mounted a few degrees off axis.

So far just been touching and feeling, and absolutely nothing to be sad about here.

So today i got a little daytime footage in, and i have "run" into some "issues"

First of all driving on a slightly uneven street in town ( past the horse statue )
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I think the front camera vibrate a little on its mount, at least it look so when looking at the bottom of the picture where you can see the bottom of the windscreen and the air vent ( more footage on this later on )


Then out on a near by rural highway i wanted to do some plate capture, and sure the camera also do that just fine, but it could be better it seem.

The reason is blocking in the footage, which depending on how you look at it change a little, if i use pot player then every 15 frame are perfect, the other ones have some degree of blocking ( blocking are not uncommon )
Compiling a video to display this using power director 17, there was however a change in the good frame spacing, and now using that software the spacing are uneven.
So i wanted to take 30 frames and space them out sort of like stop motion cartoon, but i missed some so i just have 28 frames.
So my video start on a good frame ( i made the good frames larger than the bad / blocky ones ) and i also numbered every frame in the top R corner.
But here the first frame are good, then the 10 frame and then the 23 frame, so that is a bit strange, using pot player if i start on a good frame then frames 0 - 15 and 30 are good, every 15 frame.

I am pretty sure i have used the best birtrate, which for this raw file are 14399kbps, so it is H.265 encode i assume.

If you want to have it even slower you can use slow motion on youtube, but i feel the "bad" frames are easy to spot focusing on the road directly in front of my car.


I noticed this wanting to compile a plate capture video, cuz doing that i go frame by frame, and then you can easy see when a car plate are in the sweet spot ( readable distance ) on a good frame VS one of the pixelated ones.
I do wonder why it behave like this kicking up super nice frames now and then, but then the in between ones are a bit blocky.
I will have to pull a memory card from another camera to compare, but i think i would have noticed this too with other cameras, i think those are just blocky to the degree the amount of detail at the scene prompt, but do not cough up extra crisp frames like the E2 do.

As i understand these was just changed to do H.265 compression, so not sure if this is something that have occurred in that change from H.264


Once again dashcam footage being a bit blocky now and then are completely normal, some times the bitrate get overwhelmed, and thats just how it is.
Where this is recorded there are some trees lining the road but not unusual in my plate capture videos for various cameras i have tested.
 
I have just examined the footage of this exact same place from the Viofo A229 camera, and using potplayer again to play the footage frame by frame, it do the exact same, block as it happen and then every 15 frame are without blocking.
I wish both cameras could do those good frames all the time and so have no blocking, that would be sweet, CUZ in regard to plate capture, there is a significant difference if you can do that good, if it is on a blocky frame VS the clean none blocky frames.

I guess i just dident notice this before, i did the plate capture video with the A229 on a nice sunny day.
So i will hang back and do the same for the E2 camera.

I did get some footage in today in pretty damn bleak weather, and surprisingly also a lot of plate captures
 
As i feared there do seem to be a little " wobble " in the E2 mount, not much though at least in regard to the street town i always test such things on.
I do not have a more severe surfaced road near here, but i will keep it in mind and update later if i need to.

But for what i see here / now it do not look to be bad, and i can only think it could maybe be a issue in regard to low light capture, as you then have motion blur on target + a little wobble to deal with too.
BUT ! in general i dont think it are bad.

I made a little comparison video, the Vantrue E2 are the top camera, and below it the Viofo A229 that is a wedge camera which i feel attach very well to windscreen.
If you look at the dash you can see the top camera wobble ever so little, where as there are no movement in the other camera.

 
kamkar said:
If you look at the dash you can see the top camera wobble ever so little, where as there are no movement in the other camera.
Click to expand...
It is indeed noticeable, but in the video, I couldn't hear any rattling. Maybe you can confirm this.
The Viofo wedge shape is hard to beat. Flat on the windshield.
 
No the mount are firm alright just not 100 %, at least i don't think there are any rattle, hard to tell in my very cheap car as it on its own are noisy.
The mounting system actually feel nice, but long time testing will have to tell if the vibrations in the video image get worse.
I also made the mistake making the above video, it have the sound from both cameras, normally i just use the sound from 1 camera as it can otherwise sound a bit funny, even if you have the 2 clips fairly well synced up.

It is a + there are a quick option to detach, for when you want to clean your glass on the inside, and you should do that often as a dashcam operator, sadly there are no option to detach the rear camera, so around that cleaning will have to be bone a bit more careful.

The rear camera have a little green LED on the back of the housing, not sure if it just indicate power or data transfer, but i really like that and as my rear hatch are near flat and vertical it is very easy to see the LED in the mirror. (y)
 
kamkar said:
It is a + there are a quick option to detach, for when you want to clean your glass on the inside, and you should do that often as a dashcam operator, sadly there are no option to detach the rear camera, so around that cleaning will have to be bone a bit more careful.

