Kamkar beating on B1W

[kamkar]

So i found this B1W dashcam in my mailbox care of Estore 009, and what better way of starting a drive than installing a new dashcam

This are off course early days, so there will be more to come in this thread, but for day one i have this short Dual video for you guys.
On the top are the new contender, and on the bottom the reference camera ( SG9665GC V3 )

So far no irregularities, the camera install was a breeze, updating the firmware likewise, and the app also appear fine.

So far i just have this to report.
1: The app need to to turn off mobile data on my phone ( android 7.1 ) when that is done the app/camera connect at once, and after that i can turn on mobile data again, but i have to repeat this if the car have been stopped.
2: When the camera it turned off with the car it say " System going down" i think it was planned to say "system shutting down", but something got lost in translation.
3: The audio voice are not that loud, you really have to listen for it to get it, would be nice if it could have a few levels to choose in menu.
4: The image look a tad sharp, reminded me of my Lukas LK-7500, its not as such a bad thing but i am sure "videophiles" would like a more relaxed image.

The B1W seen to have a 1 frame overlap in between segments, this seem a little strange or at least the first time i have seen it, usually it are 30 frames on the cameras i have seen with overlapping file segments.
The B1W footage seem to be supported by Registrator viewer, so you can use that to remove the overlap and output several files to one big file.

In General there are not much to say, the B1W feel well build and it is amazing light weighing only a fraction of the other parts in the box.
And in the box are what you need to get going so no complaints there.

The weather here in Denmark are pretty bleak at the moment, so no dice on plate capture with any camera i have,,,, at least not the 80 km/h highway speeds i use for testing this.
So that will have to wait, but i have a sneaky feeling the B1W will do alright here too, after all it is using a fine sensor and i dont think the SOC are holding that back, so really just the lens that can mess things up i think.

Day #2 night footage in town.

Stitching this together i noticed there are some random frame doubling going on in the B1W, something i did not notice with the footage above.

Only difference between yesterday and today are i use 3 minute files today used 1 minute yesterday as i forgot to change this after FW update

Other then this the B1W are preforming normal.

Day #4 today i am taking a closer look at the audio performance of the B1W.
To start things off its slow going as i enter a little parking lot by the harbor and try to draw in some cops so we could get a proper conversation example, but sadly they was not around even with me waving my biggest beacon.
The window are open in my driver side door as i stop as i primarily wanted to see how the cameras captured the cars passing by some 10 M from my door.
The video background are from the SG9665GC, but it dont matter here, the topic are audio.

In this scenario the B1W microphone do okay if you ask me, what it capture are usable for sure.

Day #4 audio session 2 moving vehicle.
Here we have a major audio problem, probably rooted in how the microphone are installed or maybe the housing design / build.
Anyway as soon as you start to move every little bump get amplified as at speed its like a empty oil barrel with golf balls in it rolling down a hill.
As the not moving part tell there are nothing wrong with the microphone itself, stopped it actually work just fine if you ask me, so to me it must be something mechanical in play.

I hope you like my little stab at the old Beatles number Blackbird, and do forgive no lacking whistle skills, and do note i an saying foghead not fu.khead, fogheads are people too stupid to know how to operate that light.

 

[kamkar]

So today i finally saw some weather that gave a stab at the smaller details at speed ( plates )

So i have compiled these 2 videos.
In both videos i tried to pause at the optimal place for plate capture, and in both videos i use a 30 % zoom on the incoming vehicle.

Both videos also have their original soundtrack, but nothing other than the rumblings of my little car as it speed across a Danish highway at 80 km/h speed

 

[Nigel]

4: The image look a tad sharp, reminded me of my Lukas LK-7500, its not as such a bad thing but i am sure "videophiles" would like a more relaxed image.

It does have more sharpening than most, and normally I complain about too much sharpening, but the B1W sharpening doesn't destroy the detail like many cameras, often it improves the detail that is recorded.

 

[kamkar]

Hard for me to tell now, but looking forward to better days where i get a chance of seeing more detail.

Actually got the camera yesterday, but that was a all day fog here with visibility of 100 M or so, today was just cloudy with the resulting lack of light this time of the year this far north.

But no sun on the weather forecast for the next week +, so will have to make do with making a night recording a little later or tomorrow.
will probably be tomorrow as this day have 2 minutes left in it

 

[estore009]

@kamkar1 Thanks for audio test!

 

[kamkar]

No problem
For sure there are something fishy with the microphone or rather the way its installed, the microphone itself seem to be good as parked testing indicate.
I have one more thing i would like to try in regard to the audio, but the audio issue have given me a urge to have a look inside the camera.

But i will do my best to not take it apart just yet, still some tests that need to be done in regard to image quality, just waiting for weather ( sun ) that will allow for such tests.
There are a little sun forecast for my town on Sunday, i pray that hold up as it is the only sun on the horizon according to the weather men here.

