Is a 4K rear dash camera worth it?

So far I have used 3-4K dash cameras that all have a 4K rear camera.

As far as I am concerned none of them should be available for sale on the market.
They all have problematic bugs that make them unreliable device.

However the crazy thing is some of the bugs some users will actually never see.

Who wants to see a video discussing this?

Or should i just expose it all here in blog?
 
I would be interested in seeing the 'challenges' as you call them. 🙂

I would say to clearly define where there are software bugs and where there are hardware deficiencies. I would start here, get your thoughts, concerns, and results in a logical order, then post on YouTube.

I know that whatever you have found or will find, what you write will be truthful.
 
SafeDriveSolutions said:
So far I have used 3-4K dash cameras that all have a 4K rear camera.

As far as I am concerned none of them should be available for sale on the market.
They all have problematic bugs that make them unreliable device.

However the crazy thing is some of the bugs some users will actually never see.

Who wants to see a video discussing this?

Or should i just expose it all here in blog?
Click to expand...
Curious of this, as i am only recently transitioning from 2 separate main cameras for front and rear, to a multi-channel model, the Viofo A329T, with Front 4K, and 2K tele and Rear cams.
Viofo has a previous model that has a Rear 4K cam, far as I have read, it is a excellent performer.
 
lufa6977 said:
The need for license plate capture in the U.S. is overstated. There are a handful of technologists and enthusiasts at DCT who think license plate capture is the be-all and end-all of dashcam technology. A good bet is that most dashcam users in the U.S. give license plate capture little thought or concern. Users are generally more interested in capturing the bigger picture of what is going on around them.

The Vueroid S1-4K utilizes an AI system that involves importing the video into an editor, selecting the plate area, and then sending that selected area to an AI processing hub. It works reasonably well, but has its limitations, as can be expected. But it is a good start and a good direction for dashcam users who want an edge on license plate captures.

As for ALPR, Automatic License Plate Reader. The systems used by law enforcement agencies are not cheap. Depending on quality, cams start around $800 and can cost thousands of dollars. Then there is the back-office system, which is not cheap. The back office AI processing is often a subcontracted agreement with a provider. Those readers capture an image and import it into a system that AI processes, then searches a database. Even if the database search part is removed from the consumer market, the overall quality of the images and AI processing by LEO ALPR systems is out of the reach of the average consumer.

I like the idea of capturing license plates, if only for that rare occasion when a user will need that information. Mostly, users do not need that information, and license plate capture is the Holy Grail that dashcam manufacturers are chasing after. I prefer to have an excellent all-around image, both front and back, that captures quality details of events. Given my options, I would prefer a telephoto lens investment over license plate capture.
Click to expand...

Some of us have had real world experiences where capturing plate info was critical. Plate capture isn’t the end-all-be-all, but I still find it important.

 
lufa6977 said:
I would be interested in seeing the 'challenges' as you call them. 🙂

I would say to clearly define where there are software bugs and where there are hardware deficiencies. I would start here, get your thoughts, concerns, and results in a logical order, then post on YouTube.

I know that whatever you have found or will find, what you write will be truthful.
Click to expand...
They are not concerns.

A dash camera is expected to do 1 job reliably.

Record video while driving

So far all 3 I have tested have failed.

Failed and affected reliability for end customer or consumer. I am endlessly testing beta firmwares to fix products that are on products for sale.

The Viofo A229 ULTRA we bought back all of our stock and upgraded all customers to A329S free of charge.

The “slow card error” keeps coming up. This only happens in 2 channel mode. Not in 1 or 3 channel mode.

Customers all reported rear camera connecting and disconnecting while driving which means the dash camera is constantly recording stopping recording over and over again.

This is not 1 issue there are multiple.


The 70Mai T800 has a great interior camera. Yet again I am testing beta firmware after beta firmware to find the same problems with their unit.

Corrupt video files
Motion detection only works on front camera (but i can never get it to wake up and record anything in motion detection even from front camera) which is suppose to work
Many more challenges I need to go through my notes. I think I am on firmware #4 to fix issues.

