Next Viofo Cam

Not sure how the discussion turned to heat issues, but the physics is not rocket science. If an object is hotter than its surroundings, it will emit heat through one method or another at a rate that is proportional to the temperature difference (assuming all other things stay constant.) Stable temperature is reached when the power being used inside a camera matches the power it emits as heat. A heat sink - eg a nice aluminium case - will allow these power values to match at a lower temperature difference. The camera will run cooler.

Sure, a heat conductive case will also allow temperature to rise to ambient temperature quicker, but that's going to happen anyway, it's just a matter of time. Our concern is how much hotter than that it's going to get.

You can imagine some exceptions. A camera in direct sunlight but surrounded by cool air (air conditioning) would be a more complex situation. But I think we need to worry more about times when the car is parked with the camera running.

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Unless it's heavily tinted, it shouldn't make a huge difference. All that will happen is the camera will up the gain at night / in low light to compensate, so you may see a bit more grain in the picture in those conditions.

Most cars have tinted windows these days anyway from the factory. May actually help a little in bright sunlight if the car is driving into the sun. EU and UK law restricts the amount of tint front and side. Not sure about US. Swings and roundabouts.

Thanks so much for attempting to enlighten me but that's not accurate. "Grain" (digital noise) is not generally an issue. More significant in some situations such as with my side facing cameras shooting through tinted glass is the matter of increased motion blur after adjusting camera EV settings to compensate.

"Swings and roundabouts"? What does this have to do with cameras shooting through tinted glass?
 
The reason it is only 1080 is that they have used a high sensitivity sensor so that it gives a good image in the dark, it is a good choice of sensor. Maybe the sensor manufacturers will produce a high sensitivity 4K sensor some day, but currently it doesn't exist.

sure you could, it won't help though, native 1080p sensors have larger individual pixels than the higher resolution sensors which is why they offer better results in low light, it's not resolution that is the issue

Requires two different sensors. Dropping down to 1080p on a sensor that does 1440p doesn't equate to using a sensor with bigger pixels.

It's possible to group sensors to collect light collectively, so a 4K sensor can drop to 1080P at night eg but use groups of 4 pixels to collect light (technically known as Adaptive Digital Pixel Binning): Research paper on it here:

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&r...sg=AFQjCNEuMSTL0KnDroHhp-s6v1PHIeepFw&cad=rja
 
Thanks so much for attempting to enlighten me but that's not accurate. "Grain" (digital noise) is not generally an issue. More significant in some situations such as with my side facing cameras shooting through tinted glass is the matter of increased motion blur after adjusting camera EV settings to compensate.

Obviously you weren't enlightened enough. ;) Altering the EV settings alleviates the grain by reducing the need for electronic gain, but does so by gathering more light by increasing the exposure time ie. Slowing the shutter speed, which results in increased blur. So the situation of increased blur is very much of your own making in that situation. You're simply substituting one method of enhancing light (amplification) by another (long exposure).

As for swings and roundabouts: http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dic...ose-on-the-swings-you-gain-on-the-roundabouts you could otherwise substitute, horses for courses.
 
The front needs to be a heat shield, not a heat sink! It should be made out of ceramic like space shuttle tiles, but I guess thick plastic provides enough insulation. Note that the WR1 front face does protect all the rear from the sun rather better than most cameras.

The F1 takes a different approach, it doesn't really have a front face so it is only the lens that is in the sun, but I think that is probably designed more for aerodynamic reasons than being a cool 4K dashcam.

Agree although ceramics are brittle. Also, part of the problem lies in the colour - black absorbs heat but the best colour for stealth is black. Personally I think there's a very good solution if you live in a very hot state or country, remove the camera when not in use. In use the air con should keep it cool enough.

Another solution might be to produce a plastic with ceramic dust mixed into the moulding as a kind of composite. That might reduce heat absorbency. The issue then is going to be weight.

I also think an issue that's being overlooked here is not just what the camera absorbs but also the ambient temperature inside the vehicle and how easy it is for the camera to lose heat to the environment because a lot of heat is going to be generated internally not through absorption.
 
Obviously you weren't enlightened enough. ;) Altering the EV settings alleviates the grain by reducing the need for electronic gain, but does so by gathering more light by increasing the exposure time ie. Slowing the shutter speed, which results in increased blur. So the situation of increased blur is very much of your own making in that situation. You're simply substituting one method of enhancing light (amplification) by another (long exposure).

