Purple Interior Camera

[Grierts]

Does anyone know why my interior cam is purple?

I just ordered this offa Amazon

 

[Grierts]

The seats, my shirt, my hat, should all be black.

Yet in this video they are all purple.

What can I do?

Defective unit ??

 

[Grierts]

 

[Dashmellow]

Does anyone know why my interior cam is purple?

I just ordered this offa Amazon

See the following threads for an explanation.

Interior While Balance issue?

Anyone else having issue with the While Balance on the Interior camera? My seat is black and the final color is violet. Here an example of the video:

dashcamtalk.com

Is the color of my infrared/interior camera videos normal?

What is infra-red? Infrared (IR) is invisible radiant energy, electromagnetic radiation with longer wavelengths than visible light. Human eyes only can see light with a wavelength between 320nm-760nm. Infrared, which spans 700nm to 1000nm on ...

support.viofo.com

 

[Grierts]

See the following threads for an explanation.

Interior While Balance issue?

Anyone else having issue with the While Balance on the Interior camera? My seat is black and the final color is violet. Here an example of the video:

dashcamtalk.com

Is the color of my infrared/interior camera videos normal?

What is infra-red? Infrared (IR) is invisible radiant energy, electromagnetic radiation with longer wavelengths than visible light. Human eyes only can see light with a wavelength between 320nm-760nm. Infrared, which spans 700nm to 1000nm on ...

support.viofo.com

Thank you @Dashmellow for responding !!!

That is because the interior camera is IR sensitive.

If you have the windows open so there is no IR filtering from the glass then you will get purple colour. Only way to avoid it is to add an IR filter, but then it can't see the light from the LEDs.

Can I / Should i add an IR filter to the interior camera?

Or will that reduce nighttime visibility of the interior cam ??

 

[Dashmellow]

Thank you @Dashmellow for responding !!!

You're welcome!!

Everything is normal as I mentioned previously as does Viofo in the link I posted. An IR-cut filter would compromise the nighttime functionality of the interior cam. Best to leave the camera as it came from the factory.

 

[mentadent]

The vertical video confuses me though, is it mounted the wrong way?

 

[Dashmellow]

The vertical video confuses me though, is it mounted the wrong way?

Good question.

 

[Panzer Platform]

The seats, my shirt, my hat, should all be black.

Yet in this video they are all purple.

What can I do?

Defective unit ??

Viofo fixed the purple issue with the A229 Pro & A229 Plus by adding an IR Cut Filter.
Here's a demo, you can hear the IR Cut Filter click into, and out of place when the IR LED's illuminate on/off;

Here's daytime & night time test footage;

 

[Nigel]

The seats, my shirt, my hat, should all be black.

Clearly they are not black, true black would look black in infra-red too!

I'm impressed that they are all so well colour matched, even though you couldn't see their IR colour when you chose them.

It seems your windows don't have much IR filtering in them, most people don't have much purple in the car unless the windows are down.

Can I / Should i add an IR filter to the interior camera?

Or will that reduce nighttime visibility of the interior cam ??

If you add an IR filter, then it will not be able to see much using the IR lamps at night. It will still see normal light, and you may be happy with that.

It is a security camera, designed for security, not for perfect photography, it is working correctly. Your hat really is colourful in infrared light, it is not true black.

If it is really a problem, as Panzer Platform points out in the post above, the new A229 dashcams have a automatic switchable IR filter which clicks into place for daylight, and out of place for night time IR videography. Of course your not so black cloths will still be purple at night, as they will be with any night time IR camera, but they will look normal in daylight.

Alternatively, you could use the camera in monochrome mode, with IR turned on permanently, then there is no purple issue.

Edit: "Of course your not so black cloths will still be purple at night, as they will be with any night time IR camera, but they will look normal in daylight." - that is not quite true, since the A229 goes into monochrome mode at night, so you don't see the purple at night, your black hat just becomes bright white!

 

[Panzer Platform]

The seats, my shirt, my hat, should all be black.

Yet in this video they are all purple.

What can I do?

Defective unit ??

Just as Nigel said.
If this purple issue is a deal breaker for you, you may want to return the T130, and get an A229 Pro, or A229 Plus with the upgraded IR Interior camera.

 

[Dashmellow]

Just as Nigel said.
If this purple issue is a deal breaker for you, you may want to return the T130, and get an A229 Pro, or A229 Plus with the upgraded IR Interior camera.

As someone who, as an "influencer"solicits thousands of dollars worth of free cameras and other merchandise from dash cam manufacturers and certain retailers in exchange for relentlessly plugging and hyping their products in an effort to boost their sales as well as promote your own activities, it is easy for you to recommend that someone else on this forum return the camera they've purchased and instead go out and buy one of Viofo's top of the line cameras that could cost nearly twice as much money.

For those who may not be in a position to continually implore their "patrons" to keep sending them expensive cameras to promote and who otherwise have to budget how they spend their hard earned money it strikes me as entitled and frankly out of touch to make such a suggestion. It is quite possible and perhaps even likely that the OP based his purchasing decision on what he could afford to buy and now that he has been made aware that his new camera is indeed not defective, he may well decide that he can live with some daytime magenta cast to his interior footage. After all, while the magenta color cast may not be ideal it does not in any way prevent the camera from performing it's job.

