HDR question for the VIOFO A329

simplepinoi177 said:
I relate to this way of thinking... every time I update my smartphone and other electronics, I like to go through all the settings just to check if something more was added or changed; many times it's how I find out a feature was added. So I can understand that one might as well re-set the values/settings while going through them. But i also don't like the prospect of going through the trouble as I can get very finicky and it gets tedious (case-in-point; I synced my dashcam clock to an atomic one :wacky:)
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If you have now installed firmware V1.0_241126, then when you install the next firmware version, your settings will remain intact.
But you will most likely be asked to format the memory card. But you decide for yourself whether to format it or not.
 
I found a bug with the Auto-HDR option, I set it up to be on at 7pm off at 6am and I am guessing that is timezone dependant and not local time as I can't see the 60fps as an option for video recording and just downloaded a vid today off the camera for my 3pm drive and saw the HDR text on the bottom banner when reviewing it which explains why as soon as I enabled the Auto-HDR option the 60fps option disappeared!
 
What timezone are you in? I am wondering if timezone plays a part in it, because it should definitely not be in HDR driving in the daytime with the settings I setup for on/off time. I am UTC+10 (well 11 now, and that is my other gripe that it only has auto-DST option for the US!, when I asked for the Australian firmware as I don't need a US option for DST, was told that was the only market it was offered for, and here is V1.0_241118 for you to try, which essentially I have been running since I put it in the car, it was an October version out of the box.)

Edit 2: OK, I had a look at today's vids I transferred again (daytime driving) and it is only the rear camera footage that shows 2K HDR, the front camera shows 4K without HDR indicated. I have the unit behind my rear mirror so can't really see the screen to observe the various icons on the screen (difficult anyway with how small they are unless I really look closely at it).
 
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1. Make the settings in the app.
2. Exit the app.
3. Enter the apps and check the settings.
In my previous version of the app, the auto HDR settings did not save the first time.
 
tonymy01 said:
What timezone are you in? I am wondering if timezone plays a part in it, because it should definitely not be in HDR driving in the daytime with the settings I setup for on/off time. I am UTC+10 (well 11 now, and that is my other gripe that it only has auto-DST option for the US!, when I asked for the Australian firmware as I don't need a US option for DST, was told that was the only market it was offered for, and here is V1.0_241118 for you to try, which essentially I have been running since I put it in the car, it was an October version out of the box.)

Edit 2: OK, I had a look at today's vids I transferred again (daytime driving) and it is only the rear camera footage that shows 2K HDR, the front camera shows 4K without HDR indicated. I have the unit behind my rear mirror so can't really see the screen to observe the various icons on the screen (difficult anyway with how small they are unless I really look closely at it).
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Have you reset the camera after updating the firmware? Please choose Default Setting in the menu on the camera to reset it first and set the HDR settings again to test if it helps.
 
So I've been having issues with getting the Auto HDR feature to work as well. I've had a support ticket with Viofo for the past month but I've pretty much given up on having this resolved as they just keep asking the same questions about sending a photo of the firmware version on the camera to ensure that I have the right one installed and asking me repeatedly to not set the parking mode to the 1fps timelapse (which I don't as I keep trying to tell them).

So my issue is similar to what one of the posters had already described. During the day I have the dash cam set to 4K 60 fps with HDR off and I have the Auto HDR schedule set to turn on in the evening and off in the morning. After I make the setting change, the dash cam will correctly switch to 4K 30fps with HDR on once it hits the scheduled time, but after parking for the night and turning the car back on the following morning when the HDR schedule is off it will correctly put the camera back to 4K 60fps but it will PERMANENTLY turn the HDR off on the front camera (the rear camera will still be set on the schedule). I would have to go into the setting and put the front camera back on the HDR schedule, the camera would correctly make the switch at the designated time, and then the following morning it would once again permanently turn off HDR. Most of the time at night I manually turn the camera off when I park in my garage, but even if I park outside and let the parking mode drain the battery until it shuts off the same thing happens.