Red Tiger F77
Well not going to start on that. I think @rcg530 has a blog on it.

I think dash camera companies need to go back to the drawing board with the 4k rear cameras
 
SafeDriveSolutions said:
They are not concerns.

A dash camera is expected to do 1 job reliably.

Record video while driving

So far all 3 I have tested have failed.

Failed and affected reliability for end customer or consumer. I am endlessly testing beta firmwares to fix products that are on products for sale.

The Viofo A229 ULTRA we bought back all of our stock and upgraded all customers to A329S free of charge.

The “slow card error” keeps coming up. This only happens in 2 channel mode. Not in 1 or 3 channel mode.

Customers all reported rear camera connecting and disconnecting while driving which means the dash camera is constantly recording stopping recording over and over again.

This is not 1 issue there are multiple.


The 70Mai T800 has a great interior camera. Yet again I am testing beta firmware after beta firmware to find the same problems with their unit.

Corrupt video files
Motion detection only works on front camera (but i can never get it to wake up and record anything in motion detection even from front camera) which is suppose to work
Many more challenges I need to go through my notes. I think I am on firmware #4 to fix issues.

Red Tiger F77
Well not going to start on that. I think @rcg530 has a blog on it.

I think dash camera companies need to go back to the drawing board with the 4k rear cameras
Click to expand...


Wow! Well, no one can deny that you are a stand-up guy. Exchanging and upgrading your customers to the A329S is admirable.

I know that Robert has had some interesting posts and experiences with the F77; I was following that for a while.

I would guess that manufacturers are becoming more competitive and have become careless with beta firmware, expecting their customers to beta test the product.

I would say to call it like it is; let sunshine reveal what is to be seen. If a manufacturer has an issue with you, then it is really their issue, not yours. Some of them need to clean up their act.
 
SafeDriveSolutions said:
They are not concerns.

A dash camera is expected to do 1 job reliably.

Record video while driving

So far all 3 I have tested have failed.

Failed and affected reliability for end customer or consumer. I am endlessly testing beta firmwares to fix products that are on products for sale.

The Viofo A229 ULTRA we bought back all of our stock and upgraded all customers to A329S free of charge.

The “slow card error” keeps coming up. This only happens in 2 channel mode. Not in 1 or 3 channel mode.

Customers all reported rear camera connecting and disconnecting while driving which means the dash camera is constantly recording stopping recording over and over again.

This is not 1 issue there are multiple.
Click to expand...
The single channel A119 v1 and Mini 2 been rock solid cams for me. Having one of them for both front and rear, may make for double the management, and sd cards etc, but of one fails, the other is independent and should at least be recording. But from a customer standpoint, not ideal or desirable.
I just upgraded to the A329S, then flashed it to the T model to add the telephoto cam.
Will be swapping in the Rear cam later this weekend.

I gather the A329S model is one of your "good ones" then.
 
speedingcheetah said:
The single channel A119 v1 and Mini 2 been rock solid cams for me. Having one of them for both front and rear, may make for double the management, and sd cards etc, but of one fails, the other is independent and should at least be recording. But from a customer standpoint, not ideal or desirable.
I just upgraded to the A329S, then flashed it to the T model to add the telephoto cam.
Will be swapping in the Rear cam later this weekend.

I gather the A329S model is one of your "good ones" then.
Click to expand...
It has been good. We have heard very little concern over this unit. We are working with Viofo on testing some new beta firmwares for A329S with some new cool features as well
 
SafeDriveSolutions said:
It has been good. We have heard very little concern over this unit. We are working with Viofo on testing some new beta firmwares for A329S with some new cool features as well
Click to expand...
Other than it being picky as hell over ssd drives and usb c data cables being used, and, it being USB 2.0 (and not 3.0 as they advertise)...it been solid for me so far. But, only had it a short time.
 
SafeDriveSolutions said:
So far I have used 3-4K dash cameras that all have a 4K rear camera.

