IROAD A9, Sony IMX291, 1080p60

TonyM

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Dash Cam
A139, M1S
One of the first dashcams to feature Sony's super-sensitive IMX291 sensor. It appears to be a single-channel variation of the 2-channel V9

IROAD Website
A9_1.jpg

• 1CH – FHD 1920×1080@60Frame
• 2.9M SONY STARVIS Images Sensor(IMX291)
• Dual Core A7-V3 CPU embedded
• 142 degrees wide viewing angle
• Built-in voltage control(uninterrupted power) : prevent battery discharge
• Wi-Fi function
• Format Free (Auto recovery system)
• 34 kind of voice guidance and high quality voice recording

Recent sample videos by UK retailer car-dvr.co.uk




 
A couple of RAW video files (in AVI, not the native JDR format)

Daytime 1080p60, 30sec, 68Mb, avg 20Mbps

Night 1080p60, 60sec, 68Mb, avg 9Mbps. It is 60fps, no frame-doubling

My first impression is that I was expecting greater things from the IMX291, especially at night. It's certainly ok, but it looks like high sensitivity at the expense of some noise and loss of detail. Daytime highlights are also very bright with no detail. I think I'd rather take one of the IMX322 cameras on the market.

Perhaps other manufacturers with different lenses, processors and firmware can harness greater performance from this sensor?
 
My first impression is that I was expecting greater things from the IMX291, especially at night. It's certainly ok, but it looks like high sensitivity at the expense of some noise and loss of detail. Daytime highlights are also very bright with no detail. I think I'd rather take one of the IMX322 cameras on the market.

support for this sensor is still reasonably new so it will take some time to mature, the IMX322 has been in use longer so has had more development time, that said it looks like their implementation of the IMX291 is not ideal, I've seen better, some prefer to have bragging rights about being first to market, not always a good thing
 
it will take some time to mature
@jokiin
I assume its not maturing like vine does. ;)

So who is responsible for this maturing.
Sony, Ambarella / Novatek. The producer of the camera or a soup of all of them.
Sometime I have the feeling that the produce of the camera, doesn't get good enough information from Ambarella / Novatek, so it build on trial and errors. is that the case?
 
support for this sensor is still reasonably new so it will take some time to mature, the IMX322 has been in use longer so has had more development time, that said it looks like their implementation of the IMX291 is not ideal, I've seen better, some prefer to have bragging rights about being first to market, not always a good thing

Thats also the conclusion i came to watching the footage, night don't look brighter at least than a 322 camera.

I assume opening the IMX291 can up is just a fresh batch of worms to go to work on, and its not the big fat ones the aboriginals eat, its small slippery and wiggly ones.
 
So who is responsible for this maturing.
Sony, Ambarella / Novatek. The producer of the camera or a soup of all of them.
yeah it's a bit from each, they each need to contribute to get things working the best they can, some manufacturers seem to work together better than others for whatever reason, some seem to struggle

Sometime I have the feeling that the produce of the camera, doesn't get good enough information from Ambarella / Novatek, so it build on trial and errors. is that the case?
the smaller you are the less support you get, a lot don't seem to be bothered by this as they don't really care how well things work, as long as they work that's often enough for a lot of them
 
it looks good with me. Sharp and see pretty easy plate in night even in high speed. What a pity: Doesnt have any clip at no light street.
talking about imx291. I have seen a comparing video between imx291, imx322 and ar230.
In this video, imx291 has brighter sence, but noiser.
20163f975de7-67aa-43d2-ae91-639bde13b626.jpg

And i think in this iroad, they do better job in here. It doesnt noise. In fact, with 60 fps, it's good.
 
It's noisy as hell and overexposed for the day. If the Starvis can't be tamed to achieve a proper balance, I'll stick with the 322.
 
That footage is off a warrior G1S action camera, and yes it seem to be able to go to really noisy levels if the light available is really low.
A IP camera i tested with the IMX185 sensor was able to do the same in some settings.

Do look like you have to tread lightly with a 291 based camera.
 
Try looking here...

video posted above is broken for me so wasn't sure if the same one, kind of suspected it might have been though, the guy that does these makes all these comparison videos and screenshots that are edited to favor the products he sells, he has been called out for this before
 
video posted above is broken for me so wasn't sure if the same one, kind of suspected it might have been though, the guy that does these makes all these comparison videos and screenshots that are edited to favor the products he sells, he has been called out for this before
Yes, the video link is broken for me too - but I think this is what the video used to be...;) (It's the same frame at 3:55)
 
Yeah too bad :rolleyes:

Amping up the ISO is just asking for problems, and it seem like the warrior G1S is fully unleashed, but i cant see much need for a that noisy image.
Do seem like you have to hold the reins tight on a IMX 291 or it will throw you to the ground and run off.
 
Hi all , I have a problem with the IROAD A9, after 2 month of utilization , video is in violet and wifi is not working well , anyone have this issue?



 
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Yes that do look like a dying sensor, you will need to get that camera replaced under warranty.
 
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