Have A119, but which next? Yi;B1W;A119?

'SOMETIMES' the reviews are of the wrong product from the same manufacturer. (On amazon)
I suspect amazon is screwing up at times....
I know this for a fact. There are at least 3 reviews I posted (and I know I posted them to the correct product) that are now also listed as a review of a different product in addition to the correct one. :(
 
I know this for a fact. There are at least 3 reviews I posted (and I know I posted them to the correct product) that are now also listed as a review of a different product in addition to the correct one. :(

that can happen when products get merged, there's a hell of a lot of reviews on Amazon that are outright fake, people just don't leave as many reviews as some products have, there are sellers that know how to play the system though, and (unfortunately for uneducated buyers) they do
 
that can happen when products get merged,...
As I now know. Since I've learned that I make sure that on any review I post (Amazon or other) I specifically identify the product I'm writing about.
 
@DavidUK - in your case the A119 would likely be a better fit. Since you have one on hand, hold it up there and see what you and wifey think ;) There is no one form-factor which is best for everyone and while the B1W is a good cam, it's in a lower price range and slightly less capable so it's not a direct comparison anyway. Having choices is a good thing regardless and either cam will give you good service :)

With some products about the only place to find info is on a seller's site. But with Dashcams we're here with DCT and anyone posting erroneous info will be discovered and trounced upon almost instantly :cool: Always look for real users and real enthusiasts if you want real information on anything, and always be suspicious of sales site reviews!

Phil
 
Having just looked at Techmoan's review, I'd have said go with the Yi provided you don't live in too hot an area (battery). It's next generation compared to everything else out there for video quality (or so we're told - the clips look very good but you can never be 100% sure how good when rendered for the web). However, there appears to be a clear benefit stepping up to a 2.7K video chip as the video appears better defined and super sharp compared to some even quite expensive cams.

For myself, it's the one I would choose especially for a price of less than £90.
 
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I like the Yi, have one, (Not used it for a while). Make sure you get the gray bodied one, not the black 'chinese' market (Or whatever it is) version.
The Yi is not small, and in my opinion, looks like an oversized action cam that may be worth stealing...as opposed to the A119 or B1W.
 
I agree, it does look enough like a camera to make it tempting to steal.

They should also get H.265 encoding in there and get the bit rate up further. 22mbs is ok, but hardly a high rate for 2.7K's worth of pixels.

Current Hero 6 Action cam uses 80mbs and the Yi4K+ 135mps over 4K's worth of pixels. Interesting you can see more detail in pictures from the Yi from I've seen showing real gains.

(There's a youtube video here of a comparison between the 2 and in some shots, especially one towards the end with paving under a house veranda in lower light (shade), (3 mins 48 secs and best watched at 4K or as close to as your system can manage) you can see a clear difference in detail on the Yi:
)

(If your bandwidth is restricted, go to 3 mins 40, click for 4K, pause the video before it reaches 3 mins 48secs, then make a cup of tea and let it buffer. Should play for a short while when you return before needing to buffer again.)

Admittedly as well, 80mbs might be difficult to achieve in a dashcam given that it records continuously. However, doesn't h.265 cut the data rate in 1/2? In which case 25mbs with h265 should be the equivalent of around 50mbs with h264. The GoPro the new Fusion (5.2K) uses h265 now.
 
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I agree, it does look enough like a camera to make it tempting to steal.

They should also get H.265 encoding in there and get the bit rate up further. 22mbs is ok, but hardly a high rate for 2.7K's worth of pixels.

Current Hero 6 Action cam uses 80mbs and the Yi4K+ 135mps over 4K's worth of pixels. Interesting you can see more detail in pictures from the Yi from I've seen showing real gains.

(There's a youtube video here of a comparison between the 2 and in some shots, especially one towards the end with paving under a house veranda in lower light (shade), (3 mins 48 secs and best watched at 4K or as close to as your system can manage) you can see a clear difference in detail on the Yi:
)

(If your bandwidth is restricted, go to 3 mins 40, click for 4K, pause the video before it reaches 3 mins 48secs, then make a cup of tea and let it buffer. Should play for a short while when you return before needing to buffer again.)

