Pros and cons of 2-channel system vs n=2 1 channel cameras?

[sac02]

Pretty much what the title says.

I'm looking at getting a new setup for a new vehicle and I want front and rear coverage.

What are the pros and cons of either getting a 2-channel setup, vs two single channel cameras?

I live in a hot climate, do 2-channel cameras do all the image processing in the main unit and tend to run hotter? That could potentially be an issue for me.

 

[Nigel]

Main disadvantage of the 2 single channel cameras is that the lock button only functions on the one camera that you can reach the button, same goes for the other buttons if you actually use them while driving. Voice commands may reach both, but it is quite likely that the rear will not respond. Some cameras have remote lock buttons, but it can be difficult to pair the buttons with the correct cameras.

You also end up with your video files not synchronised properly.

Greater power consumption may be an issue for parking mode.


The advantages are redundancy, higher reliability due to less stress on the memory cards, more card space due to having more cards, and you have the option of 4K on both channels, although that is not normally worthwhile.

If you are going to use an old camera for the rear then there is also a cost saving.

 

[sac02]

Thanks. I noticed you didn't mention heat, is that not really a differentiating factor?

Did you accidently make a typo saying "greater power consumption for parking mode" and also "less power consumption in parking mode"? (or am I interpreting your intent incorrectly?)

 

[Nigel]

Did you accidently make a typo saying "greater power consumption for parking mode" and also "less power consumption in parking mode"? (or am I interpreting your intent incorrectly?)

Not exactly a typo, I think on the "less", I was thinking of the advantages of a dual channel dashcam! Now corrected in my post above.

Thanks. I noticed you didn't mention heat, is that not really a differentiating factor?

For most people, heat is not a big issue with either 1 channel or 2 channel dashcams. Depends where you live of course, but the 2 channel dashcams do tend to have better cooling, and maybe more efficient electronics, so your maximum temperature is only going to be a few °C different, maybe only a couple. There have been a few multi channel dashcams that have struggled with heat in hot places/weather, but modifications and firmware updates tend to sort them out after a couple of production runs.

If you are in Death Valley then the single channel dashcams will have difficulty too, however they don't tend to have self protection with high temperature shutdown, while the 3 channel ones generally do, so single channel might actually be a disadvantage there.

The biggest problem we see with heat tends to be the dashcams with lithium batteries, often Nextbase ones, and I get the impression that there are more single channel ones than dual channel ones that have problems, probably because they sell more single channel ones. So don't get a dashcam with a battery, single channel or multi-channel.

I don't think you should treat it as a major deciding factor unless you live somewhere very hot and want to use parking mode in the heat, or you are looking at a dashcam known to have heat issues.

 

[brightsky]

Thanks for the thoughtful discussion on this. Sounds like heat may not be a major differentiator as long as you avoid ones with batteries. Good to get multiple perspectives - safe driving!

 

[sac02]

Yeah I learned that lithium batteries in dash cams were a bad idea with my first purchase over a decade ago, only capacitor models since then.

My vehicle was keyed and work and despite the parking lots having CCTV, the security department was unae (unwilling?) to identify the perpetrator.

So for this next purchase a good parking mode is important.

 

[kamkar]

I do not accept the claim of redundancy with 2 single channel cameras, i realize it is there but as i have run 2 channel systems since they became a main stream thing, and not had a single issue in regard to saving footage.
Well then i dont really see a need for redundancy.

With vandalism problems, and not least keying a fairly low G-force event, well i would use low bitrate parking mode as it also have sound, you can eventually have G-sensor on ( highest sensitivity ) too beside low bitrate to save any actual events if can detect, at least those will work as flags, as otherwise you have to sit and look over god know how many hours at 1:1 ratio, and while i would do that to catch such a animal, well it is still a big task.

Not having down the side cameras like teslas and others, well directly capturing the act is hard, but with sound + video of the culprit approaching you have fairly good material to start to " assume " stuff.

I do like my at home CCTV setup, CUZ there parking guard will not work dur to very low light levels at night.
Also with the withe stuff around ( rare here ) thats one of the additional challenges to doing parking guard out in the wild.