Improvements I would like to see in the panorama II and/or S

Three things should be improved:

1. More advanced suction mount.

The current mount is too basic. On the left side you see the suction mount from Prestigio DVR. It has at least 4 nice features:
1. It is smaller and more stylish.
2. The suction mechanism is "rotate" instead of "pull" which saves space.
3. The wires can be plugged in in the mount itself (this hides the wires from the view).
4. It can be rotated also horizontally (quick horizontal rotation is important in order to capture, for example, conversation with a police officer that has stopped the vehicle).

advanced_mount.jpg


2. Make illumination more discrete.

I found the illuminated buttons and the blinking blue LED very disturbing when driving at night. I would prefer more discrete look as it is provided by Prestigio DVR on the left side. In Prestigio DVR the blinking orange LED is barely visible and it can be seen only if looking directly into it (not visible from side angles). This design distracts the driver less and draws less attention to the device from the passengers.
lights_discrete.jpg


3. Start recording before charging the capacitor.

Currently when plugging in the power adapter the camera first charges the capacitor (which might take even 10 seconds) and only after capacitor is charged the video recording is started. It would be wise if the capacitor is charged in the background while recording.

charge_before_recording.jpg

 
the mount you like are prone to connectivity issues, the rotating attachment style don't seem to last as long either, there are mounts for this camera that pivot though

LED's could do with being a bit lower intensity I agree

the charge and then record is the best way to do it if you want reliability
 
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Lielap said:
Three things should be improved:

1. More advanced suction mount.

The current mount is too basic. On the left side you see the suction mount from Prestigio DVR. It has at least 4 nice features:
1. It is smaller and more stylish.
2. The suction mechanism is "rotate" instead of "pull" which saves space.
3. The wires can be plugged in in the mount itself (this hides the wires from the view).
4. It can be rotated also horizontally (quick horizontal rotation is important in order to capture, for example, conversation with a police officer that has stopped the vehicle).

advanced_mount.jpg


2. Make illumination more discrete.

I found the illuminated buttons and the blinking blue LED very disturbing when driving at night. I would prefer more discrete look as it is provided by Prestigio DVR on the left side. In Prestigio DVR the blinking orange LED is barely visible and it can be seen only if looking directly into it (not visible from side angles). This design distracts the driver less and draws less attention to the device from the passengers.
lights_discrete.jpg


3. Start recording before charging the capacitor.

Currently when plugging in the power adapter the camera first charges the capacitor (which might take even 10 seconds) and only after capacitor is charged the video recording is started. It would be wise if the capacitor is charged in the background while recording.

charge_before_recording.jpg
Click to expand...


1. It is smaller and more stylish.

.... yes, agree


2. The suction mechanism is "rotate" instead of "pull" which saves space.

.... partially agree

3. The wires can be plugged in in the mount itself (this hides the wires from the view).

.... agree


4. It can be rotated also horizontally (quick horizontal rotation is important in order to capture, for example, conversation with a police officer that has stopped the vehicle).

.... don't agree: you can not rotate full 360 degree with low profile suction mount like your prestigio, I have tested long time ago this. Prestigio or Panorama, or any other wide-style dashcaemras will stuck into windshield when you try to rotate it to side. With bigger side suction cup ball-joing mount like @RoadCan offered you can do turn 360 degree.

2. Make illumination more discrete.

.... It is not practical, - when its sunny day, then dimmed LED illumination or buttons backlight is not visible, so the present brightness is OK for all-around day / night use.
The solution would be making LED and buttons illumination autodimm according to outside light, but this require light-sensor, which is extra change to full design and will cost more money. If 1000 potential buyers ready to pay more, then developer can add this design change.

3. Start recording before charging the capacitor.

.... Its not possible for supercaps dvr-s. Non of supercaps based dashcams have this option. First, supercaps have to be fully charged before start recording. This is laws of physics ! ;)
 
niko said:
4. It can be rotated also horizontally (quick horizontal rotation is important in order to capture, for example, conversation with a police officer that has stopped the vehicle).

.... don't agree: you can not rotate full 360 degree with low profile suction mount like your prestigio, I have tested long time ago this. Prestigio or Panorama, or any other wide-style dashcaemras will stuck into windshield when you try to rotate it to side. With bigger side suction cup ball-joing mount like @RoadCan offered you can do turn 360 degree.
Click to expand...

Yes, if rotating horizontally the dash camera will stuck into windshield, however, it can be rotated also vertically in the same time (sure, the captured image will be rotated 90 degrees).
niko said:
2. Make illumination more discrete.

.... It is not practical, - when its sunny day, then dimmed LED illumination or buttons backlight is not visible, so the present brightness is OK for all-around day / night use.
The solution would be making LED and buttons illumination autodimm according to outside light, but this require light-sensor, which is extra change to full design and will cost more money. If 1000 potential buyers ready to pay more, then developer can add this design change.
Click to expand...
Then I would prefer a menu option to switch all lights off (if I want to see whether it is recording I might touch any button and see).

niko said:
3. Start recording before charging the capacitor.