Personally audio are not that big a thing for me, but for other it are so we need to figure out what to do to make it better when driving.

 

[SawMaster]

@kamkar1 and @dash riposki and @estore009 plus anyone else experiencing audio problems with the BiW

I have just noticed that the mic is right next to the cam's push-button, and in my cam that button is loose. This could produce a rattle which could resonate at a low frequency which would be easily picked up by the adjacent mic . If those experiencing this issue could place a piece of tape on the button to the case preventing rattle, we can then see if the loose button is the problem.

At worst if that does nothing we will know one place the problem isn't at which can help guide us further. I'll join the testing this afternoon or tomorrow when it's warn enough outside to be playing with cams. It's -6C (20F) and dark here so non-critical things can wait a bit

Phil

 

[dash riposki]

That kind of makes sense. I'll check later.

 

[Module 79L]

The mic's problem is not the push-button, it's its sh*tty quality. Over-sensitive and probably pushed to the max on the firmware.

 

[kamkar]

Thats what i wanted to try, gently press the button so it cant rattle.

 

[dash riposki]

My button didn't seem 'loose', but put some tape over it, anyway.
Not sure I notice a difference?

With tape over the button

Without:

 

[kamkar]

Yeah i dont think its a rattle picked up, i am more inclined to say it is resonance that's picked up.

I have some other things now i want to try too, but the past 2 days the camera have been left in my car as we do have a little frost ( just below freezing )
But i am going for a drive tomorrow and will experiment and bring camera with me when i get home.
I dont think its the microphone that's bad, it may be the microphone used are not optimal for this kind of application, but its not bad i think, maybe applied bad or installed bad.

I havent see blue skies like that for months, and its not in the forecast for the next 2 weeks

 

[dash riposki]

^^^These videos are from Eastern Sawmastervania, where they had a few inches of snow a few days ago, and it shut down 90% of the businesses, schools, govt, etc. It got up into the 40's today, so the streets are finally clear. I also think resonance...or something.
If I thought I could take it apart, and get it back together again I'd maybe try a few dots of hot glue inside the case in empty spaces.

 

[Mtz]

I confirm the audio is not good on B1W latest firmware, it should be improved in future updates. Maybe audio level is too high.

The video is duplicating each 5th frame which probably means the chipset can record just at 1080p 25fps and is duplicating that 5th frame to obtain 30 fps. Kamkar please check this also on day videos.

enjoy,
Mtz

 

[jokiin]

I confirm the audio is not good on B1W latest firmware, it should be improved in future updates.
The video is duplicating each 5th frame which probably means the chipset can record just at 1080p 24fps and is duplicating that frame to obtain 30 fps. Kamkar please check this also on day videos.

enjoy,
Mtz

set your frequency to 60Hz and see if you get 30fps without duplicates

 

[kamkar]

How to people have it on the window ?
I have mine to the Right of the mirror and the lens to the right of the mount.
I was thinking maybe if people have the lens to the left of the mount and so the camera twisted in another direction to line up the footage, and so not having the resonance / noise, but then again it should be symmetrical inside so it dont matter which direction you have turned the camera to line it up.
But this is what i will experiment with tomorrow turning the camera to new different positions to see if that alleviate the problem

 

[Mtz]

set your frequency to 60Hz and see if you get 30fps without duplicates

When I am testing frame duplication I am doing frame by frame navigation in Virtual Dub or in MPC-BE.

Look at the GIF frames 958 and 959, which are different frames in the video but the frame 958 is duplicated. 958 is 5th frame and 959 is 6th frame.



enjoy,
Mtz

 

[jokiin]

When I am testing frame duplication I am doing frame by frame navigation in Virtual Dub or in MPC-BE.

Look at the GIF frames 958 and 959, which are different frames in the video but the frame 958 is duplicated. 958 is 5th frame and 959 is 6th frame.

that's the correct way to look for the issue

it's a common tactic to do frame duplication when set to 50Hz and 30fps video to avoid flicker, they are actually doing 25fps which is easier to sync with 50Hz lighting but they need to add 5 extra frames per second, when set at 60Hz you should get true 30fps video without duplicate frames, this can be done even if the camera has no 50/60Hz menu option and does auto frequency selection

 

[kamkar]

I see the double frames in my editing software, but i will have a look at this 50/60 Hz issue tomorrow.

It was just with the night recording i have noticed the double frame, dident catch that with my daytime recording but its clearly there in the footage of Mtz.
A little embarrassing, i think maybe i need to fab up a standard procedure for camera footage and how i look at it, as it is now i am flying by the seat of my pants.

 

[jokiin]

A little embarrassing

not really, not always easy to spot as it depends on what's happening in the background, we had a similar issue in the GC firmware a while back and it was 2 years before it was picked up, once you know it's there and you're conscious of the issue you can spot it easily, the best footage to spot the problem can be created by driving around in a circle, it's a lot easier to spot when the camera is panning sideways