Help with settings VIOFO A129 Pro Duo

[Tokyojo1]

Hi guys. I'm an older gentleman (67) I have just purchased my 1st brand new car a Hyundai Santa Cruz and I wanted a Dash Cam to protect me and my car, this is my 1st Dash Camera so im really looking for some help with the best settings for a Viofo A129 Pro Plus.
I have the cam hardwired with the Viofo 3 wire kit, I live on a busy'ish street so I want the parking mode or time-lapse recordings, could someone kindly help with the best settings.

Thank you.

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[Nigel]

Unless you drive enough to keep the battery charged, then you will have a problem with using parking mode 24/7, so I suggest setting the parking timer to only record the first few hours. Not sure that helps with your street though?

Which settings is it that you are interested in? The default settings are a very good start, it is only if you want to turn on parking mode, or enter the car registration for overlay, that you really need to change things.

 

[Tokyojo1]

Hi Nigel. Thanks you for the response.

I still drive my car everyday, I still work over 40hrs a week.

Settings I'm interested in.

4k 30 fps Vs 3k 60fps, I understand 4k has more resolution, but wondered if 2k at double the fps would be more beneficial to moving cars, license plates for instance.

There are some settings about recording 1, 2 3 fps in parking mode I believe, what would be best in that setting.

I have a 128gb High Endurance Sandisk SD card, is this big enough.


Thank you.

 

[Nigel]

Using 4K is definitely the recommended setting. In some circumstances 60fps might be better, but generally only when on the race track!

The timelapse parking mode does not record audio, which can be quite valuable, so most people prefer one of the other modes. But other people like the timelapse, don't make it too slow though, a lot can happen in 1 second when vehicles are traveling at street speeds. 1fps is a little slow even for a parking lot. Try the modes out and see what suits you, personally I like the low bitrate parking mode, but for 24/7 recording, that does generate a lot of video!

I use a 128GB card, if I was regularly driving all day then I would increase it, but for most people it will be sufficient. If buying a new card I would recommend a larger one, it will store more hours of video before being overwritten, and you generally don't save money with a smaller one in the long term since larger cards will wear out slower. That is not always the case with modern cards, but normally is.

It is good to keep a spare card in the vehicle, then if you capture something important, you can swap cards to ensure the important recording is safe. You can also download the important recording to your phone over wifi, but removing the card has to be the safest option.

 

[Tokyojo1]

Thank you so much for your help. Really appreciate it.

Just one more question, is the blutooth button worth getting? It seems like it could be a great addition to the unit itself.

 

[Nigel]

Just one more question, is the blutooth button worth getting? It seems like it could be a great addition to the unit itself.

I really like the Bluetooth button, doesn't get used a lot, but if something bad has just happened then it is much easier and safer to press the convenient button on the dash than to reach up to find the relatively tiny button somewhere behind the mirror. There is also much less chance of accidently stopping the recording or muting the audio by pressing the wrong button while in panic mode! Of course I don't actually use it like that, normally it gets used infrequently to "take a photo" of interesting things I see, or that I might want to have a look at on the video later, and being just a single button, it doesn't take much thought when you want to press it quickly to catch something.

Definitely not essential, but nice to have, and so far compatible with every Viofo dashcam that has Bluetooth.

 

[Tokyojo1]

Thank you. I just ordered the button. Appreciate the help.