As for swings and roundabouts: http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dic...ose-on-the-swings-you-gain-on-the-roundabouts you could otherwise substitute, horses for courses.

So much of what you talk about is based on what you read on the internet but not based on actual experience using dash cams in a variety of settings and lighting situations. I wasn't even talking about low light or "grain" in the first place until you dragged that into the discussion. I suppose I could post examples but I have no interest in being drawn into another round of your tedious tautology.

And we don't speak Brit English here. Things are expressed more directly.
 
Thank you for your opinion.

I've had several dashcams, I'm a minor published photographer and have had some video published, albeit I do it for fun. All that said, I don't claim to be an expert.

You were talking about tinted windows and saying how you have to increase the ev setting (exposure) at night to compensate for the tint, and that results in blurred images. What I was saying is say you the reason you experience blur is because the shutter speed is slowed to compensate. There's no other way to increase exposure on a fixed aperture lens. The only other option in a video camera is to increase the electronic gain and amplify the signal from the CCD electronically in which case you also amplify the electronic transient background noise which shows up as grain in the final video.

As for gain, not being an issue, I can produce night video from an action cam that clearly shows that when you use gain, grain can become an issue. So, as you pointed out you use shutter speed, but then you get the blur you were moaning about.

The real answer, as I said a long long time ago, in one of the discussions on quality, is a larger and more sensitive sensor. Failing that it comes down to tricks such as adaptive pixel binning. As for 4K, it should show more detail in good light, so personally I think there are advantages to going 4K provided a solution of some kind is found to compensate for any loss of performance in low light.
 
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Thank you for your opinion.

I've had several dashcams, I'm a minor published photographer and have had some video published, albeit I do it for fun. All that said, I don't claim to be an expert.

You were talking about tinted windows and saying how you have to increase the ev setting (exposure) at night to compensate for the tint, and that results in blurred images. What I was saying is say you the reason you experience blur is because the shutter speed is slowed to compensate. There's no other way to increase exposure on a fixed aperture lens. The only other option in a video camera is to increase the electronic gain and amplify the signal from the CCD electronically in which case you also amplify the electronic transient background noise which shows up as grain in the final video.

As for gain, not being an issue, I can produce night video from an action cam that clearly shows that when you use gain, grain can become an issue. So, as you pointed out you use shutter speed, but then you get the blur you were moaning about.

The real answer, as I said a long long time ago, in one of the discussions on quality, is a larger and more sensitive sensor. Failing that it comes down to tricks such as adaptive pixel binning. As for 4K, it should show more detail in good light, so personally I think there are advantages to going 4K provided a solution of some kind is found to compensate for any loss of performance in low light.

Well, despite the disclaimer, you do keep presenting yourself as some sort of "expert". Knock yourself out. As I've said, I don't wish to be drawn into another round of your tedious tautology and prolixity. No one wants to revisit, yet once again your ad nauseum ranting about camera performance and larger sensors in dash cams because someone happened to mention tinted windows in regard to the WR1, or provoking a tiresome argument about rolling shutter speed compensation in SoC cameras, something you seems blissfully unaware of. There is something almost pathological that you keep initiating these kinds of discussions.
 
If it follows along with Viofo's earlier products (and there's no reason it shouldn't) then the WR-1 will end up being a good cam at a very good price for what you get :D
Still, wisdom indicates that one should always let someone else be the "Guinea pig" and that one should expect no more than what is being delivered right now ;) I wouldn't be leery of purchasing one of these now and in time I'll probably have one (or several), for I love this form factor :love:

Phil
 
I agree Phil. It looks like a very nice product for the price. I was surprised at how low the retail was given the hype and specs. Hopefully I may get my hands on one of these in the future to test against some footage I have some from the Mobius and a far more expensive camera. It will be interesting to see how it stacks up.
 
after the A119S I will wait a bit in case of ver2, again.. I like the form factor and wifi thou.
 
Tried to find info, but what's the preferred hardwire kit for this? Something like the spytec for the other viofo products?

Edit: another poster said it was mini-usb, so this kit:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/B01N0GR4ON
 
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WR 1 uses a mini USB
 
back order, though, so good luck.
 
A119s in front, WR1 in back.
Very dark tint on back window.
 
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