New to SGZC12SG, some questions about brightness!

Treble318

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Hi All,

Just wanted to introduce myself to this awesome and active community, Elbert here from California and loving the SGZC12SG so far. I have had it for about 2 days now and it works well, I opted to get something more on the reliable side versus something I had before that left a very bad impression. It was the WheelWhitness HD Pro, worked for about 1 day which I tested for 10 min. The next day after picking up my son, I checked the footage and there was no sound. The sound was shot and could not save anything to the event folder when I clicked on the emergency record button. Defeats the whole purpose of a dash cam in my opinion and I ended up returning back to Amazon and bought this unit!

So my experiences so far are the images compared to the WheelWitness are slightly less clear in regards to reading licenses plates albeit that was 1296p vs 1080p so it would not be a fair apple to apple comparison. At the end of the day, I will gladly pay more for better build quality and support.

Now my question is when I drove back today, by the way, today was the first day I actually tested it and at least the sound worked and when I hit the emergency button it saved the footage to event folder... off to a good start however I noticed the vibrancy of lighter colors were extremely overwhelming. For instance, the roads would be so bright I would not be able to distinguish the lanes and the plates were glowing bright white. By the way, I did have the CPL filter installed and that did help the reflection off the dash.

I have included a fragment video link below, please pardon the angry birds game sound in the background just picked up my son and heading back home, at around 5:16 the road is bright white:

https://my.pcloud.com/publink/show?code=XZqRCfZTOwEo53nFh0OnlQD4lKsI5er7uck

Let me know if this is normal or if there is anything I can change on my end, for instance changing the exposure value. Thanks in advance!
 
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downloading now, going to take a while, in the interim though what is the current firmware version?
 
downloading now, going to take a while, in the interim though what is the current firmware version?


Thanks Jokiin,

I believe it was 1.02.03, maybe not in that exact sequence but I do remember it to be 1.2.3, I can double check if necessary.
 
Thanks Jokiin,

I believe it was 1.02.03, maybe not in that exact sequence but I do remember it to be 1.2.3, I can double check if necessary.

yes if you can check the version number and date and let me know

you could also try aiming the camera a bit higher, it may deal with that better if you lose the dash out of the field of view
 
yes if you can check the version number and date and let me know

you could also try aiming the camera a bit higher, it may deal with that better if you lose the dash out of the field of view

Firmware: 1.02.03
2016-1-06 15:30

Okay, will give that a try. I tried to avoid that because the camera will be pointed up into the sky and depending on the day will be right in the sun.
 
Ah let me update your firmware. The latest one wasn't applied somehow. The update process requires a special process on our test bench to update so I will message you the action plan in a private message
 
Ah let me update your firmware. The latest one wasn't applied somehow. The update process requires a special process on our test bench to update so I will message you the action plan in a private message

Great, thanks replied back to your message!
 
Hi All,

Just wanted to introduce myself to this awesome and active community, Elbert here from California and loving the SGZC12SG so far. I have had it for about 2 days now and it works well, I opted to get something more on the reliable side versus something I had before that left a very bad impression. It was the WheelWhitness HD Pro, worked for about 1 day which I tested for 10 min. The next day after picking up my son, I checked the footage and there was no sound. The sound was shot and could not save anything to the event folder when I clicked on the emergency record button. Defeats the whole purpose of a dash cam in my opinion and I ended up returning back to Amazon and bought this unit!

So my experiences so far are the images compared to the WheelWitness are slightly less clear in regards to reading licenses plates albeit that was 1296p vs 1080p so it would not be a fair apple to apple comparison. At the end of the day, I will gladly pay more for better build quality and support.

Now my question is when I drove back today, by the way, today was the first day I actually tested it and at least the sound worked and when I hit the emergency button it saved the footage to event folder... off to a good start however I noticed the vibrancy of lighter colors were extremely overwhelming. For instance, the roads would be so bright I would not be able to distinguish the lanes and the plates were glowing bright white. By the way, I did have the CPL filter installed and that did help the reflection off the dash.

I have included a fragment video link below, please pardon the angry birds game sound in the background just picked up my son and heading back home, at around 5:16 the road is bright white:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/01jwdhdtkldrw4k/Fragment of 20160805_161621 (26) (5-09-23 PM - 5-24-44 PM).MP4?dl=0

Let me know if this is normal or if there is anything I can change on my end, for instance changing the exposure value. Thanks in advance!
Hi All,

Just wanted to introduce myself to this awesome and active community, Elbert here from California and loving the SGZC12SG so far. I have had it for about 2 days now and it works well, I opted to get something more on the reliable side versus something I had before that left a very bad impression. It was the WheelWhitness HD Pro, worked for about 1 day which I tested for 10 min. The next day after picking up my son, I checked the footage and there was no sound. The sound was shot and could not save anything to the event folder when I clicked on the emergency record button. Defeats the whole purpose of a dash cam in my opinion and I ended up returning back to Amazon and bought this unit!

So my experiences so far are the images compared to the WheelWitness are slightly less clear in regards to reading licenses plates albeit that was 1296p vs 1080p so it would not be a fair apple to apple comparison. At the end of the day, I will gladly pay more for better build quality and support.