Viofo Support had sent more two different beta firmware to test saying that the problem should be fixed with them but it has not. At this point I'm pretty much just resigned to keeping the camera set to 4K 30fps as the HDR schedule will work turning itself on and off over a long period of time without issue. It's just a shame that I wasted a lot of money buying the more expensive A329 model when I can't reliably use its signature feature with 4K 60fps.
 
dragonmastr said:
So I've been having issues with getting the Auto HDR feature to work as well. I've had a support ticket with Viofo for the past month but I've pretty much given up on having this resolved as they just keep asking the same questions about sending a photo of the firmware version on the camera to ensure that I have the right one installed and asking me repeatedly to not set the parking mode to the 1fps timelapse (which I don't as I keep trying to tell them).

So my issue is similar to what one of the posters had already described. During the day I have the dash cam set to 4K 60 fps with HDR off and I have the Auto HDR schedule set to turn on in the evening and off in the morning. After I make the setting change, the dash cam will correctly switch to 4K 30fps with HDR on once it hits the scheduled time, but after parking for the night and turning the car back on the following morning when the HDR schedule is off it will correctly put the camera back to 4K 60fps but it will PERMANENTLY turn the HDR off on the front camera (the rear camera will still be set on the schedule). I would have to go into the setting and put the front camera back on the HDR schedule, the camera would correctly make the switch at the designated time, and then the following morning it would once again permanently turn off HDR. Most of the time at night I manually turn the camera off when I park in my garage, but even if I park outside and let the parking mode drain the battery until it shuts off the same thing happens.

Viofo Support had sent more two different beta firmware to test saying that the problem should be fixed with them but it has not. At this point I'm pretty much just resigned to keeping the camera set to 4K 30fps as the HDR schedule will work turning itself on and off over a long period of time without issue. It's just a shame that I wasted a lot of money buying the more expensive A329 model when I can't reliably use its signature feature with 4K 60fps.
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We have sent this firmware to other users and they confirmed the AUTO HDR issue is confirmed.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SSczvW5CLuBvR-2Nmy3CTXSViIIJBjgw/view?usp=sharing

We will release the new V1.1 version soon which includes this fix.
We will double-check this issue before release.
 
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viofo said:
We have sent this firmware to other users and they confirmed the AUTO HDR issue is confirmed.

We will release the new V1.1 version soon which includes this fix.
We will double-check this issue before release.
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After flashing my A329 with the firmware posted in the link I see that it's the same version 241126 that I was previously sent and did not work for me to resolve the auto HDR issue. But since I already re-flashed my cam I might as well leave it on 4K 60fps for a few days to see if a miracle happens (which of course I'm not expecting one).
 
dragonmastr said:
After flashing my A329 with the firmware posted in the link I see that it's the same version 241126 that I was previously sent and did not work for me to resolve the auto HDR issue. But since I already re-flashed my cam I might as well leave it on 4K 60fps for a few days to see if a miracle happens (which of course I'm not expecting one).
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Be sure to manually default the cameras settings after any firmware change.
 
Just got my A329 and would like to know why people prefer the HDR Off during the day and only on at night? I thought that HDR should give you better dynamic range both day and night as you can get dazzle from sun shadows just like you can from Headlights at night?
 
prototype_uk said:
I thought that HDR should give you better dynamic range both day and night as you can get dazzle from sun shadows just like you can from Headlights at night?
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That is correct. You will get much better video of clouds and the sun with HDR On in daylight, also of number plates that are reflecting the sun.

The disadvantage of HDR On during daylight is that it produces more motion blur while attempting to collect the darker parts of the greater dynamic range, and thus produces less readable number plates. On the A229 cameras this a quite significant effect, not sure how significant it is on the A329 though?
 
Hello Nigel, thank you for you reply. Yes I agree but that would make you think HDR would be even worse at night with slower shutter speeds ect yet the option appears to be to turn HDR on at night.
 
dragonmastr said:
After flashing my A329 with the firmware posted in the link I see that it's the same version 241126 that I was previously sent and did not work for me to resolve the auto HDR issue. But since I already re-flashed my cam I might as well leave it on 4K 60fps for a few days to see if a miracle happens (which of course I'm not expecting one).
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If you still found the Auto HDR not working, please share the details about the settings and how it happened.
Thanks.
 
prototype_uk said:
Just got my A329 and would like to know why people prefer the HDR Off during the day and only on at night? I thought that HDR should give you better dynamic range both day and night as you can get dazzle from sun shadows just like you can from Headlights at night?
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Nigel said:
That is correct. You will get much better video of clouds and the sun with HDR On in daylight, also of number plates that are reflecting the sun.

