Image Quality & Recording Issues

[M A R K]

I have just taken delivery of my new company car so thought I would upgrade my dashcam to.
I did have an A129 which I ran at 1080p 60fps and was extremely happy with the quality of the images both day and night. They were clear and crispy
I have upgraded to the A129 plus. I thought the quadHD would make a difference.
But if anything, the quality is much worse.
The image is blocky with quite a few compression artefacts and really a downgrade from before. If anything they look over processed
I have made sure I am on the latest firmware, am using a good fast SD card, have double checked all settings and can see on playback on my Mac that it is pushing a bit rate of around 27mb.
I am playing my files back by using a card reader to copy the file from the SD card to my hard drive (SSD)
So any thoughts?
Surely I should expect an increase in image quality when upgrading from an A129 to an A129 plus

 

[Nigel]

Post a frame grab so that we can see what you are seeing, or upload a short video to google drive...

Need to take into account that we are nearing the darkest day of the year, dashcams have much better image quality in summer, you need to compare cameras in similar conditions.

 

[M A R K]

Post a frame grab so that we can see what you are seeing, or upload a short video to google drive...

Need to take into account that we are nearing the darkest day of the year, dashcams have much better image quality in summer, you need to compare cameras in similar conditions.

So this "may" be a playback issue.
The good news is that today is a lovely bright sunny day plus I have files from this week last year on the same road in similar conditions so I can get a good comparison.
But the reason I am currently investigating playback is that when I fired up the same file onto my iPad to edit it for comparison, the output was much better than the same file on a top end i7 Mac with additional GPU and 4k screen!
Let me do some more testing and get some comparable files to post

 

[Mtrev]

Do you still have the old A129? Just wondering if you could temporarily mount it alongside the other so you can literally back to back test them simultaneously.

 

[M A R K]

Do you still have the old A129? Just wondering if you could temporarily mount it alongside the other so you can literally back to back test them simultaneously.

One step ahead of you

 

[Nigel]

I did have an A129 which I ran at 1080p 60fps

It is recommended to use 30fps. 60fps looks a little smoother, but is likely to have more compression artifacts. If the purpose is to record evidence then 60fps gives no advantage, it does not reduce motion blur.

 

[M A R K]

It is recommended to use 30fps. 60fps looks a little smoother, but is likely to have more compression artifacts. If the purpose is to record evidence then 60fps gives no advantage, it does not reduce motion blur.

60fps was why I went for the Plus rather than the pro. I have been running 60fps on my previous A129 without issue so would like to continue to do so. I prefer the output so it's a personal preference.
To be fair, anything over about 20fps and 720p is suitable for an evidence perspective so if we are going above that I might as well have something I like the look of otherwise there is no point upgrading from where I was

 

[M A R K]

It is actually looking like I have a faulty unit here.
What I hadn't spotted that many of the clips being recorded were only 38 seconds long (even though clip length is set to 3 minutes) and some were only 20 seconds. On top of this, huge chunks (20 minutes plus) are actually missing all together. I even get this behaviour if the car is stationary.
I have swapped out the memory card even though all my cards are high speed brands ones just in case and the same happens so I fear I may have just been unlucky in getting a faulty unit.

 

[DT MI]

...many of the clips being recorded were only 38 seconds long (even though clip length is set to 3 minutes) and some were only 20 seconds. On top of this, huge chunks (20 minutes plus) are actually missing all together. I even get this behaviour if the car is stationary.

Do you by chance have 'motion detection' turned on? That feature doesn't work particularly well on many dash cams and could manifest itself in this manner.

 

[M A R K]

Do you by chance have 'motion detection' turned on? That feature doesn't work particularly well on many dash cams and could manifest itself in this manner.

I have checked and double checked all the settings. Motion detection isn't turned on. Good call though
Indeed I now have this sitting on my desk with a good power supply and I can see the recording just starting and stopping for no apparent reason. Seems to run for anywhere between 15 and 40 seconds then stall . All the lights are on though so if the screen wasn't on, you would not know it wasn't recording.

 

[CaptureYourAction]

I have checked and double checked all the settings. Motion detection isn't turned on. Good call though
Indeed I now have this sitting on my desk with a good power supply and I can see the recording just starting and stopping for no apparent reason. Seems to run for anywhere between 15 and 40 seconds then stall . All the lights are on though so if the screen wasn't on, you would not know it wasn't recording.

Format the card with SDFormatter. Perform the full overwrite, not the quick format. Format in the camera after using SDFormatter (be sure card is Fat32).

SD Memory Card Formatter for Windows/Mac | SD Association

www.sdcard.org

 

[DT MI]

...Indeed I now have this sitting on my desk with a good power supply and I can see the recording just starting and stopping for no apparent reason. Seems to run for anywhere between 15 and 40 seconds then stall . All the lights are on though so if the screen wasn't on, you would not know it wasn't recording.

