Koonlung K1S Review

[Eric Edwards]

worse than that!
i found only 1 mic working not both
and it was Rear Camera?

is that right? someone else check if is front or back or both mic recording, please

 

[jokiin]

can you upload some photos?

 

[Eric Edwards]

K1S Inside Mic / 2 Pics

 

[jokiin]

where was it mounted, I didn't see that in the original pics

 

[Eric Edwards]

where the mic go?
See Circuit Board Back Shot with the Colored Wires.
direct opposite lead wires on the other end of board.
It Broke Off before i could get a photo of it on the board.
==========================================
update on the Dog Idea?
Fail! but still a good idea for others to consider,
The Idea of Placing the Cam 2 Rear Deck Inside Something Else to Hide.
anything would work with a Hole for the Lens. Experiment, Place Camera inside something
Heat is Not An Issue, currently inside small enclosed non vented enclosure, not much heat is generated at the lens chip. the guts are in the dvr in the glove box.

Why it Wont Work For Me, Mounting on Lower Deck
i have a rear spoiler. the view was obstructed, too much in the way to see cars lic plates
only see below the spoiler and above it.
Mounting Cam on Lower Deck with a Spoiler, not a great location.
re-mounted currently in middle of back glass up top. Painted Gray to match interior color.
subject to change.

 

[jokiin]

where the mic go?
See Circuit Board Back Shot with the Colored Wires.

direct opposite lead wires on the other end of board.
It Broke Off before i could get a photo of it on the board.
.

I must be missing something, can't tell where it went and you never mentioned it breaking off a week ago when you posted the other pics

 

[Eric Edwards]

Oh, and another thing
TURN EVERYTHING OFF unless you like to drive with beeps going off
why they add these features?
"must be for UK Folks leaving the Pub"
LDWS Lane Departure Warning System
FCWS Forward Collision Warning System ///o'comon now really?
that thing will go off every time you get behind a car wont it?
=============================================
I TURN IT ALL OFF
or you must like beeps beeps beeps beeps while you drive
the G-Sensor is also way to sensitive, every bump in the road on "1"
marks a hundred files "!" in 30 miles to save from overwrite,
Got the G-Sensor Off too.
does have a nice musical tone to let me know its turned on and off, i do find it pleasant

 

[Eric Edwards]

Will take Photo of other Cam for the Mic Shot on Circuit Board and post later
that cam1 sound does not work, but the mic is attached.
Weird that the Working Cam would be the Rear
you would think if only 1 cam records sound it would be the Front Cam 1.
not sure but others will let us know about does 2 cams record?
or is it only the rear one instead of the front, its a mystery for now.
wonder if the factory knows about this,
users will sort it out in time

 

[jokiin]

if the G sensor is false triggering all the time then that's something else they got wrong, possibly firmware addressable though and not hardware like the mics

the LDWS, FCWS etc is just marketing junk from Ambarella, is never going to be useful unless integrated into the vehicle electronics, that's a failing on Ambarella's part though, just turn it off and forget about it

 

[Eric Edwards]

Speed Cam Alerts
in USA this does not function.
we don't get alerts ! only a Bill in the Mail
is this another gimmick ? or does it really work
dashcam users out there got it going let us know

================================================

 

[jokiin]

it relies on a POI database, it can work anywhere in the world providing you supply the data in the correct format, from what I've read Koonlung aren't using the regular format that is normally used for this so a bit of data manipulation is required to get it working but it can work

 

[Eric Edwards]

if the G sensor is false triggering all the time then that's something else they got wrong, possibly firmware addressable though and not hardware like the mics

the LDWS, FCWS etc is just marketing junk from Ambarella, is never going to be useful unless integrated into the vehicle electronics, that's a failing on Ambarella's part though, just turn it off and forget about it

was Thinking about the Gimmicks how it Could Work, Needs To Integrate to the Turn Lever indicator to Work Properly.
if ambarella engineers were not such idiots, think about it, whats to stop the Beeps with a Lane Change? nothing cause its stupid, and would need to be linked to the turn indicator. if this is pressed then it does not beep, otherwise it will beep with each lane change way i figure.
seems pretty logical to me, a job not well defined or done, a grand scale fail at the chip level.

maybe you should go over there and help the souls with some consultations.

 

[jokiin]

I think with OBD integration it could work reasonably well, I still think it's a technology best left to car companies though as it really needs full access to the cars computers for best results, it needs input from the vehicle to be able to work properly, it has gimmick value only in its present state, if anything I think people take products less seriously if they're full of poorly implemented tech

the only customer Ambarella listens to is GoPro, nobody else gets a look in, even their next biggest customer to GoPro does 600,000 chipsets a year and they don't even get any special attention, if it wasn't for GoPro I'm not sure they'd even exist in the car camera product

 

[Eric Edwards]

The Concept is Good
designed to alert the driver from drifting off the road, LDWS a special added in feature for K1S
to prevent fall asleep at the wheel kinda of times, with notifications sounds.

this lets you know in advance before you crash is the theory.

however it goes off with each lane change the way it is now, no way it can tell the difference if your drifting off the road or making a safe lane change,.
so why put it in as a feature is my question.?
maybe Koonlung someday can come by to Explain It. ambarella folks / any one?

and they think they are done with it.
come back and visit dashcam talk as it develops, i am sure there will be answers at some point, when? unknown for now

 

[Eric Edwards]

now i know why
its Made In China,

explains why the Scene Selector has " Fireworks " as an options for the Video Display Settings

 

[Eric Edwards]

8 out of 10 Stars for me
keeping my score same, even with the above findings.
what is important is decent video front and back cams with gps info to a dvr for start and stop recording for claims and evidence.

Must Use UHS-1 Class Cards only.
No Fakes or Generics will work I use Lexar 633 SD Micro Card. Steady Recording, no breaks in segments. maps showing up in mph

 

[jokiin]

so why put it in as a feature is my question.?

that's what happens when marketing makes decisions rather than engineering

 

[jokiin]

now i know why
its Made In China,

irrelevant, it's a chipset thing, (from a Taiwanese company, headquartered in America and manufacturing in Korea), poor marketing decisions happen regardless of country of origin

explains why the Scene Selector has " Fireworks " as an options for the Video Display Settings

the whole scene selector option is a throwback to the digital video camera roots of the chipset, for other applications there are relevant settings there, for a car camera application most are pointless and the product would be more credible without them, in some marketing minds more features is something to brag about, even the pointless stuff

 

[Eric Edwards]

Speed Cam Alerts:

can you describe more about that feature how it works, i read the manual but it does not say much, but shows speed on the screen monitor, but whats the deal, purpose
how it help the driver. whats the theory behind it, what it is , what it does, the equipment, what happens, etc

we here in the USA have nothing of the sorts, its a bill in the mail. intersection cameras shoot a photo and shoot the bill out. $150 to $300 ea.
Pay or the list is long what happens. Failure to Pay, can turn into arrests and jail. its no joke. and your car taken away, and loss of insurance.

 

[jokiin]

Speed Cam Alerts:

can you describe more about that feature how it works, i read the manual but it does not say much, but shows speed on the screen monitor, but whats the deal, purpose
how it help the driver. whats the theory behind it, what it is , what it does, the equipment, what happens, etc

it works by accessing a database table for given GPS coordinates to give a warning (beep or whatever it does) when you are within a specified distance from the POI (point of interest), if you have them there it's the same method used by GPS navigation devices to notify you of speed and red light cameras, it only helps with fixed camera locations obviously and is a database so it's only as good at the data in it, if it's not maintained it could easily be out of date as new camera locations get added