Need advise on my first DVR purchase.

[Xor]

Hello everyone.

I'm ready to buy my first dvr.
Was considering dual lens, but looks like one good front + cheaper/smaller back is better, isn't it?

Requirements are:
1. Acceptable video quality day/night
2. Good day/night license plate reading over full blown "video quality", e.g. I would like to be able to get the number over pixel peeping.
3. Ability to instantly review/show video in a car, if no built in monitor, then it should either: a) work with both android and iphone b) Play video to composite AV out.
4. As discrete as possible if it satisfies above requirements
5. Would better spend less if possible, but if alternative is more expensive while offering advantages I would get it.

Thought I do have now:
1. Livue LB100
Looks like good option, the question is how to view/show video in car (on both iphone and android).
Does AV out plays recorded video or only to show current view? If so I would get cheap tft screen.
2. HDW001
How is the night time license plate reading?
3. ???

Thanks in advance.

--
Victor

 

[Xor]

While reading more and more on the subject:
I found out that there is custom firmware for the BlackVue DR500GW-HD with up to 12mbit bitrate. And according to the russian forums it works with the 64gb microSDXC.
The question is, will license plates readability be better on the BlackVue DR500GW-HD (8.5 or even 12mbit) than Livue LB100 or HDW001?
So the question is not about overall video quality, but about details readability at low light.

Thanks in advance.

 

[navyseals]

While reading more and more on the subject:
I found out that there is custom firmware for the BlackVue DR500GW-HD with up to 12mbit bitrate. And according to the russian forums it works with the 64gb microSDXC.
The question is, will license plates readability be better on the BlackVue DR500GW-HD (8.5 or even 12mbit) than Livue LB100 or HDW001?
So the question is not about overall video quality, but about details readability at low light.

Thanks in advance.

I have the DR500 and the single best thing is when you install it, you don't even notice it in your car. It also has immediate wifi playback on your apple or android phone which is great. The video quality seems like it varies...but it's one of the most expensive cameras and one of the best you can get.

 

[Mtz]

I think the BlackVue with 12mbps is better than Livue. But I don't know if in time, or during summer hot it can resist with that bitrate.
Regarding license plates, until now I didn't see a camera which have some lens or firmware setting to avoid the white blob problem. I am not good in this photo features.
The Livue have some settings for the camera sensor (look the settings screenshot from the Livue thread) but I didn't tested it too much to see if it can help against the license plates problem. I think is not to much to do. If you will decrease the brightness maybe can help regarding car number but overall image will become too dark. I hope to test this someday.

enjoy,
Mtz

 

[DashCamMan]

Hi Xor,

The Blackvue will have better video quality at 12Mbps than the Livue for 2 reasons...higher bitrate and 1080p vs the 720p of the Livue. Whether this 12Mbps hack will cause heating issues is unknown now.

The HDW001 is newer so we don't have as much information on it. My guess is that the Blackvue will have better night performance but I haven't seen a side by side comparison to confirm, particularly for seeing details.

 

[Xor]

I think the BlackVue with 12mbps is better than Livue. But I don't know if in time, or during summer hot it can resist with that bitrate.
Regarding license plates, until now I didn't see a camera which have some lens or firmware setting to avoid the white blob problem. I am not good in this photo features.
The Livue have some settings for the camera sensor (look the settings screenshot from the Livue thread) but I didn't tested it too much to see if it can help against the license plates problem. I think is not to much to do. If you will decrease the brightness maybe can help regarding car number but overall image will become too dark. I hope to test this someday.

Thanks a lot! The overheat with higher than standard mbps is an open question and definitely important in California.

Another 2 questions I had:
1. Is HDW001 (Ambarella A5S30) good or bad in the night?
2. Does Livue LB100 AV-out works for recorded videos or just for the live view?

P.S. I like what I've seen from the BlackVue with 12mbps, but I'm having hard time justifying almost 300 for the cam, especially if it will be overkill.

 

[Mtz]

The cameras without display don't have a playback feature so the video out will offer only live video.
Regarding video quality, a very important thing is the lens. I don't know if on chinese cameras you can find good lens, but on korean I think are better. So try to include in your search also the lens specs and for a larger CMOS sensor.
About Livue heat I don't know what to say but if you will look to my screenshots you will see the chipset is in the front of the camera so is better to not keep the camera under the direct California sun. But also the Livue have a lot of vent holes.

enjoy,
Mtz