.... Its not possible for supercaps dvr-s. Non of supercaps based dashcams have this option. First, supercaps have to be fully charged before start recording. This is laws of physics ! ;)
Click to expand...
Why isn't it possible? The charge in supercapacitor is needed only to provide energy when the dashcam is not plugged in power source.
 
Yup, jokiin is correct.
The capacitor cannot save power, once unplug adaptor, device will turn of after some seconds.
 
Power plugged DVR with empty capacitor has enough power to switch on LCD but not enough power to record? Sorry, makes no sense.
 
Usually without charging, capacitor cannot switch on the LCD, only when there is still a little power inside.
The function of capacitor is to save current section when unplug adaptor.
 
Camera needs to be ready to save a file before recording starts and also needs to be prepared for power cut while cranking, charging the caps prior to this is necessary
 
Lielap said:
Power plugged DVR with empty capacitor has enough power to switch on LCD but not enough power to record? Sorry, makes no sense.
Click to expand...

I would say its a similarity to starting a car diesel engine in winter ( car left outside, without any pre-heated kinda "Webasto" ). U can turn on ACC and listen to radio, but to start an engine First you have to warm up few sec. a glow-plugs and only then u can start an engine.
Now makes sense ? ;)

Lielap said:
Power plugged DVR with empty capacitor has enough power to switch on LCD but not enough power to record? Sorry, makes no sense.
Click to expand...

Lielap said:
Power plugged DVR with empty capacitor has enough power to switch on LCD but not enough power to record? Sorry, makes no sense.
Click to expand...
 
1. More advanced suction mount.

I agree. Although it's also a tradeoff between stability & flexibility. Stability gives the best videos. Maybe we need a small version of a tripod ball head head. As used on FULL sized movie cameras. I have full size tripod, with a solid ball head that would be perfect. Except that it'd to heavy to stay mounted to the screen, using a sticky pad.

2. Make illumination more discrete.

Some semi-transparent nail polish, or modelling paint might do this job

3. Start recording before charging the capacitor.

not sure about this, & others will correct me if I'm wrong. But a hardwire kit for use in parking mode may do the job you require
 
I would like to see a redesign of the lens housing. Instead of a metallic surround, I would like to a threaded edge where you can screw on filters (such as a CPL filter). Magnetic CPL filters can fall off if going over a bad bump. A threaded on filter would be more secure.
 
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Video / Optical Quality that matches the $65 Mobius... that would make me extremely Happy!
and a GPS Module that works...
 
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hometechnc said:
Video / Optical Quality that matches the $65 Mobius... that would make me extremely Happy!
Click to expand...

I see you recently left a 1-star review on Amazon. We've sold 100's of Panorama's and this is the first negative review.

http://www.amazon.com/PowerUCC-Pano...iewpoints=0&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending

Maybe we can help you figure out what's wrong with your unit. Maybe you have a badly out of focus lens and or faulty GPS port/unit. Did you buy your product from us or somewhere else? I've read several posts where the lens is reported to be out of focus from units bought from the only other two importers besides us. (older stock) We only have very new stock and I triple check test everything myself. The Panorama has a very low RMA/defect rate but anything is possible with Electronics as you know.

The Panorama is "Best All Around" -DashCamTalk for good reasons.
 
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RoadCam , is it possible to make dewarp from (future ) firmware or must be something ''physically'' adapted to Pano ?
 
RoadCam said:
I see you recently left a 1-star review on Amazon. We've sold 100's of Panorama's and this is the first negative review.

http://www.amazon.com/PowerUCC-Pano...iewpoints=0&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending

Maybe we can help you figure out what's wrong with your unit. Maybe you have a badly out of focus lens and or faulty GPS port/unit. Did you buy your product from us or somewhere else? I've read several posts where the lens is reported to be out of focus from units bought from the only other two importers besides us. (older stock) We only have very new stock and I triple check test everything myself. The Panorama has a very low RMA/defect rate but anything is possible with Electronics as you know.

The Panorama is "Best All Around" -DashCamTalk for good reasons.
Click to expand...


My unit was ordered on April 26,2014 from shpKorea
Here is a link to one of my videos recorded with the Panorama IIS :
The video is not horrible, but if a car passes me at any speed, the license plate is not legible, where I can see it clearly with my Mobius, which right now, is mounted right next to the Panorama.

This morning, the GPS took a full 30 minutes to lock on to the signal. I even tried parking in a wide open, shopping Ctr. parking lot for 15 minutes.
Funny thing though, if I park and turn off the car for 10-15 minutes, and then turn the car back on, the GPS locks on almost immediately!

Regards, R.Carr
 
DJR96 said:
Good points you raise there @spotnz

The one change I would like to see is to have the speed (as determined by the GPS) displayed on screen in the same line as the date and time. There is room to the right of the time. And yes, speed only to the whole kph, not to two decimal places.

The lens is very wide angle. Great for it's field of view, but hurts resolution. It can be difficult to even read license plates any more than 20 metres away. Not good enough. Although having said that I think I need to try to improve focus a little.

The GPS coordinates to so many decimal places is good. The resolution is just about good enough to indicate which lane of a road you are on. Can even see where you've changed lanes.
Click to expand...

I agree, the lens is too wide, or perhaps offer a narrower lens for those of us who would rather have the higher-quality video.
 
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