Firmware 129 Plus

[Mtz]

You had opportunity to test new firmware - you could inform us. Not after time. You could share this firmware with us. You chose a different path. Not everyone will praise her.

I had the opportunity to test a new firmware and because many of you were curious about it, I was trying to help you by showing some videos recorded with the HDR firmware. Any real info is better than no info. I have no advantage if somebody is looking at the videos from my channel.
Normally I should keep the videos only for Viofo and not share any info. This was my mistake. I was not instructed to share the firmware on this forum.
I wrote in that post that the firmware is not public but you ignored that and quoted Viofo trying to force them to make the firmware available.

The only thing I was afraid before posting, happened: a user to ask for the firmware. In all my other posts with beta firmwares nobody asked for a beta firmware so I trusted the forum users. I had no luck this time, sht happens, a forum user with 13 posts ruined the good things were happening here.

 

[vvs49]

I do not have this registrar, but I slightly changed the firmware, raised the bitrate to 40 and brought in the horizon line, it lasts for 30 seconds.
I don't understand what the limitation in firmware is, the more people use it, the better for the company.
If you wish, I can lay it out for you !!

 

[ursamajor]

Please. Can you send me your modified firmwares? I would like to test them.

PS: and one word for that furious individual... wisdom (and common sense) does not lie in the number of posts.

 

[ursamajor]

I'll make some tests these days to see how it works.
Big thanks to nice&wise guys from Viofo.

 

[exciter]

@ursamajor I've got firmware 1.6TST too and I am very disappointment. There is no possibility to have 2K 60 FPS with HDR. Only 2K 30 FPS or FHD 60 FPS. Hope this is only a bug in this test build!

 

[Mtz]

It is not a bug, it is impossible.
2K HDR at 60FPS will be never available to any dashcam with Sony IMX335 CMOS or any CMOS in the world which can offer max. 60FPS in their specifications.

As when can see, when a company is trying to implement something requested by the users, the first feedback is negative. Firmware teams see how their work is disappointing people even it is not the company fault.

 

[ursamajor]

exciter,
As far as I see in my settings, there isn't any 2k@60fps. So, no bug at all. Maybe you didn't activate HDR and that's why you still have 60fps enabled. There is another possibility... maybe you have a previous beta version of HDR FW, the beta of the beta.
I tested it a little in daylight, no problem for now. In an hour I'll go test it in night time.
By comparing "grosso modo" WDR to HDR I noticed that WDR is better in daylight. Better image quality, colors, but in the night WDR is really awful. Let's see how good is HDR in the night, if plates are visible, then I'll post a review. Probably it's a trade off: WDR in daylight, HDR at night...

PS: if the bug still there, use insect killer. )))


Later edit: Ooops! I think I misunderstood... I understood that you still have 60fps on the menu with HDR enabled. IMX335 can only do maximum 60fps at full resolution. These are its limits, so no 60fps with HDR, only without it, because HDR uses 2 frames at the time. So, max. 60 divided by 2 frames, that means 30 fps maximum w/ HDR.

 

[trancenergy]

I have eMmc version, do you know if there is some new firmware for my A129 Plus eMmc?

I see the Hdr is already implemented in A129 plus firmware but I don't know if that cameras are eMmc or not:

Here is a comparison with A119 V3, but I see no differences even I downloaded the original videos recorded by the cameras and compared them on my PC:

 

[ursamajor]

I managed to test it in full darkness and/or street lights and I would say that the firmware needs a lot of work to become somewhat functional.
I tested HDR with Ev -1 and Ev 0. With Ev -1 it almost managed to capture (but it didn't) plates in full darknes (w/ only headlights), but it fails where street lights are available . On the other hand, with Ev 0, it managed to capture some plates, but failed in full darkness. In both cases the image quality deteriorated a lot, especiall with Ev 0. Anyway, this beta HDR is somehow better (but not by much) than the claimed but poorly functional WDR. If it was only me, I would have prefer a fully functional WDR instead HDR, something like A119V3's WDR, firmware v. 1.03... But it's only me.

