Mobius 1.20 Firmware Discussion Thread

[BobDiaz]

Yesterday I took the plunge and updated to the new software. The images look good to me, but I need to find the older files of the same drive to see if there's any real difference.

 

[xreyuk]

Quick note of my findings so far.... In low light situations (no streetlights and headlights only) I am seeing a slight flickering of light intensity on the recordings. To me it looks as if the sensor is adjusting up and down to the light conditions, but can't find a steady set point. It might just have been the local lighting conditions, so I'll run it a little longer on this setting to see what happens tonight.

In daylight I am seeing no visible difference in the recorded footage using the Standard Quality video setting. I haven't had a bright sunshine run yet though...

Interestingly the bit rate on Low Light setting (11800 kbps) is lower than on the WDR On (14750 kbps). I had anticipated that it would have been higher?!

I had no idea that WDR even had an effect on the bit rate. I do a lot of driving for work, and tend to have WDR switched on during the winter (shorter daylight hours, and it tends to be darker in the day due to poor weather) and then WDR off for summer (except when I'm on call and going out at night I'll switch it on).

Thanks for letting me know

 

[GJHS]

Ok Low Light testing done and setting removed. WDR Low Light is still causing flashing and stuttering. When it works, it amazing, yet the flashing make it very unusable.

Which leads me to a question for all Mobius users here: What firmware do you feel had the best low light? I have heard a few different answers, most seem to say 0.59 some say 0.47. The team has been working hard to improve the low light abilities of this sensor, yet was it better in a previous firmware?

 

[Grimm]

Through absolutely no testing or use on my own I have concluded that 0.59 was best at low light. This is after reading the entire RC Forums threads*, all the threads here, and various discussions elsewhere (Fpvlabs, etc) on the InterWebs.

I'm sticking with 1.20 for now, just with low light off.

* The giant Mobius thread on RC Forums does get off topic a lot so there is some garbage to get through. I'm glad that never happens here!

 

[xreyuk]

I was on 0.59 and updated straight up to 1.13. I thought o.59 was slightly better, but there wasn't a massive difference for me.

Out of interest, do you guys usually run with WDR On or off? Or do you change it as needed?

 

[Hilts]

Ok Low Light testing done and setting removed. WDR Low Light is still causing flashing and stuttering. When it works, it amazing, yet the flashing make it very unusable.

Which leads me to a question for all Mobius users here: What firmware do you feel had the best low light? I have heard a few different answers, most seem to say 0.59 some say 0.47. The team has been working hard to improve the low light abilities of this sensor, yet was it better in a previous firmware?

I am also done testing the Low Light setting whilst driving on various roads, both in daylight + night with and without streetlights.. I have noticed some flickering on that setting, as I reported a few days earlier. For me it is simply not an issue, I'll revert to the WDR On setting, which I am very happy with.
I am certainly sticking with FW 1.20.
I am extremely happy with my Mobius.

 

[horaceCJ]

Bad news, flickering appears also with WDR on. I installed 1.20 yesterday and had a long night drive with Mobius recording continously for 7 hours with standard video rate. No issues except for the flickerings, which don't appear so often in steady ambiental light (city street lights). Take a look at this video, no processing done. Also, note that only the low beam was used.

 

[jokiin]

the camera is adjusting as the oncoming lights pass and ambient light available changes rapidly, I think this is the expected result

 

[horaceCJ]

No, it's not
It happend in a previous FW (http://dashcamtalk.com/forum/threads/mobius-firmware-v0-57-low-light-issue.3075/), was resolved, appeared again in 1.17 with WDR low light enabled and now in 1.20 for both settings of WDR.

 

[jokiin]

Maybe it wasn't as quick to adjust with the light changes previously, or the change was more linear, would still be doing the same thing though, I don't see it changing randomly, it's all in response to changes between light and dark which is what WDR is all about

 

[Hilts]

No, it's not
It happend in a previous FW (http://dashcamtalk.com/forum/threads/mobius-firmware-v0-57-low-light-issue.3075/), was resolved, appeared again in 1.17 with WDR low light enabled and now in 1.20 for both settings of WDR.

Is that with the Standard Lens or the Wide Angle Lens? The reason I'm asking is I don't get that happening with the Wide Angle Lens I am using...

 

[BobDiaz]

The image of the left of the frame was from version 1.13 and on the right of the frame is version 1.20. It's hard to get an exact match, but this seemed to be as close as possible. There's a tad more dynamic range with v1.20 compared to v1.13. Look at the wall on the far left of each image.

 

[horaceCJ]

Maybe it wasn't as quick to adjust with the light changes previously, or the change was more linear, would still be doing the same thing though, I don't see it changing randomly, it's all in response to changes between light and dark which is what WDR is all about

What I bolded in your message is the key. Changes are not randomly, but sometimes are not normal, they are generated by a too small change in lighting. Take a look at 0:09 when the truck in front of me turns on the left signal.