As far as I am concerned none of them should be available for sale on the market.
They all have problematic bugs that make them unreliable device.

However the crazy thing is some of the bugs some users will actually never see.

Who wants to see a video discussing this?

Or should i just expose it all here in blog?
Click to expand...

@SafeDriveSolutions I have the S1 Pro Max 4K front and 4K rear installed. The design of Vantrue's rear cameras will be returning to the barrel shape found in the N5S series. For now, the resolution is to us VHB 3M to affix the mount to the camera body for stability.

The video of the S1 Pro Max is quite good.

Can you elaborate on "perceived issues" with the camera other than the rear camera design?
 
jsmith said:
@SafeDriveSolutions I have the S1 Pro Max 4K front and 4K rear installed.
...
Can you elaborate on "perceived issues" with the camera other than the rear camera design?
Click to expand...
The S1 Pro Max is not one of the 3 dashcams he is talking about.
 
lufa6977 said:
Wow! Well, no one can deny that you are a stand-up guy. Exchanging and upgrading your customers to the A329S is admirable.

I know that Robert has had some interesting posts and experiences with the F77; I was following that for a while.

I would guess that manufacturers are becoming more competitive and have become careless with beta firmware, expecting their customers to beta test the product.

I would say to call it like it is; let sunshine reveal what is to be seen. If a manufacturer has an issue with you, then it is really their issue, not yours. Some of them need to clean up their act.
Click to expand...

I cannot speak for Viofo, as the A139 3-Channel is the newest unit I own, and was self purchased. I have not been included in any Viofo product testing on here, so I'll defer any criticism to people with the A329 units in hand.

I have extensively tested a majority of Vantrue's product line and can say the company is very receptive to feedback. I have found numerous software bugs in almost every model I tested, and Vantrue's tech team has worked diligently to resolve each and every one of them. After giving feedback that their hinged camera design causes instability and vibrations, Vantrue informed me that all rear cameras are undergoing a redesign to the barrel shape that I suggested.

Consider testing the S1 Pro Max, as it appears to be a relatively solid unit. I wish there was a CPL filter, but I did what was suggested and used a Viofo 300 CPL retrofit. For now, it's imperative to use 3M VHB on the hinge mount to adhere to camera itself to eliminate vibrations. Video itself is rock solid.

@SafeDriveSolutions I may not be a longstanding member, or carry the clout / respect you do on this forum, but companies explicitly hand out products to solicit feedback. There's a place for people driving around and capturing sample videos in various lighting conditions. I personally find this low level testing. Videos help, but they dont improve stability. I have degrees in IT, enjoy bug testing, and don't see helping companies improve a product as beneath me.

From a cost analysis standpoint, products are created and tested by engineers in lab settings on a strict timeline. Technology doesn't age well, and many companies push products out the door, long before they're ready for primetime. One reason is sitting on an investment too long may miss the boat, and companies could end up eating huge losses, if what's being sold isn't considered relevant to the consumer upon launch. The alternate issue is that many problems don't get noticed until numerous people begin using a product in the "real world".

Food for thought.
 
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jsmith said:
@SafeDriveSolutions I have the S1 Pro Max 4K front and 4K rear installed. The design of Vantrue's rear cameras will be returning to the barrel shape found in the N5S series. For now, the resolution is to us VHB 3M to affix the mount to the camera body for stability.

The video of the S1 Pro Max is quite good.

Can you elaborate on "perceived issues" with the camera other than the rear camera design?
Click to expand...
Here is a copy of my earlier post

They are not concerns.

A dash camera is expected to do 1 job reliably.

Record video while driving

So far all 3 I have tested have failed.

Failed and affected reliability for end customer or consumer. I am endlessly testing beta firmwares to fix products that are on products for sale.

The Viofo A229 ULTRA we bought back all of our stock and upgraded all customers to A329S free of charge.

The “slow card error” keeps coming up. This only happens in 2 channel mode. Not in 1 or 3 channel mode.

