Only keep a short period of recordings

[DamnLookWhereYoureGoing]

I'm quite uncomfortable with any dash cam holding recordings for a long time after I may need them. This would include where I've been, trivial inconsequential traffic violations, and conversations on the phone or with passengers. I only need the previous few minutes in case of an incident.

A feature to support this was something I looked at when choosing a camera. I found Garmin models have a "promptly delete" setting, which keeps only 3 minutes, however in case of an incident or manual save only 15 previous seconds are saved permanently. I was also generally not impressed with their products. I noticed the VS1 had a "loop recording" setting with options for 1-10 minutes, which seemed perfect, but it turns out this only controls the length of the individual video clips.

One suggestion on another forum many years ago was to use a small memory card, to cause frequent overwriting. Using the same idea, I've filled the 32GB that came with my VS1 with miscellaneous files (in a separate directory) so less than 2GB of space is free for recording. At maximum bitrate, this holds about only the most recent 10 minutes. One downside is that the same storage area of the card will be rewritten much more often, which I think will reduce card lifespan.

It would be great to have a feature to allow this without needing the user to use creative approaches. I've seen Viofo people read here, so please consider this suggestion.

 

[mentadent]

Have you seen the high endurance cards like the VIOFO brand cards? They should endure writing for longer.

 

[DamnLookWhereYoureGoing]

Yes, I have one. I don't know how they achieve that endurance but presumably confining writes to a small area would still have an impact.

 

[mentadent]

If you regularly format then put those files back on, it should wear level.

I agree with your feature request. I think it is a legal requirement for some countries.

 

[DT MI]

One downside is that the same storage area of the card will be rewritten much more often, which I think will reduce card lifespan.

That may not be true depending on the wear leveling algorithms built into the card. It's quite possible that the controller in the card will recognize this usage pattern and move the static data into the heavily used areas to make the previously lightly used areas available for more intense usage.

 

[Nigel]

One suggestion on another forum many years ago was to use a small memory card, to cause frequent overwriting. Using the same idea, I've filled the 32GB that came with my VS1 with miscellaneous files (in a separate directory) so less than 2GB of space is free for recording. At maximum bitrate, this holds about only the most recent 10 minutes. One downside is that the same storage area of the card will be rewritten much more often, which I think will reduce card lifespan.

I'm not sure that 2GB is a good idea, it will have some difficulties if it has too little space to play with, but if you have tested it properly and it is working ,then OK. Don't forget that you may want some space for locked files, otherwise you might lose stuff when you press the lock button! It might be better to fill some of the space by pressing the lock button, because then the camera can free some locked space if it needs it. I wouldn't normally suggest going below 8GB, although the VS1 is only single channel and not enormous bitrate so maybe less is OK.

Instead of filling the card with rubbish, I think it is a little better to partition the card and create an 8GB partition, leaving the rest unallocated, then the unused space stays available for use, and the wear levelling will make use of all the card evenly. If you fill part of the card with rubbish then the wear levelling will still try to ensure even use of all the card, but to do so, it needs to keep moving the rubbish out of the way, which means rewriting it in less well used parts of the card, which causes extra wear and takes extra time, reducing performance. If you don't know about partitioning disks then don't worry, but if you do know how, then that is likely the best solution. I don't have good evidence that it is the best solution, but it does make sense.

 

[viofo]

We have special firmware for some models which only keep a few minutes of videos.

 

[Kremmen]

I transfer all my footage to my PC and hold them for about 6 months. Just in case I get a ticket for something I haven't done

 

[mentadent]

I transfer all my footage to my PC and hold them for about 6 months. Just in case I get a ticket for something I haven't done

Do you have a big hard drive?

 

[DT MI]

I transfer all my footage to my PC and hold them for about 6 months. Just in case I get a ticket for something I haven't done

As do I, but for a much longer period - only because I have the disk space available (17TB of external storage - I used to do a fair amount of video editing and needed the space then).

The 'crazies' in this world could decide to sue me for something they claimed I did years ago so I just keep the videos to prove otherwise until I need the space and then delete the older stuff.

 

[mentadent]

I wear a bodycam 24/7 for the same reason.