Is that with the Standard Lens or the Wide Angle Lens? The reason I'm asking is I don't get that happening with the Wide Angle Lens I am using...

It's the standard lens.

 

[Hilts]

I had no idea that WDR even had an effect on the bit rate. I do a lot of driving for work, and tend to have WDR switched on during the winter (shorter daylight hours, and it tends to be darker in the day due to poor weather) and then WDR off for summer (except when I'm on call and going out at night I'll switch it on).

Thanks for letting me know

@xreyuk I have misled you here, sorry!! Just looked at my settings and I'd managed to change the Movies Quality setting to Low from Standard when I changed to Enhanced Brightness (Low Light) setting, doh!!! Recording on Standard Movie Quality is the same bit rate whether I have the HDR or Enhanced Brightness setting On.
I am going to give the Enhanced Brightness setting another go (with Standard Quality Movie setting On) and see what it's like across various light ranges.
In all honesty I suspect that I'll default back to my preferred HDR On setting, as it seems to cope well in all the driving conditions I have encountered to date. Don't mind experimenting a little bit though in the interim period.

 

[Adi]

Well, FW 1.20 is no good for me. it has the same low light issues like v.0.57:
1. Light flickering when switching between low and high light
2. Slow motion movement caused by the low light issue

this is mainly visible when driving on roads that have road lights.

See here, you can download the original clip without re-encoding::
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4PjYmho9VxzaFF6cjRyYzljZ0E/edit?usp=sharing

im going back to FW 1.13 until low light issues are fixed.

WDR = on
Low light = off

 

[dirkzelf]

However, if you use a Sandisk 64GB card you most likely won't have this problem.

I can confirm this, all versions 64GB Sandisk Ultra works great. I haven't tested f/w 1.20 though.....

 

[AgentSmith007]

I can confirm this, all versions 64GB Sandisk Ultra works great.

What do you use to format your 64GB Sandisk Ultra to FAT32?

 

[xreyuk]

@xreyuk I have misled you here, sorry!! Just looked at my settings and I'd managed to change the Movies Quality setting to Low from Standard when I changed to Enhanced Brightness (Low Light) setting, doh!!! Recording on Standard Movie Quality is the same bit rate whether I have the HDR or Enhanced Brightness setting On.
I am going to give the Enhanced Brightness setting another go (with Standard Quality Movie setting On) and see what it's like across various light ranges.
In all honesty I suspect that I'll default back to my preferred HDR On setting, as it seems to cope well in all the driving conditions I have encountered to date. Don't mind experimenting a little bit though in the interim period.

Lol! No problem mate. I've still not touched the advanced settings such as enhanced brightness yet, I was hoping somebody would come in here and put a magical list of settings that are awesome. Defaults don't seem too bad though.

 

[horaceCJ]

im going back to FW 1.13 until low light issues are fixed.

I did the same: downgraded to 1.13 without changing any settings and the flickering is gone.
Does anybody now if this was reported on the RC thread or to the developer? I haven't read the support thread recently... @russ331? @Isoprop?

 

[Hilts]

Well, FW 1.20 is no good for me. it has the same low light issues like v.0.57:
1. Light flickering when switching between low and high light
2. Slow motion movement caused by the low light issue

this is mainly visible when driving on roads that have road lights.

See here, you can download the original clip without re-encoding::
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4PjYmho9VxzaFF6cjRyYzljZ0E/edit?usp=sharing

im going back to FW 1.13 until low light issues are fixed.

WDR = on
Low light = off

I did the same: downgraded to 1.13 without changing any settings and the flickering is gone.
Does anybody now if this was reported on the RC thread or to the developer? I haven't read the support thread recently... @russ331? @Isoprop?

I have just had an interesting evening/night of running my Mobius on FW 1.20 with the Enhanced Light setting On and recording with Standard Quality movie setting - failing light to darkness + street lights and no streetlights (headlights only). I am simply not seeing the flickering as badly as you've both reported.
This makes me think it might be related to the lens type being used. I seem to recall reading somewhere the Wide Angle (Lens B) gives better low light recordings. If my second Suction Cup fitting was working I'd run it alongside the Std Mobius (Lens A) I have to see if I get the flickering like that...

@xreyuk ...I am going to give the Enhanced Brightness setting another go (with Standard Quality Movie setting On) and see what it's like across various light ranges.
In all honesty I suspect that I'll default back to my preferred HDR On setting, as it seems to cope well in all the driving conditions I have encountered to date. Don't mind experimenting a little bit though in the interim period.

After the tests tonight I am returning to my favoured HDR On setting, as I prefer the daytime colours this gives. Still giving the FW 1.20 the thumbs up!!