Customers all reported rear camera connecting and disconnecting while driving which means the dash camera is constantly recording stopping recording over and over again.

This is not 1 issue there are multiple.


The 70Mai T800 has a great interior camera. Yet again I am testing beta firmware after beta firmware to find the same problems with their unit.

Corrupt video files
Motion detection only works on front camera (but i can never get it to wake up and record anything in motion detection even from front camera) which is suppose to work
Many more challenges I need to go through my notes. I think I am on firmware #4 to fix issues.

Red Tiger F77
Well not going to start on that. I think @rcg530 has a blog on it.

I think dash camera companies need to go back to the drawing board with the 4k rear cameras
 
SafeDriveSolutions said:
Here is a copy of my earlier post

They are not concerns.

A dash camera is expected to do 1 job reliably.

Record video while driving

So far all 3 I have tested have failed.

Failed and affected reliability for end customer or consumer. I am endlessly testing beta firmwares to fix products that are on products for sale.

The Viofo A229 ULTRA we bought back all of our stock and upgraded all customers to A329S free of charge.

The “slow card error” keeps coming up. This only happens in 2 channel mode. Not in 1 or 3 channel mode.

Customers all reported rear camera connecting and disconnecting while driving which means the dash camera is constantly recording stopping recording over and over again.

This is not 1 issue there are multiple.


The 70Mai T800 has a great interior camera. Yet again I am testing beta firmware after beta firmware to find the same problems with their unit.

Corrupt video files
Motion detection only works on front camera (but i can never get it to wake up and record anything in motion detection even from front camera) which is suppose to work
Many more challenges I need to go through my notes. I think I am on firmware #4 to fix issues.

Red Tiger F77
Well not going to start on that. I think @rcg530 has a blog on it.

I think dash camera companies need to go back to the drawing board with the 4k rear cameras
Click to expand...

@SafeDriveSolutions are you using Viofo Branded SD Cards? Is the slow error only on the A229 Series or also on the A329 Series?

I cannot make assumptions so I will only defer to Vantrue. I tried Sandisk cards in their S1 Pro Max and Another Model (forget). I got truncated clips and irregular recording. Once I went to Vantrue Branded Cards, I have yet to have a single issue with recording. Branded SD cards are designed to work with their company specific products.

Would be interested to hear which SD cards are in use and giving you problems.

Reach out to @Jeff_Vantrue for an S1 Pro Max with a Vantrue Sd Card. Ignore the design of the S1 Pro Max Rear 4K. This has already been discussed between Vantrue and I. Focus on picture quality and functionality. See what you think. It's a 2 channel not 3 Channel though. Front 4K and Rear 4K.
 
We exclusively use Viofo SD cards. Have about 300 sd cards in stock of Viofo. The only time we do not is for a Vueroid or Thinkware where it comes in the box. Other then that it is Viofo branded sd cards.

They are very high quality.

Let me say I found an issue with the T800 that many meticulous people did not even find. I woukd not be surprised what I may or may not find with Vantrue.

@jsmith Vantrue will not send me an S1 pro max. Honestly if they do I do not need to be testing another dash camera for reliability.

I will wait to talk to Vantrue in November face to face at SEMA. Clear the air and see what happens from there.

I think the market wants a rear 4k dash camera. I just feel it was rushed to market by all manufacturers
 
I'm of the opinion that having a 4K rear camera is a nice to have feature, but certainly not required. Daytime usage with ample ambient light, the recording quality can be decent. Nighttime usage will run into more challenging situations due to reduced ambient light levels. Plate captures by rear 4K cameras will usually have less light to work with [at night] so the image quality will amost always suffer. The rear camera is depending on the headlights of the vehicle(s) behind your vehicle to provide the light to make the plate readable [if the vehicle even has a front plate].