Format the card with SDFormatter. Perform the full overwrite, not the quick format. Format in the camera after using SDFormatter (be sure card is Fat32).

SD Memory Card Formatter for Windows/Mac | SD Association

www.sdcard.org

That would be my next suggestion as well. Some time back I had a card (brand name) that was writing at much less than 10% of it's rated speed and was getting similar symptoms (mostly 'short' files). Did a low-level format with SDFormatter and all has been well since.

 

[M A R K]

That would be my next suggestion as well. Some time back I had a card (brand name) that was writing at much less than 10% of it's rated speed and was getting similar symptoms (mostly 'short' files). Did a low-level format with SDFormatter and all has been well since.

Thanks
I have tried to rule out a bad SD card by trying other cards (including a brand new one)
All cards are rated for 4k video and have read/write speeds well in excess of anything the dashcam should be able to throw at it. Testing the cards in a true 4k camera pushing 100Mbps bit rates sees them perform without issue so I can be sure they are fast enough
I have formatted the cars in the camera itself because I have been burnt before when formatting the cards on a desktop instead
I am running out of options other than the unit itself being flakey

 

[DT MI]

Thanks
I have tried to rule out a bad SD card by trying other cards (including a brand new one)
All cards are rated for 4k video and have read/write speeds well in excess of anything the dashcam should be able to throw at it. Testing the cards in a true 4k camera pushing 100Mbps bit rates sees them perform without issue so I can be sure they are fast enough
I have formatted the cars in the camera itself because I have been burnt before when formatting the cards on a desktop instead
I am running out of options other than the unit itself being flakey

Well if the symptoms persist with multiple cards and multiple power supplies (the 2 most common reasons for dash cam problems) I agree it doesn't leave much to point the 'finger of blame' at other than the camera itself.

 

[Mtz]

Also I consider it is a card issue.
You can test your camera at your home using a smartphone charger after you set the camera to default settings and formatting the card inside camera.
I am curious about the result.

Also Nigel asked about a frame grab or some small video sample and I see none.

enjoy,
Mtz

 

[CaptureYourAction]

Thanks
I have tried to rule out a bad SD card by trying other cards (including a brand new one)
All cards are rated for 4k video and have read/write speeds well in excess of anything the dashcam should be able to throw at it. Testing the cards in a true 4k camera pushing 100Mbps bit rates sees them perform without issue so I can be sure they are fast enough
I have formatted the cars in the camera itself because I have been burnt before when formatting the cards on a desktop instead
I am running out of options other than the unit itself being flakey

Even though you are formatting in the camera, check the card properties on your computer to make sure it’s Fat32.
I would also still try SDFormatter.

 

[M A R K]

Also I consider it is a card issue.
You can test your camera at your home using a smartphone charger after you set the camera to default settings and formatting the card inside camera.
I am curious about the result.

Also Nigel asked about a frame grab or some small video sample and I see none.

enjoy,
Mtz

Hi

I have been testing today with the camera sat on my desk as you suggest. I have formatted the card and indeed tried different cards of various sizes from Sandisk, Integral and Samsung. Some are cards I already had and some are brand new. All are at least U1 cards with a minimum of 50MB write speed claimed.

I have also used the SDFormatter on a couple of these cards and can confirm they are all formatted FAT32

Below is a link to some footage from the dashcam taken yesterday. I have also included some previous footage taken with the A129 for reference. For the A129 Plus footage, the camera is running 1440p at 60fps

A129 and A129 Plus Test Files - Google Drive

drive.google.com

Now I was starting to think that this may be a CODEC issue on the Mac but now the camera is refusing to actually record for any period of time with any card does seem to point to something more fundamentally wrong thus I am getting the unit swapped out as faulty.

Having used Viofo devices for a few years, I am more than happy to try another rather that write off the brand so fingers crossed.

 

[CaptureYourAction]

Are you using the supplied long Viofo USB cable? Are you using a USB wall charger that supplies at least 1A? Don't use an Apple white cube charger.

 

[M A R K]

Even though you are formatting in the camera, check the card properties on your computer to make sure it’s Fat32.
I would also still try SDFormatter.

Thanks
Yes I have done all of these and still no joy (see my reply to Mtz above).
I hate returning things hence looking for any suggestions on here before taking that route so thanks for your response

 

[M A R K]

Are you using the supplied long Viofo USB cable? Are you using a USB wall charger that supplies at least 1A? Don't use an Apple white cube charger.

I am using a 63W USB charging block so no worries on that front.
I have tried with the supplied USB cable (not the long one) as well as other Mini USB cables. The cable I am using on my desk here is not the same cable being used in the car.
And if I plug my old A129 into the same setup with the same cables, cards etc etc, it functions just fine
I hate to admit defeat but I feel like I have hit the end of the road on this one
Thanks