Mobius Maxi vs Viofo A129

TonyM

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Dash Cam
A139, M1S
Comparison between Viofo A129 and Mobius Maxi.

I left the A129 CPL on by mistake in my initial video. Skip to Post #6 for new videos without any CPL
 
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Any CPLs in use?
 
Any CPLs in use?
Sorry, yes there was a CPL on the A129. I forgot about that. I'll try to record another comparison this weekend without any CPL.
 
Sorry, yes there was a CPL on the A129. I forgot about that. I'll try to record another comparison this weekend without any CPL.
Ahh, that is why the motion blur appeared equal!

Both done a good job though.
 
Ahh, that is why the motion blur appeared equal!

Both done a good job though.
Normally I don't use a CPL on my front cameras, so that I can compare them. I forgot that I'd moved the CPL from the A129 rear camera to the front camera last week. :oops:
 
A129 - F1.6 lens / IMX291 sensor / 1920x1080 30fps / 16Mbps / WDR off / No CPL / FRONT camera only
Maxi - F1.5 lens / 'Unknown' sensor / 2704x1524 30fps / 60Mbps / WDR(no option) / No CPL

A129 - FW MOD-4Ue by @BCHobbyist
Maxi - beta FW 2.04 (IQ identical to current release FW1.90 for the purpose of this comparison)

Night Video Comparisons (combined at 1080p)



Comparison video screenshots

When stationary at traffic lights, the A129 with IMX291 shows a brighter image with less noise. Looking at the cyclist, A129 exposure duration and thus motion blur is slightly higher than the Maxi.
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When headlights reflect from other cars or when other very bright objects come into view, the Maxi metering has a strong tendency to avoid clipping highlights, which results in a darkened image. This does make reflective number plates easier to read, but the darker video is not ideal.
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Moving slowly along a narrow street, the Maxi shows higher noise but appreciably less blur. Overall image brightness is very similar between both cameras, with slightly better peripheral illumination on the Maxi. There is a green tint to AWB under artificial lights on the Maxi. The A129 colour is more accurate, if a little bit on the cold side.
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On open roads without streetlights, the same trend continues. The A129 has a brighter image with less noise, whereas the Maxi has more noise and less motion blur. Whether one approach or the other is better for dashcam video evidence is open to discussion....
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Moving on to daytime comparisons between the Maxi and A129, in good light there is not much difference between them. In areas of high contrast, the Maxi shows a slightly wider dynamic range with more shadow detail. The A129 has a better colour balance without the green tint in the blue skies.

Day Video Comparisons (combined at 1080p)


Comparison video screenshots
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Driving in the middle of the day in bright sunlight along a country road lined with trees, the A129 shows the limitations of its lower bitrate when faced with fast-moving high detail scenery.

Day Video Comparison (combined at 1080p)

Comparison video screenshots
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Driving at a slower speed on a tree-lined town road, the A129 performance is level with the Maxi.

Day Video Comparison (combined at 1080p)

Comparison video screenshots
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Towards the end of the day with the sun low on the horizon, the different metering of the two cameras is very noticeable. The A129 maintains a longer and brighter exposure, resulting in washed-out highlights but good illumination in shadow areas. The Maxi seems to be using highlight priority that retains colour and detail in the sky and darkens the overall scene, with shorter exposure and less blur - similar to my earlier observations at night without streetlights.

Dusk Video Comparison (combined at 1080p)

Comparison video screenshots
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Summary

Both cameras have their merits. As a standalone camera, I find the Maxi is better at capturing the action with less blur and greater detail across most lighting conditions, at the expense of a high bitrate which requires a large capacity card for all-day recording duration. Whilst the A129 may not have quite so strong video performance as the Maxi, it offers a wider range of features in its function as an all-round dashcam: screen, GPS, parking mode, optional rear camera, longer recording time. At the moment I run both cameras side-by-side and take advantage of the strong points of both cameras. If I had to choose just one of them, I'm not sure which one I would go for.
 
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Thanks for all the effort put in to this tony. I have a mobius 1 that I'm thinking to move to the back and get a maxi for the front view.

I know the Maxi doesn't have wifi capability yet - would I be right in saying that the A129 wifi capability allows you to connect a phone and use an app to download videos to the phone ?

Ideally what I'd like is a camera that joins a wifi network when in range and expose itself so that a PC could access and copy the videos off via samba or similar. I have a feeling this doesn't exist!
The reason is to keep an archive of a journey (in fact a small part of it) and see if it improves/worsens over time.
 
I know the Maxi doesn't have wifi capability yet - would I be right in saying that the A129 wifi capability allows you to connect a phone and use an app to download videos to the phone ?
Yes it does, and the Maxi app will let you do the same.

I'm not aware of any dashcams that connect to your home network.
 
I know you are involved in testing, have you any idea on ETA for the Maxi app ?
 
I know you are involved in testing, have you any idea on ETA for the Maxi app ?
A lot depends on how many bugs need to be fixed before releasing the app, rather than using customers as beta testers. It's Mobius' first time writing an app, but what I have seen so far is looking good.
 
Parked. Headlights off.
The A129 with a CPL is still brighter than the Maxi.

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The mobius maxi definitely needs to have its settings changed to allow it to gather better night images.
It has the built in potential to do much better than this.
 
The mobius maxi definitely needs to have its settings changed to allow it to gather better night images.
It has the built in potential to do much better than this.
the A129 isn't a fair comparison, the 2mp Sony sensor is always going to be better in these low light situations, would be better compared to the A119 or A119pro which are closer in specification to the Maxi
 
In the above comparison, I like Mobius more. It shows an even dynamic range while maintaining detail in the shadows.
The A129 has a programmatically overstated value of Auto ISO, but at the same time it has worse dynamic range
and lost details in the shadows. But the overall picture seems brighter.
1.jpg2.jpg
 
In the above comparison, I like Mobius more. It shows an even dynamic range while maintaining detail in the shadows.
The A129 has a programmatically overstated value of Auto ISO, but at the same time it has worse dynamic range
and lost details in the shadows. But the overall picture seems brighter.
View attachment 43046View attachment 43047
That actually shows that the A129 uses the full range of 8 bit brightness available from 0 to 255 while the Mobius only uses 14 to 248 with almost nothing beyond 16 to 237 so has less detail with no true black or true white. Seems like there is something wrong in the Mobius processing.
 
High ISO is not always a bad thing, I see a lot more in the A129 pic. If someone was to walk across the frame (parking mode scenario), the A129 has a much better chance of capturing a legible face. It’s not an action camera.

My problem with the Maxi is that it goes dark in close quarter situations, it’s contrary to how a dashcam should behave. What we need is a separate firmware, let it behave how it currently does for action cam usage.
 
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