Naming Scheme of Dashcams (Pro Plus Max+ Ultra FE SE?)

[Agie]

Anyone else finding the dashcam naming scheme mirror the smartphone world? Used to be just the model numbers, but now we're seeing Mini, Pro, Plus, the whole kit and caboodle tacked on.

Waiting for the inevitable Viofo A229 Pro Plus Max+ Ultra or perhaps the Viofo VS1 SE FE Sprinter Edition, or maybe Vantrue E5T Pro?

 

[Dashmellow]

Well, I'm waiting for the Viofo A329 MEGA !!!

 

[Agie]

Well, I'm waiting for the Viofo A329 MEGA !!!

That would be ideal, but I think the Mega name died years ago when it came to phones ((

 

[Dashmellow]

That would be ideal, but I think the Mega name died years ago when it came to phones ((

Time to bring back MEGA!! or perhaps even Mega Ultra Deluxe? Hyperbole is the future!!

 

[DT MI]

This is what happens when the accounting and marketing departments control products - they get built cheaper to save money and get fancy names to disguise it.

 

[Dashmellow]

I actually like Viofo's approach to naming dash cam models. There's a simple logic to it.

It started out as:

A119 = 1 channel
A129 = 2 channel
A139 = 3 channel (optional)

A229 = 3 channel (optional) According to this naming logic it should probably have been the A239. Not sure why @viofo didn't do that.

Mini, Pro, Plus, etc, make sense in this context for designating sub-variations.

I always hated Street Guardian's overly complex and confusing model designations by comparison.

 

[Deleted member 85644]

This is what happens when the accounting and marketing departments control products - they get built cheaper to save money and get fancy names to disguise it.

Amen!

 

[Deleted member 85644]

I actually like Viofo's approach to naming dash cam models. There's a simple logic to it.

It started out as:

A119 = 1 channel
A129 = 2 channel
A139 = 3 channel (optional)

A229 = 3 channel (optional) According to this naming logic it should probably have been the A239. Not sure why @viofo didn't do that.

Mini, Pro, Plus, etc, make sense in this context for designating sub-variations.

I always hated Street Guardians overly complex and confusing model designations by comparison.

Probably the number one reason I did not consider the SG was it convoluted naming of its products. I just simply could not, get past reading the name. Moved on to
VIOFO and do not regret it.

VIOFO would do well to explain their naming convention to their customers. At some point they will need to come up with a different naming convention. Anything that starts with a two would be a Starvis 2 dashcam, etc.

I think the big problem VIOFO and other manufacturers will have is coming up with a way to cool the dashcam internals. Soon they will no longer be able to hobble the features
and quality of the video in an attempt to cool the internals. At the same time, customers and VIOFO, will need to understand that striving for the smallest camera possible is
simply no longer doable. Already, we see the A229 Pro is running way too hot, the summertime fail rate for these cameras will be high. Viofo would have done well to use a larger
wedge with better ventilation.

The more features and clarity that we want will come at a price, not necessarily a monetary price, but a windshield real estate price.

 

[Agie]

I actually like Viofo's approach to naming dash cam models. There's a simple logic to it.

It started out as:

A119 = 1 channel
A129 = 2 channel
A139 = 3 channel (optional)

A229 = 3 channel (optional) According to this naming logic it should probably have been the A239. Not sure why @viofo didn't do that.

Mini, Pro, Plus, etc, make sense in this context for designating sub-variations.

I always hated Street Guardian's overly complex and confusing model designations by comparison.

Very good points, wonder what the upcoming VS1 means though? Very Small? Haha

 

[Dashmellow]

I think the big problem VIOFO and other manufacturers will have is coming up with a way to cool the dashcam internals.

I've been advocating for years that dash cams should be built more to the standards of CCTV cameras that operate 24/7 in the most challenging of environments, often sitting in direct sunlight. CCTV cameras often use the very same processors and sensors as dash cams, only configured differently.

Viofo's recent addition of massive heat sinks in their cameras goes a long way towards achieving that goal.

 

[Agie]

Probably the number one reason I did not consider the SG was it convoluted naming of its products. I just simply could not, get past reading the name. Moved on to
VIOFO and do not regret it.

VIOFO would do well to explain their naming convention to their customers. At some point they will need to come up with a different naming convention. Anything that starts with a two would be a Starvis 2 dashcam, etc.

I think the big problem VIOFO and other manufacturers will have is coming up with a way to cool the dashcam internals. Soon they will no longer be able to hobble the features
and quality of the video in an attempt to cool the internals. At the same time, customers and VIOFO, will need to understand that striving for the smallest camera possible is
simply no longer doable. Already, we see the A229 Pro is running way too hot, the summertime fail rate for these cameras will be high. Viofo would have done well to use a larger
wedge with better ventilation.