The rear camera have a little green LED on the back of the housing, not sure if it just indicate power or data transfer, but i really like that and as my rear hatch are near flat and vertical it is very easy to see the LED in the mirror. (y)
Click to expand...
A detachable mount in the front is enough in my opinion. At least in my car I rarely have to clean the rear glass from the inside.
For me, it wouldn't matter anyway. I got a 3d printed dashcam mount on the headliner since my car has the function to open the trunk and the glass of the trunk separately. Running a cable in there would be difficult.

Isn't a small LED directly in your rearview mirror distracting?
 
no it is a very dim green 3 mm LED, so even at night you barely notice it.
 
Julian23 said:
It is indeed noticeable, but in the video, I couldn't hear any rattling. Maybe you can confirm this.
The Viofo wedge shape is hard to beat. Flat on the windshield.
Click to expand...
The magneitc-assist mount makes the dash cam easier to install and more stable on the windshield.

To mount the front camera, you first attach the bracket to your windshield. Then the camera clips right into it. That way, you can remove the camera if you don’t want to leave it in your car. You can also tilt the mount 75 degrees to get the perfect angle. The power supply plugs into your car’s DC power port, but you don’t have to ditch your phone charger. The DC plug has a USB port on the back, which allows for pass-through charging.

The rear camera mounts directly on your rear window, and has an integrated bracket. It can also tilt, so it will work well with almost any window. Because it mounts inside your car, you don’t have to drill a hole in your trunk or do anything else drastic. Once it’s in place, it will connect to the front camera with a USB Type-C cable. There’s a 20-foot cable included in the package, which is long enough for any vehicle short of an RV.
 
The Vantrue E2 has separate front and rear cameras. The front camera is the larger of the two, although it’s still very compact. It measures 3.54 inches wide, 1.18 inches thick, and 3.15 inches tall including the bracket attachment. It’s made from black plastic, with a smooth matte finish that doesn’t catch any glare. That way, it won’t distract you while you’re driving.
 
Installing the Vantrue E2 is almost absurdly easy. It comes with a set of electrostatic stickers. These cling to your windshield and back window, and your cameras will adhere to the opposite sides of the tape. This is similar to how many adhesive-mounted cameras work, but the adhesive itself is different. Because it’s electrostatic, it’s easy to remove the tape without leaving gunk on your windshield.
 
The Vantrue E2’s cameras both record in 2.5K, or 1944p, at a framerate of 30FPS. That’s about standard for modern dash cams. These days, a budget-priced camera will record in 1080p and a high-end camera will capture 4K video. So 2.5K sits comfortably in the middle, and will work well for most purposes. You’ll be able to read license plates without any issues, which is the main thing to look for.
 
The camera has a built-in impact sensor that detects sudden changes in momentum. When it picks up an impact, it will automatically trigger a recording. Much like when you manually trigger a recording, this will start five seconds prior to impact. It will then continue to record for an additional 30 seconds.
 

For the Storage and Monitoring​

To use the Vantrue E2, you’ll have to install an SD card, which is not included in the kit. You can use up to a 512GB card, which is enough to record literally weeks’ worth of video.
 
The camera acts as a 5GHz WiFi hotspot. You can connect to it from your phone’s WiFi menu and download videos. That way you can transfer them to another storage medium. Or you can share them on social media to have a laugh with your friends.
 
A few frame grabs to compare, A229 camera and vantrue E2

E2front.jpg
A229front.jpg
E2rear.jpg
A228rear.jpg

I notice the car on the rear ( Right side ) on the E2 you can read the front plate ( DF87448 ) on the A229 rear camera that is not readable.
The E2 footage have a more natural look VS the A229 are a bit forced, though a dashcam should not strive for photo realism but rather for detail capture.
Both cameras have WDR on.

Clearly i need to clean my glass, so will see if i can get to do that tomorrow ( weather permitting )
 
Definitely, E2 features on the super night vision with Wi-Fi command, which makes downloading and sharing your recordings easy.
Vantrue E2 is equipped with a premium SONY IMX335 image to record the brightest and clearest images even in low-light environments. The E2 includes a high definition of up to 5 megapixels for superior low light and night video recording.
Powered by the advanced algorithm system, E2 comes with an intelligent nighttime vision by automatically analyzing the surrounding conditions and adjusting the recording brightness as needed, to capture more details and give superior night-time visibility.
 
I tried to use the Vantrue player on my PC, and in general it also seemed to work fine, but the map was just stationary in central London, very far west from my location around Randers in Denmark.
 
kamkar said:
I tried to use the Vantrue player on my PC, and in general it also seemed to work fine, but the map was just stationary in central London, very far west from my location around Randers in Denmark.
Click to expand...
For the GPS information is recorded along with the video. To view it, please download and install the VANTRUE Cam App and VANTRUE GPS Player (available for download at www.vantrue.net).
 
That is what i did the version for my windows 64 bit.

player.jpg
 
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