FoxOffer Dome G90 Dashcam Review - A7LA30, OV4689 CMOS

[reverend]

Thanks to @billknow my SZDome G90 camera arrived today (the express shipping was amazing it was picked up in Hong Kong on Friday and delivered in the UK Monday morning!)

This is a fairly new camera featuring the Ambarella A7LA30 variant and the OmniVision OV4689 4 Megapixel sensor with HDR and is priced at $85.99.

It is also known as the following:
Lingdu T268
Blackview BL950 - http://detail.tmall.com/item.htm?sp...802623378&rn=0f4eb0fde8d214a2cabff4ecfef69e1d
Caska ???
Flexiti FX214
Prestigio Roadrunner
Pago M7
Drivecam ???
Falcon???

This is a new way of doing things in comparison to WDR as the camera captures 60fps and takes each two frames and combines them to try and get light and dark detail in the same frame.

This camera is smaller than I thought it would be, and is just a little larger than the GT680W size that is pretty popular. The G90 is slightly smaller than a credit card.

Here are some stock photos from FoxOffer first of all:

And then some comparison shots against the GT680W for reference

The feature list is as follows:
Main Features:

• 170 degree super wide angle lens with dewarp
• 1920 x 1080P FULL HD high definition resolution.
• Advanced H.264 video compression technology.
• 2.7 inch high resolution LCD
• Support HDMI high quality video transmission.
• G-Sensor to keep recordings in an emergency
• Seamless loop recording
• Turn on and record automatically when the car starts,
• Automatic loop recording, it’s able to set the record time for each file
• Watching video simultaneous while driving, supporting on-spot play back
• Time & date display
• A key to lock function
• Motion detection function
• Automatically turn on/off function
• Can charge battery and copy files over USB.
• Equipped with car suction mount, easy to fix and use.
• Maximum memory storage 32GB, or TF with more high capacity storage device.
• 30 or 25 fps depending on whether TV system is NTSC or PAL.
• F1.8 aperture
• 180mAh Li-ion battery

Bitrate

• 1080p/30fps - 15Mbps - HDR makes no difference to the filesize.
• 720p/60fps - 12Mbps.

The box contains
1x G90 Car DVR Recorder
1x Car Charger
1x Mini USB Cable
1x Windshield Suction Mount
1x English/Chinese/Russian Manual

The camera buttons / ports are as follows:

1. AV Port
2. Mini USB
3. Camera mount with power pins
4. Mini HDMI
5. Lens
6. Power
7. Left / up navigation
8. Menu
9. OK / select
10. Mode
11. Right / down navigation
12. Reset button
13. Status LED - Purple = screen on and red = recording
14. Emergency button (move current file to Event folder)
15. Screen
16. Micro SD slot (up to 32GB - supposedly higher capacity cards supported which I will test)
17. Microphone
18. Speaker

The camera writes normal video data to the \NORMAL folder, and anything that triggers the G Sensor or you have told the camera to save is put into the \EVENT folder.

The next two pictures show the image captured by the G90 first, followed by the GT680W second - they would seem to suggest the G90 has a similar wide angle to the GT680W but it is using dewarp technology to make the image look more natural.

 

[reverend]

Youtube links:

1080p 30fps, HDR off superfine
Day -

Dusk -

Dusk -

1080p 30fps, HDR on, superfine
Day -

Day -

Night -

Night -

Night -

Night -

 

[reverend]

Raw links:
1080p 30fps, HDR off superfine
Day - https://mega.co.nz/#!IFlWABZQ!9HVO49D5XZ4Deu8mSnCJ80lsCbzG8KZ5c9UGVmmrFKk
Dusk - https://mega.co.nz/#!4AFgmbhA!5166G8WssalpbNPOjbRYkNlC_jZMfuj7mTjhv4qqHCw
Dusk - https://mega.co.nz/#!IAcFgRqB!k3U4u7NKMP744yve1fFmtledBBV_E50MFJBzfEEEyqQ
Night - https://mega.co.nz/#!ZBkmRDwC!06a0o0-l3fC3mNU23BTntrMNLrQGptrmRI1Cv_zchFo
Night - https://mega.co.nz/#!4VUiwYaK!m2hxdCW4mv--hqWZIFXh4q-_53sPC-ZnGr4944C9tpo


1080p 30fps, HDR on, superfine
Day - https://mega.co.nz/#!cMkAzKKY!dBI4kJpJTnVxeX9xX5vEq2QZQ7Q9RdPAPVFHv8Vtpbk
Day - https://mega.co.nz/#!AAdhiSQQ!3Dcr1yc1FcDO-ogpXaS8w3DFVda-webk0Df72jslA6Y
Night - https://mega.co.nz/#!VVMizbJK!v0aU7cQqJ1brRYW_7O5OaafouZelpBnnQ2ffoKSI3TM
Night - https://mega.co.nz/#!ZJMAjAJT!uOJtJC_WJItTmKGGDQ8pt5q2ru6BafVYRCKrAG_J3VM
Night - https://mega.co.nz/#!1cM3GD7b!P24UiA8ml0Ei4M2933x04ilJBekcr74rBhb5ozenXCQ
Night - https://mega.co.nz/#!lddwSIyQ!6E6Ylm0jJmT5n2LrwKR-NzCvIUmm_t_Z2OdDQ-6dixM