When I first received the VIOFO A229 Ultra for testing back in early August, I did have a problem with a 2-channel [front+rear] setup and using a VIOFO 256GB memory card producing "card slow" errors. I updated the firmware once or twice but the error was still occurring. On August 13th, I switched from a VIOFO 256GB card to a VIOFO 512GB card and the errors stopped occurring. I ran a lot of diags on that brand new VIOFO 256GB card and everything checked out. I'm using that VIOFO 256GB card in another dash camera without a problem.

The 70mai T800 4K rear camera has similar image quality characteristics to the A229 Ultra 4K rear camera. Right now, I'm not a fan of the HDR image from these 4K rear cameras [mainly daytime]. The colors are oversaturated making the image look like a cartoon image [at times].

Regarding the 70mai T800 infrequently / randomly creating MP4 video files with corrupt H.265 video streams, yes I missed that issue during my review testing. @SafeDriveSolutions let me know he ran into the problem with his unit. I reviewed hundreds of T800 video files I had created while testing my T800 and I finally found a MP4 file with corrupt H.265 video stream content, but valid audio content. I found I could search for the corrupted H.265 video streams, by using the ffprobe utility from the ffmpeg utility package. Using ffprobe in a script, I was able to check/locate files that had this problem. I worked with 70mai for a couple of weeks by providing device log files and MP4 files with the issue. 70mai identified the root cause and as of firmware version v1.2.136ww for the T800 the issue has been resolved.

My Redtiger F77 testing lasted a lot longer than I had hoped. I discovered the MP4 files on the internal eMMC drive that are copied over the F77's USB-C port to any Windows computer would get randomly corrupted. It took a lot of effort to get this issue correctly understood by Redtiger. It took around 6 months for the issue to get fully resolved. I have a thread on this site about the entire situation. If you have a Redtiger F77, you are strongly encouraged to upgrade to the firmware updates first made available in June 2025. I want to revisit the image quality aspect of the F77's 4K rear camera again, but I need to free up some windshield space in that car to get the F77 front camera reinstalled.
 
SafeDriveSolutions said:
I have not tested it. But I am sure I would come to the same conclusion.
Click to expand...
Perhaps so. I was simply clarifying for @jsmith that you specifically mentioned 3 other models.

FWIW, I have been using the S1 Pro Max for 3 months. I'm not happy with certain aspects about the 4K rear camera hardware design (flexi hinge, no CPL option, size) and the overall front & rear video quality which is compromised by the low bitrate and in my opinion they made poor decisions regarding image processing - I'm not sure that it looks any better than a good 2K + 2K camera. Actually the rear camera mount design would be a deal-breaker for me as a customer.

However I cannot fault the S1PM for reliability so far. No matter what configuration I've tested, it has always done its primary job and recorded 1CH or 2CH video as intended, whilst driving or parked. Granted there may be some issues I have not yet encountered, or some corrupt files I have not yet found.
 
TonyM said:
Perhaps so. I was simply clarifying for @jsmith that you specifically mentioned 3 other models.

FWIW, I have been using the S1 Pro Max for 3 months. I'm not happy with certain aspects about the 4K rear camera hardware design (flexi hinge, no CPL option, size) and the overall front & rear video quality which is compromised by the low bitrate and in my opinion they made poor decisions regarding image processing - I'm not sure that it looks any better than a good 2K + 2K camera. Actually the rear camera mount design would be a deal-breaker for me as a customer.

However I cannot fault the S1PM for reliability so far. No matter what configuration I've tested, it has always done its primary job and recorded 1CH or 2CH video as intended, whilst driving or parked. Granted there may be some issues I have not yet encountered, or some corrupt files I have not yet found.
Click to expand...

Agreed on the rear camera design. Vatrue is going to barrel shaped cameras in the future based upon feedback and testing I provided to their engineers. The hinged design causes far too much instability to be useful. Taping the bottom mount to the rear camera using 3M VHB resolves the issue.

The image quality on the S1 Pro Max isn't bad, but did you send feedback to @Jeff_Vantrue regarding the bitrate? That's something they can change via firmware to tweak and make better.
 
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