 

[gse]

I see the Hdr is already implemented in A129 plus firmware but I don't know if that cameras are eMmc or not:

Not EMMS

Here is a comparison with A119 V3, but I see no differences even I downloaded the original videos recorded by the cameras and compared them on my PC:

 

[ursamajor]

My tests: HDR on, Ev -1, day and night.

Anyway, strange behaviour at night with Ev -1. I was expecting to better captures of plates, but instead the images are blurry.
RAW files in description on Youtube.

 

[SawMaster]

I have eMmc version, do you know if there is some new firmware for my A129 Plus eMmc?

I see the Hdr is already implemented in A129 plus firmware but I don't know if that cameras are eMmc or not:

Here is a comparison with A119 V3, but I see no differences even I downloaded the original videos recorded by the cameras and compared them on my PC:

First HDR FW? Could improve then. Not a lot of difference to me now but time will tell. EMMC may get it in time too, hope it's improved by then

Phil

 

[Mtz]

Here is a comparison with A119 V3, but I see no differences even I downloaded the original videos recorded by the cameras and compared them on my PC:

You didn't look too precise, some small differences exists in favor of A119 V3 on some frames just because the V3 lens angle is smaller compared to A129 Plus. You need some patience and eagle eyes to see the differences.

Not EMMC

People need to know that the car license number of V3 image is closer because the lens angle is smaller compared to A129 Plus, not because you zoomed more the V3 image.

 

[exciter]

Later edit: Ooops! I think I misunderstood... I understood that you still have 60fps on the menu with HDR enabled. IMX335 can only do maximum 60fps at full resolution. These are its limits, so no 60fps with HDR, only without it, because HDR uses 2 frames at the time. So, max. 60 divided by 2 frames, that means 30 fps maximum w/ HDR.

Do you know, or anybody knows, what is max resolution and FPS with HDR enabled on A119 V3? Is there a similar limitation too?

 

[ursamajor]

Of course: same sensor and processor. Same limitations.
IMX335 can handle max. 60 fps at full resolution (2592x1944), you can read it on the datasheet. And this is by using 10bits ADC. It also can handle HDR 2frames@30fps or 3frames@15fps on 10 bit ADC. It also supports 30 fps on 12 bit ADC, but I think it's not used.

 

[exciter]

Of course: same sensor and processor. Same limitations.
IMX335 can handle max. 60 fps at full resolution.

So can you confirm that in A119V3 with enabled HDR there is 30 fps (instead of 60 fps with HDR disabled) at full resolution?
If so - then I had nothing to wait for. When choosing between 60 FPS and HDR I definitely prefer a smooth 60 FPS image.

 

[ursamajor]

Tradeoff, my friend.
But, at least, we can wait to see how good HDR can be, though I would have preferred a good "WDR" implementation.

 

[ursamajor]

I made intensive tests with HDR. The fact is that HDR from this beta firmware give the possibility to read some plate numbers, but ONLY in some conditions. For example, I expected to see better exposure of plates using Ev -1, but it's not exactly how I expected, there is massive overexposure of the plates, exactly the opposite. Only by keeping Ev to default, I mean to 0, gave the possibility to capture some plates.
This is the only advantage. It only improves somehow exposure in highlights, but in shadows brings disaster: no improvement in shadows brightness, but instead a lot of noise (chroma and grain). Overall, image quality is worser than w/o HDR. Maybe the fine-tuning of the firmware will bring some changes for the better... I really hope so.

 

[ogzogz]

Plate readability, plate differences and vehicle illumination will also differ.
A vehicle with a halogen headlight and a vehicle with a led headlight will not reflect the plate.
In addition, different clarities may occur on the black-on-white plate and the white-on-blue plate.

 

[ursamajor]

Of course, the conditions are always different in modern traffic. But the auto exposure should better deal with them. I only documented these issues on this thread, so that the firmware teams to know what to do and modify.