720p 60fps, HDR off (cannot be enabled in this mode), superfine
https://mega.co.nz/#!NIFmRAJT!T2BYc8JBTLLWt-Dqq0KwTO0XNErMwQ8R5RDRj35nFyU
https://mega.co.nz/#!hY8iUYqb!6HOMEPiLJm8ZLspU9OQcUxQI5gI6ihO4o8cFQMcD_rs
https://mega.co.nz/#!oMUGjKZY!yBm7Q5ga926a6qzL1HRmZ1oWDE7iyGN3XkikAVwVPDU
https://mega.co.nz/#!JMcXyD6D!seRf1tTQ_TCbZJ92McAVkFNBSIVKFxdw1K-gdkBgm9U
https://mega.co.nz/#!QRl2hL5b!gWD8SoKiGW4aX5dhKsB0wV4pe9KFmSDC4ZmBrtqJIDI
https://mega.co.nz/#!oIsFFDKL!NSqXrXj6wd6efy_Zi0hGbHZhSuRtk7NfppnMrzYUYrA

 

[reverend]

The firmware this unit was delivered and reviewed with and all footage taken was:

trunk: svn r93MP

Update - as of August 2014 the latest known compatible firmware is r441MP firmware.

Custom r441MP firmware (VBR 12Mbps - 48Mbps):
http://dashcamtalk.com/forum/threads/custom-g90-firmware-r441mp-higher-vbr-bitrate.6943/

So this is now the cheapest Ambarella A7 device featuring the OmniVision 4689 sensor on the market - this does feature the A7LA30 chip which does not support 1296p, LDWS or 1080p 60fps like the A7LA50D or A7LA70d chips do.

I'd recommend going for the A7LA70 version of this camera.

Pros:
Excellent video quality in some situations - it is currently sharper with HDR off with firmware r93MP.
Dewarp makes the fisheye lens look more natural.
The picture has low noise levels, at the expense of some detail
Good build quality
The HDR function does seem better than WDR in some situations without overblowing the image.
It has worked with my Kingston Class 4, Sandisk Class 10 / UHC card and my Samsung Pro Micro SD, in fact I have had no compatibility issues with MicroSD cards and this camera now.

Cons:
New technology which will need a few firmware versions to improve - this has good potential
HDR in it's current state generates some strange artifacts and it is difficult to read numberplates - this isn't helped by the fact I have HID headlights - see Niko's explanation here - http://dashcamtalk.com/forum/threads/reading-license-plates-at-night-hid-xenon-standard-bulbs.1444/
The picture is dark without HDR although potentially clearer.
No sticky mount - the suction mount is prone to falling off.
There is focus drift in the heat where the video becomes out of focus
Poor audio quality - fixed in newer versions of the camera

 

[reverend]

I'll get some more footage tomorrow like the 720p 60fps stuff - if there's anything you'd like me to try on this camera just let me know - there's definite potential with newer firmwares but as things stand it doesn't look to be capturing at the same quality as something like the Street Storm or the Marcus 4 using the higher end A7LA70d but the Street Storm has had more firmware updates so far so this can be fixed in software I'm guessing

 

[reverend]

As for the comparison with the GT680W - look at these two YT clips on the G90:
Night -

Night -

And then the GT680:

You can see where the HDR is kicking in on the SCS sign on the G90.

 

[reverend]

One thing I did forget to mention was that Windows Media player doesn't handle the sound from this camera by default and Registrator Viewer also complains about a missing codec. VLC plays the raw videos fine however.

 

[jokiin]

Pros:
Excellent video quality in some situations - it is currently sharper with HDR off with firmware r93MP.
Dewarp makes the fisheye lens look more natural.
The picture has low noise levels, at the expense of some detail
Good build quality
The HDR function does seem better than WDR in some situations without overblowing the image.
It has worked with my Sandisk Class 10 / UHC card and my Samsung Pro Micro SD.

Cons:
New technology which will need a few firmware versions to improve - this has good potential
HDR in it's current state generates some strange artifacts and it is difficult to read numberplates - this isn't helped by the fact I have HID headlights - see Niko's explanation here - http://dashcamtalk.com/forum/threads/reading-license-plates-at-night-hid-xenon-standard-bulbs.1444/
The picture is very dark without HDR
No sticky mount - the suction mount fell off once already, although it has since been ok

Some of the things they're doing here are not actually supported by this chipset, perhaps some software trickery that's not quite paying off, the same design may work with some of the higher model A7 chipsets so there may be more potential to be had

 

[reverend]

Ah which are those mate? It wouldn't be HDR and Smart AE would it?

I found a Russian table which goes through some differences - it won't paste though but it does say the A7LA30 doesn't do HDR, whereas the CMOS does, so maybe they're just getting it to do it's version but that would explain why it's not looking as good as some of the other footage I've seen of A7LA70 devices?