The disadvantage of HDR On during daylight is that it produces more motion blur while attempting to collect the darker parts of the greater dynamic range, and thus produces less readable number plates. On the A229 cameras this a quite significant effect, not sure how significant it is on the A329 though?
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I can't speak for everyone and can only speak for myself, but I figure it was because can't get 60FPS with HDR On (hence the speaking on the "blur" or what not; as it's smoother with 60FPS, of course) -- which as this is "The first dashcam to offer 4K 60FPS", why would you intentionally restrict the capability when it's a feature. Again, just IMHO.
Also, I imagine the logic behind not having 60FPS with HDR (other than hardware limitations) is that it's already fairly grainy at night that 60FPS might not be all that much of an improvement than HDR enhancing what it can (at night)....
 
prototype_uk said:
Hello Nigel, thank you for you reply. Yes I agree but that would make you think HDR would be even worse at night with slower shutter speeds ect yet the option appears to be to turn HDR on at night.
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At night, license plates in the darker parts of the image are unreadable anyway (while moving), so the extra motion blur makes no difference in the darker areas, but licence plates in the bright parts of the image are readable with HDR On. Since license plates are reflective, and most people drive with their headlamps on at night, you have a very good chance of the plates you want to read being read by the HDR bright exposure. HDR On at night is highly recommended.

For the rear of the car, where you do not have headlamps, you may be better off with HDR Off at night, but I think most people prefer it on, motion blur isn't much of a problem there anyway, for reading the car plate directly behind you, and not having the image swamped by the headlamps of the car behind is nice.

Essentially, once you turn your headlamps on, you should be better off with HDR On. Doesn't quite work out that way on the A229 though, it is only once you start reading the plates using the light from your headlamps that there is an advantage to HDR On.
 
simplepinoi177 said:
I can't speak for everyone and can only speak for myself, but I figure it was because can't get 60FPS with HDR On
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The number of frames per second does not affect the exposure time, so does not affect the amount of motion blur. 60fps is to give smooth motion on playback and improved slow motion playback.

60fps does mean that the camera can't use an exposure of more than 1/60th second, but you would need to turn your headlamps off to get a Sony Starvis 2 image sensor to use an exposure that slow.
 
viofo said:
If you still found the Auto HDR not working, please share the details about the settings and how it happened.
Thanks.
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No it's still not working properly. It correctly switched between 4K 60fps HDR off to 4K 30fps HDR on and then back to 4K 60fps off once and then eventually through normal usage it set the front camera to HDR off permanently just as it always does. I'm not going to keep wasting my time answering the same questions both here and in the support ticket that I had filed as there is nothing new that I have not already provided while still continuously being asked the literal same questions repeatedly. I'll just have to accept that it was a costly decision to buy the A329 that will end up basically functioning as an A229.
 
Has anyone been able to get the auto HDR feature working properly? I've tried just about every scenario possible (including different firmwares) but when it's time to turn HDR on, while having the resolution set to 4k 60fps, it will stay on 60fps and turn off the auto HDR setting to HDR off.
 
I assume HDR in a dashcam you would like to have a fairly long exposed picture for the overall perspective, and then a fast one for that plate number.

In photo class in school, some of the only classes i did not out right hate, i was told if you want to photograph something moving ( human speeds ) you at least need a 1:500 second exposure to not have too much motion blur.

Mind you those classes was in 1980 or 1981 or so, and of course regular film CUZ there was no fancy digital cameras around back then.
There was film with different properties AKA ISO values alright, but we was locked to ISO 400 film we wound raw onto empty cartridges, and then developed them ourself too,,,,, all black & white of course.
But free film + free development it was cool, so i snapped around 70 pictures every week.
 
kamkar said:
In photo class in school,
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Yes, it is more like photo class than the video classes people do these days, where exposure times are measured in ° , meaning that everybody believes that 60fps is twice as good as 30fps for reading plates, which is not true!
 
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