The more features and clarity that we want will come at a price, not necessarily a monetary price, but a windshield real estate price.

Not looking forward to this summer here in Australia, giving the Nexus 4 Pro and the A229 Pro a thrashing and hoping they hold up eeep

 

[kamkar]

Very Sexy One
The VS1 is catering to the female drivers out there

 

[Agie]

I've been advocating for years that dash cams should be built more to the standards of CCTV cameras that operate 24/7 in the most challenging of environments, often sitting in direct sunlight. CCTV cameras often use the very same processors and sensors as dash cams, only configured differently.

Viofo's recent addition of massive heat sinks in their cameras goes a long way towards achieving that goal.

I'd love to see teardowns of security cameras, am genuinely interested to see how they do things on the cooling side

 

[kamkar]

My PTZ camera that died, not really have any cooling genius in it, but it did have a little fan inside, so do the current one.

Other than that the inside was just a few small PCBs and then the PTZ core mainly consisting of the lens ( zoom - focus ASO ) and then the small sensor board screwed to that.
As i recall not a single heat sink in sight.
Or that is, i do think the way the IR emitters was mounted, they would transfer heat to the ALU housing, but no thermal compound / pads i can remember, so even that just half hazard

 

[Agie]

My PTZ camera that died, not really any cooling genius in it, but it did have a little fan inside, so do the current one.

Other than that the inside was just a few small PCBs and then the PTZ core mainly consisting of the lens ( zoom - focus ASO ) and then the small sensor board screwed to that.
As i recall not a single heat sink in sight.

Perhaps a bigger area for heat dissipation compared to a dash cam, could always factor in...

 

[Dashmellow]

I'd love to see teardowns of security cameras, am genuinely interested to see how they do things on the cooling side

I've often thought about doing a thread on this subject. A great many CCTV cameras are built with cast aluminum housings and those housings are used, along with internal heat sinking to transfer heat away from the internals and out of the cameras.
Many high quality CCTV cams are available in the same price range as dash cams, yet dash cams are built like cheap consumer gadgets by comparison. (i.e. A circuit board screwed into a plastic housing like a Gameboy).
I would like to see dash cams built with cast aluminum housings which include heat sink fins just like many CCTV cameras. This would dramatically improve the heat issues @Augie mentioned. Fans will not work in cameras that have audio, unfortunately. Too noisy.

 

[Agie]

I've often thought about doing a thread on this subject. A great many CCTV cameras are built with cast aluminum housings and those housings are used, along with internal heat sinking to transfer heat away from the internals and out of the cameras.
Many high quality CCTV cams are available in the same price range as dash cams, yet dash cams are built like cheap consumer gadgets by comparison. (i.e. A circuit board screwed into a plastic housing like a Gameboy).
I would like to see dash cams built with cast aluminum housings which include heat sink fins just like many CCTV cameras. This would dramatically improve the heat issues @Augie mentioned. Fans will not work in cameras that have audio, unfortunately. Too noisy.

It would for sure but then added costs of all the housings, would eat into the already razer tight profit margins that Chinese tech companies are dealing with. Probably the best we're gonna get for now is the heat sinks that Vantrue and Viofo have thrown into their models with the flagship Starvis 2 sensors.

Until the tech gets even more complicated and then they'll have no choice but to come up with other solutions lol..

 

[Dashmellow]

It would for sure but then added costs of all the housings, would eat into the already razer tight profit margins that Chinese tech companies are dealing with. Probably the best we're gonna get for now is the heat sinks that Vantrue and Viofo have thrown into their models with the flagship Starvis 2 sensors.

Until the tech gets even more complicated and then they'll have no choice but to come up with other solutions lol..

I'm not so sure. As I mentioned, many high quality CCTV cameras cost the same or even less than dash cams despite being built with cast aluminum housings. It's an interesting question.

 

[Deleted member 85644]

I've been advocating for years that dash cams should be built more to the standards of CCTV cameras that operate 24/7 in the most challenging of environments, often sitting in direct sunlight. CCTV cameras often use the very same processors and sensors as dash cams, only configured differently.

Viofo's recent addition of massive heat sinks in their cameras goes a long way towards achieving that goal.

I looked at the pictures of the heatsink location and it concerns me only in its location to the GPS module. I can envision the GPS glitching from receiving a heat source via the window and from the heatsink. I am not worried about dust or water in my car so I will likly enlarge the factory ventilation areas to permit more vertilation.

 

[Agie]

I'm not so sure. As I mentioned, many high quality CCTV cameras cost the same or even less than dash cams despite being built with cast aluminum housings. It's an interesting question.

It indeed is, someone needs to do a deep dive and educate users about this and the challenges / possibilities.

Calling @Vortex Radar LOL