 

[jokiin]

Correct

 

[reverend]

Ah so that explains why HDR looks like a bag of knackers on this then! I'll try again tonight with HDR off but that thing about exposure makes sense as I didn't notice a massive difference, but was going to try with the camera aimed further down tonight.

 

[reverend]

One other discovery with these - ensure the camera is powered off, hold down the right button and plug in the USB cable to get the camera into DirectUSB / Ambarella dev board mode.

 

[Sunny]

I'll get some more footage tomorrow like the 720p 60fps stuff - if there's anything you'd like me to try on this camera just let me know - there's definite potential with newer firmwares but as things stand it doesn't look to be capturing at the same quality as something like the Street Storm or the Marcus 4 using the higher end A7LA70d but the Street Storm has had more firmware updates so far so this can be fixed in software I'm guessing

May be the same night videos with HDR off?
With HDR on, everything looks fuzzy. Specially, the lights look like 3D.

BTW, do you think this is better than G1W?

 

[reverend]

They're never quite the same in different weather conditions - when I have more time I'll do the same lap with HDR on and then HDR off straight afterwards to give a better idea of the differences.

I have some 720p 60fps footage now which I'm uploading.

Night time wise in terms of video noise the G90 is better than the GT680W which in turn is better than the G1W (to be clear I don't have the G1W but believe the GT680W uses the same platform but with better quality components and firmware) - I need to have more of a play around with this though to find the best settings. So far the camera seems to behave more with HDR off but as Rick has raised it's a software implementation in these and that means they can tweak it with new firmware.

 

[reverend]

I've just updated the first post to show the bitrates (1080p/30fps = 15Mbps regardless of HDR being on or off and 720p/60fps is 12Mbps)

And here are some 720p/60fps videos:

https://mega.co.nz/#!NIFmRAJT!T2BYc8JBTLLWt-Dqq0KwTO0XNErMwQ8R5RDRj35nFyU
https://mega.co.nz/#!hY8iUYqb!6HOMEPiLJm8ZLspU9OQcUxQI5gI6ihO4o8cFQMcD_rs
https://mega.co.nz/#!oMUGjKZY!yBm7Q5ga926a6qzL1HRmZ1oWDE7iyGN3XkikAVwVPDU
https://mega.co.nz/#!JMcXyD6D!seRf1tTQ_TCbZJ92McAVkFNBSIVKFxdw1K-gdkBgm9U
https://mega.co.nz/#!QRl2hL5b!gWD8SoKiGW4aX5dhKsB0wV4pe9KFmSDC4ZmBrtqJIDI
https://mega.co.nz/#!oIsFFDKL!NSqXrXj6wd6efy_Zi0hGbHZhSuRtk7NfppnMrzYUYrA

 

[Sunny]

They're never quite the same in different weather conditions - when I have more time I'll do the same lap with HDR on and then HDR off straight afterwards to give a better idea of the differences.

I have some 720p 60fps footage now which I'm uploading.

Night time wise in terms of video noise the G90 is better than the GT680W which in turn is better than the G1W (to be clear I don't have the G1W but believe the GT680W uses the same platform but with better quality components and firmware) - I need to have more of a play around with this though to find the best settings. So far the camera seems to behave more with HDR off but as Rick has raised it's a software implementation in these and that means they can tweak it with new firmware.

Does turning HDR off also turns WDR off or that's not an option?

 

[CheckYourLights]

Thanks for all the work on the review. Looking forward to trying this one out.
I'm not a huge fan of the mount design, but i'll see how well it holds up once I actually get one in my hands.

Does turning HDR off also turns WDR off or that's not an option?

I think this camera only has HDR witch is not as good as WDR. there is a thread here explaining the difference in detail.

How does the file lock work? Is it lock the entire clip like the G1W or create a 1 min clip like the Vico?

 

[reverend]

I've got to admit I've only tried file lock with 1 minute videos anyway so I'll give it another go with the camera set to longer clip sizes and see what happens

WDR isn't an option on this camera - just the HDR on or off. I'm guessing it's the sensor doing all the work here if the A7LA30 can't do HDR.

To be honest if they get HDR right it could be better than WDR as a lot of cameras say they do WDR but technically the sensor isn't capable of this and more often than not they just produce digital noise.

The Sony Exmor has a large dynamic range and likewise most cameras featuring that like the Panorama get great reviews.

 

[Sunny]

Hmm... so the G90 has HDR that's not good and doesn't have WDR.
That means it's not even as good as ones with WDR.

 

[reverend]

Give them time to fix it in software - the cameras you are referring to have been out for a long time and have had lots of iterations of fixes. The Ambarella A7LA70 devices with this same sensor are looking really good and in theory this should be capable of similar output

There were times the footage last night on the G90 was better in the dark than the camera with WDR - like I say it's swings and roundabouts.

If you want a good camera go and buy the Panorama now and you won't go far wrong

I've still got plenty of different settings to try yet with this one