Nextbase 512GW with Rear Camera - recording quality

[pricecheaper]

Yes agreed.

I have emailed using my personal email.

Would be good to have some release notes if you can provide them?

 

[Nextbase Support]

Yes just replied Available on our website now: https://cdn.nextbase.com/nextbase-en-gb/2018/06/NBDVR512GW-Firmware-Change-Log.pdf

The change from 22.5 to 23 is just image quality improvement, no other change.

 

[Drogobroadband]

Hi Tiffany. I have updated to R23 and can’t see any noticeable difference. On overcast days (low light) it still has a distinct fuzziness.

 

[Spuds]

Here are my tests with R23.0 Firmware

Front Camera with rear camera connected.

 

[Spuds]

View from rear camera. (mounted underneath the front camera)

Quality from the rear is so much better. Even with the rear camera disconnected the quality of my front camera is blurred.

Front camera only at 1440P

Tiffany inferred that this is normal "I want to ensure that you don't have any false expectations." but even at 1440p the quality is poorer than my rear camera. I called into Halfords today and they thought that this was normal quality for the camera and would not swop it. If this is so then I feel that my old 412GW and even the rear camera give better image quality. Stuck what to do now apart for ditching it altogether and resurrecting the 412GW. Perhaps at the end of the day it is my perception of acceptability that is in question. I do feel Nextbase have been first class in their treatment of me but at the end of the day I am no nearer forward than when I started the investigations into the problem months ago.

 

[Spuds]

1080P 60fps

1080P 30fps

720P 30fps

Mounted on garage window piggy backed

 

[Drogobroadband]

Looks exactly like mine spud. Big areas of no detail like in your grass

 

[Spuds]

Looks exactly like mine spud. Big areas of no detail like in your grass

And this is fixed with no movement. I struggle to read any number plate approaching the front of the car regardless of lighting conditions.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Mike J]

My assessment; using the pale blue lid to the bird feeder as the control, is that all images are acceptable.
You could say the first image is slightly out of focus but thats about all.
Clearly the available light is somewhat varied ie; dull to bright sunshine.

Somewhere online you will find the test cards used by professionals to assess the quality of digital cameras, the use of such a control would provide a better tool for precisely assessing definition.

 

[Techifan]

Thanks for taking the time to post those pictures Spuds.

No denying there’s a problem as its plain to see.

I haven’t purchased the rear camera yet but it looks like there’s a problem even with the rear camera disconnected.

It would be useful if you could obtain a replacement camera so you can repeat the tests to confirm if this is normal.

 

[Spuds]

My assessment; using the pale blue lid to the bird feeder as the control, is that all images are acceptable.
You could say the first image is slightly out of focus but thats about all.

Somewhere online you will find the test cards used by professionals to assess the quality of digital cameras, the use of such a control would provide a better tool for precisely assessing definition.

Thank you for your input, I appreciate an unbiased assessment. Sometime we can become un-subjective and go down the wrong road. But I do think that you have used the only 'in focus' part of the image as your control, picking another point, on the right hand side, would look differently. I do posses professional quality test cards, as used in the photographic industry. These are of no use with this fixed wide angled lens as barrel distortion is too great to give meaningful results. To be honest I don’t want perfection in a dash cam, all I want is to be able to read the number plate of a car approaching, if I ever need to use it in evidence. I have go pro cameras for action video. This is just a tool.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Techifan]

My assessment; using the pale blue lid to the bird feeder as the control, is that all images are acceptable.
You could say the first image is slightly out of focus but thats about all.
Clearly the available light is somewhat varied ie; dull to bright sunshine.

Somewhere online you will find the test cards used by professionals to assess the quality of digital cameras, the use of such a control would provide a better tool for precisely assessing definition.

But why is the rear camera sooooo much better.

 

[pricecheaper]

Is this is jpeg compression? I would prefer uncompressed or the choice at the expense of reduced footage.

 

[Drogobroadband]

It’s odd, in all my years of working with video I’ve never seen anything like it. the only way I can describe it is that the camera takes certain low contrast sections of the image and blurs/compresses them more than other parts of the image. But another issue has arisen since updating the firmware to R23...when viewing the rear camera live on the front camera screen during operation it is now dark, soft and fuzzy. The footage is sharp when played back on a computer but for some reason it isn’t sharp on the camera screen. It was fine before as I used the rear cam for reversing sometimes, but it can’t be used for that now. Anyone else noticed that?

 

[Farmersden]

It’s odd, in all my years of working with video I’ve never seen anything like it. the only way I can describe it is that the camera takes certain low contrast sections of the image and blurs/compresses them more than other parts of the image. But another issue has arisen since updating the firmware to R23...when viewing the rear camera live on the front camera screen during operation it is now dark, soft and fuzzy. The footage is sharp when played back on a computer but for some reason it isn’t sharp on the camera screen. It was fine before as I used the rear cam for reversing sometimes, but it can’t be used for that now. Anyone else noticed that?

I have also installed R23 only drove late yesterday and this morning so have not watched it on playback yet, I have to agree the minute I got in and it switched on I thought I had altered something in the exposure of the rear camera as it appeared to be very dark and could not really make out any details, not watced back yet .... thought it was just me.

 

[pricecheaper]

Thought it was my tints at first but when pressing mode to view the rear camera its soft and hazey on the device. Playback is faultless (IMO).

@Tiffany have you seen the above from @Spuds

 

[Spuds]

I'm going to run some more tests tomorrow. I've thrown the rear camera in the junk bin, too many problems, the main being it killing my DAB radio, even with a ferrite fitted. The tests I am going to run are comparisons at different resolutions between the 412GW and the 512GW. I am still convinced that my main problem with the 512GW is the focusing. Hopefully a side by side comparison will highlight that is isn't just my perception that's the problem.

 

[pricecheaper]

I'm going to run some more tests tomorrow. I've thrown the rear camera in the junk bin, too many problems, the main being it killing my DAB radio, even with a ferrite fitted. The tests I am going to run are comparisons at different resolutions between the 412GW and the 512GW. I am still convinced that my main problem with the 512GW is the focusing. Hopefully a side by side comparison will highlight that is isn't just my perception that's the problem.

That would be awesome to see a clear comparison. Awaiting your post...

 

[Drogobroadband]

I have also installed R23 only drove late yesterday and this morning so have not watched it on playback yet, I have to agree the minute I got in and it switched on I thought I had altered something in the exposure of the rear camera as it appeared to be very dark and could not really make out any details, not watced back yet .... thought it was just me.

Yep, looks like someone turned the lights off

 

[Nextbase Support]

@Spuds if you need to swap the 512GW then we can make that happen, in my email I was making sure that you weren't expecting drastic improvements with the Rear Cam. Similar to here: https://dashcamtalk.com/forum/threa...ar-camera-recording-quality.35648/post-428376

Private message me the store you're going to and we can get it returned.