Now my question is when I drove back today, by the way, today was the first day I actually tested it and at least the sound worked and when I hit the emergency button it saved the footage to event folder... off to a good start however I noticed the vibrancy of lighter colors were extremely overwhelming. For instance, the roads would be so bright I would not be able to distinguish the lanes and the plates were glowing bright white. By the way, I did have the CPL filter installed and that did help the reflection off the dash.

I have included a fragment video link below, please pardon the angry birds game sound in the background just picked up my son and heading back home, at around 5:16 the road is bright white:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/01jwdhdtkldrw4k/Fragment of 20160805_161621 (26) (5-09-23 PM - 5-24-44 PM).MP4?dl=0

Let me know if this is normal or if there is anything I can change on my end, for instance changing the exposure value. Thanks in advance!
Hi Treble, I also am new here but have been looking at this forum a long time before joining just to let you know that I had the Street Guardian SG9665GC v2 and I also experienced pixels. Not only that I also had exposure problems which were so bad that in bright sunlight I could not make out very much. When the sun went down the screen was a blue tint. after 2 firmware updates I still had those problems. The Sellers of the Street Guardian SG9665GC v2 are the best Sellers you will find, always trying to fix problems. But I had to return this cam and bought a Viofo A119. This A119 costs half the price than the Street Guardian SG9665GC v2 and the performance is fantastic. None of the above flaws in the exposure. The problems that the Street Guardian SG9665GC v2is having is seems to be common knowledge (exposure). The Sellers are always trying to fix this flaw but from what I read on this forum it is still a work in progress.
 
Hi Treble, I also am new here but have been looking at this forum a long time before joining just to let you know that I had the Street Guardian SG9665GC v2 and I also experienced pixels. Not only that I also had exposure problems which were so bad that in bright sunlight I could not make out very much. When the sun went down the screen was a blue tint. after 2 firmware updates I still had those problems. The Sellers of the Street Guardian SG9665GC v2 are the best Sellers you will find, always trying to fix problems. But I had to return this cam and bought a Viofo A119. This A119 costs half the price than the Street Guardian SG9665GC v2 and the performance is fantastic. None of the above flaws in the exposure. The problems that the Street Guardian SG9665GC v2is having is seems to be common knowledge (exposure). The Sellers are always trying to fix this flaw but from what I read on this forum it is still a work in progress.

Welcome Jackkk, you and I have more similarities than two peas in a pod :). I too have been looking for some time before purchasing the SGZC12SG and was eyeing the SG9665GC V2 but wanted the package over the form factor with CPL and extras.

I am hopeful Pier28 and staff will be able to fix the exposure issue or I too may just switch to the Vifo A119, mine actually arrives tomorrow. I have heard some good things about it but everyone needs to personally test the item to make a final decision. My main concerns are not having a CPL filter, did that cause you any issues with glare off the dashboard? Also, do they have the option of MPH other than KPH?

Jackk, thank for reaching out and chiming in with your personal experience!
 
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Welcome Jackkk, you and I have more similarities than two peas in a pod :). I too have been looking for some time before purchasing the SGZC12SG and was eyeing the SG9665GC V2 but wanted the smaller form factor with CPL and extras.

I am hopeful Pier28 and staff will be able to fix the exposure issue or I too may just switch to the Vifo A119, mine actually arrives tomorrow. I have heard some good things about it but everyone needs to personally test the item to make a final decision. My main concerns are not having a CPL filter, did that cause you any issues with glare off the dashboard? Also, do they have the option of MPH other than KPH?

Jackk, thank for reaching out and chiming in with your personal experience!

Yes glare problem was also an issue (no CPL) and I was able to do MPH. Give the Sellers a chance to help you, maybe they will come up with a fix before your 30 day return policy is over. Trust me the Sellers want to find a fix for exposure problems, and I am sure they are on it. But you have to make sure you are satisfied 100% that's the important thing now.
 
Yes glare problem was also an issue (no CPL) and I was able to do MPH. Give the Sellers a chance to help you, maybe they will come up with a fix before your 30 day return policy is over. Trust me the Sellers want to find a fix for exposure problems, and I am sure they are on it. But you have to make sure you are satisfied 100% that's the important thing now.

Thanks for the helpful information regarding CPL and MPH. Good to know as we both live in the states so MPH is just a convenience.

The seller's great communication is one of the main reasons why I decided to go with SG and their product. At the end of the day if the unit is unusable due to exposure, I am sure they understand the situation. Currently coming from Wheelwitness Pro HD, being able to see license plates personally matter to me if the car is only 1-2 car lengths directly in front of me. Does the A119 do a pretty good job of capturing plates while moving and not only standing still? The Wheelwitness Pro HD was 1296 and the A119 is 1440p so I suspect it should be marginally better but I do understand not all sensors are equal.
 
Yes glare problem was also an issue (no CPL) and I was able to do MPH. Give the Sellers a chance to help you, maybe they will come up with a fix before your 30 day return policy is over. Trust me the Sellers want to find a fix for exposure problems, and I am sure they are on it. But you have to make sure you are satisfied 100% that's the important thing now.

By the way, can you confirm the MPH is actually MPH and not just KPH speed with MPH replaced over the on screen display? Hopefully, they fixed that overlay issues. It would suck to see it show 96 MPH when in actuality it's 60 MPH lol
 
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