Admittedly as well, 80mbs might be difficult to achieve in a dashcam given that it records continuously. However, doesn't h.265 cut the data rate in 1/2? In which case 25mbs with h265 should be the equivalent of around 50mbs with h264. The GoPro the new Fusion (5.2K) uses h265 now.
h265 does not always cut the file size in half compared to h264. It depends very much on the amount of detail and changes from one frame to the next. With my Mobius 2 I probably see about 1/3 reduction in size.
 
h265 does not always cut the file size in half compared to h264. It depends very much on the amount of detail and changes from one frame to the next. With my Mobius 2 I probably see about 1/3 reduction in size.

I suspect the benefits are probably greater at 4k than they are at 1080p
 
I suspect the benefits are probably greater at 4k than they are at 1080p
Hmmm. That's interesting. Something to look into.
 
I'd imagine it depends on the profile used just as with h264, I imagine there are multiple profiles and settings. According to tests reported in the Wiki, testers were able to get a 62% reduction at 1080P and 64% at 2160P (4K).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Efficiency_Video_Coding

I know the new GoPro Fusion appears to be using H.265 successfully @ 56mpbs at 5.2k. 56mbs might sound high, but remember it's 5.2K! (2 x 2.7K sensors, (!) , so I'd presume it's actually 2x 28mbs as they record to separate SD cards). For comparison for live streaming the same camera uses a data rate of 120mbs (presumably streaming h264 for compatibility with most devices) which seems to suggest the encoding is reducing the equivalent of a 120mbs stream to 56mbs for recorded video, although that assumes the stream to be h264 and the stream and recorded video are intended to be of the same quality. If the stream is intended to be lower quality, then the actual equivalent reduction could be higher.

A quick bit of maths on the above assumptions suggests that's there's possibly a 54% reduction over H.264 size if it's assumed the stream represents the size of a recorded h264 output. Recording specs here:

http://www.threesixtycameras.com/gopro-fusion-full-specs-example-videos-photos-first-impressions/

I know a lot of manufacturers seemed to have been slow implementing h265 so maybe in some other cameras it's still maturing as manufacturers experiment with the settings.

As for my original recommendation for the Yi Car Cam Ultra, I think I'd withdraw that now anyway, as looking at the Yi sub forum thread on this camera, it seems some members on here have obtained this cam and are having difficulty reproducing the quality seen from the Techmoan test.
 
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... it seems some members on here have obtained this cam and are having difficulty reproducing the quality seen from the Techmoan test.
It's not the first time I've read a statement like that about a Techmoan review :eek:
 
It's not the first time I've read a statement like that about a Techmoan review :eek:

there have been a few models that end users have been less than impressed with, K1S, DDpai spring to mind as recent problem models
To be fair, he's done some good reviews too. His review was the reason I bought my first Mobius back in 2013.
 
Welcome back @DavidUK I did wonder where you'd gone! That's my 7cam thread you've been reading.

As you already have an A119, it's an easy recommendation to buy another one. It's reliable, discreet and inexpensive. Choosing between A119 and A119s is a matter of personal preference.

The B1W costs less than the A119, but offers a bit less too. Wifi app required to setup vs the A119 has a screen and buttons. Shape is different, may or may not suit her car better. Lower bitrate means more video duration on a microSD card, ideal for parking mode. Number plate recognition is rather good, but sometimes the higher resolution A119 does better. Both have capacitors rather than batteries. A119 can run silent or give audible feedback. B1W talks to you - whether that is reassuring or annoying is up to you, or your wife to be more accurate. A119 has CPL option. B1W may need a DIY solution... B1W support from @estore009

I don't know anything about the Yi ultra, except to point out the obvious that it's much more noticeable hanging down from a mount like that. Not everyone's cup of tea.

Tony - what is it that B1W talks about? Is there really no way of turning this chat off @estore009 ?
 
Tony - what is it that B1W talks about? Is there really no way of turning this chat off @estore009 ?
The B1W has female voice confirmation messages. Every time the camera turns on, it says "Grain Media", "SD card detected" then "Recording start". Power off is confirmed with "System going down".

I believe there may be a future option to change these for beeps. I would prefer completely silent operation, with only the flashing LED to confirm status. I'm not sure if that is going to happen.
 
always a challenge with screenless cams, some kind of notification is useful

Yeah but would you rather have that or a form factor like the Yi? I'm guessing something like the GoPro format is a 1/2 way house with a limited screen. However, the penalty for a large touch screen is a large camera that looks like a camera. The penalty for no screen is beeping or flashing or using a mobile + App to connect.
 
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