 

[kamkar]

This is common for "old" interior cameras, but the way if you also want to be able to enjoy the aid from the IR light in pitch darkness.
The " right" way to do this is like CCTV cameras to use a active IR filter, so it is engaged during the day but disengage at night when the ir light turn on and the camera most often change to black & white night mode.
I like active IR filters and the audible little click they give when the IR filter engage / disengage.

These active filters can work in a few ways, but common for all is it is just a little solenoid that activate them.
This demo i found just now, never seen the filter work in this way.

You can also get full color CCTV cameras these days, but they do not work in pitch darkness, they will require a little light to work and give you color footage.

 

[Dashmellow]

The " right" way to do this is like CCTV cameras to use a active IR filter, so it is engaged during the day but disengage at night when the ir light turn on and the camera most often change to black & white night mode.

I recall that we've talked about using solenoid operated IR-cut filters on dash cams going back ten years now. I believe its been tried and I'm not certain of the approach Viofo is using in its most recent cameras.

One potential problem with this approach however is that the lighting conditions that dash-cams have to function in at night are constantly shifting and fast moving vehicles, car headlights, streetlights, building lighting and illuminated signage are very different than in fixed position CCTV security cameras and this could lead to a photo diode operated IR-cut filter clicking in and out of the lens path unexpectedly. Perhaps the design and placement of the photo-diode on the camera module could make it work optimally?

 

[Nigel]

One potential problem with this approach however is that the lighting conditions that dash-cams have to function in at night are constantly shifting and fast moving vehicles, car headlights, streetlights, building lighting and illuminated signage are very different than in fixed position CCTV security cameras and this could lead to a photo diode operated IR-cut filter clicking in and out of the lens path unexpectedly. Perhaps the design and placement of the photo-diode on the camera module could make it work optimally?

Only a problem if the person behind fails to dip their headlamps... or in the case of the T130, when the police officer at the window shines his torch on the T130 interior camera that you have rotated towards the driver's window!

Doesn't seem to be an issue in normal use.

I do wonder what the reliability of the mechanics is when regularly exposed to a lot of heat and cold, but I've not heard of issues with the B2W, so maybe there is no issue.

 

[Dashmellow]

Only a problem if the person behind fails to dip their headlamps... or in the case of the T130, when the police officer at the window shines his torch on the T130 interior camera that you have rotated towards the driver's window!

I'm not entirely convinced of your statement. Obviously, you don't have personal experience with anything like this so you are merely speculating and making general assumptions when you say, "Doesn't seem to be an issue in normal use".

There are many situations at night where bright illumination can suddenly enter the cabin of your vehicle enough to trigger a light operated solenoid. Perhaps you've never had someone come up behind you on a major highway at night with their bright headlights on? This happens regularly where I live where one often finds oneself driving on vast stretches of sparsely traveled rural mutli-lane interstate highways at night in pitch darkness where other drivers (especially travelers from out of state it seems) forget to dim their bright headlights when they come up behind you or approach you from long distances. Or you can have a large truck, tractor trailer or bus come up behind you at a traffic light at night? The height of their headlights can really light up the interior of your car. Oncoming or side approaching bright vehicle headlights in any situation might also be an issue.

Anyway, I'm not sure why you are using the T130 as an example since it does not have a photo-diode controlled, solenoid operated, IR-cut filter which is what my post is discussing. If it did, the OP wouldn't be asking why his footage turns magenta.

 

[kamkar]

I just crack a smile when i hear my interior cameras in the Vantrue N5 click CUZ i drive into a little shade.
Same when my phone in the dock think " O its nighttime " and change to night mode, only to change back 5 seconds later.

I dont think we should read too much into this

ATM i am fighting my own ayes and brain, trying to figure out why the hell i suddenly only fill my 300 BAR bottles to 200 BAR, when the gauge on my compressor are quite easy to read in both BAR and PSI.
Whatever the outcome is, i will just have to live with it, or die from it i have become stupid due to a aneurysm.

 

[Nigel]

I'm not entirely convinced of your statement. Obviously, you don't have personal experience with anything like this so you are merely speculating and making general assumptions when you say, "Doesn't seem to be an issue in normal use".

There is a T130 here in the living room with me, I took it out of the car a few days ago after about 2 years use. I've got a second one somewhere. I've never had a police officer point a torch at it, but that would not be normal here!

Why are you criticising people again? You attacked Panzer Platform above, and now you have attacked me for having no experience, yet both of us have used dashcams with switchable IR filters, and both of us have used dashcams without. Have you ever used a dashcam with an interior camera of any sort?

Kamkar also has experience:

I just crack a smile when i hear my interior cameras in the Vantrue N5 click CUZ i drive into a little shade.

Yes, that is when they click, driving under trees in late afternoon, not when passing people at night.

 

[LateralNW]

The seats, my shirt, my hat, should all be black.

Yet in this video they are all purple.

What can I do?

Defective unit ??

Defective unit ??
Not defective.

What can I do?
You can physically add an IR filter to the front of the lense if you would like colour during the day. It would need to be manually removed if you want IR light while driving at night.

Yet in this video they are all purple.
Design flaw/cost saving?
Has not been "fixed" as stated in other posts however they did improve the design and now include the IR cut filter on the later models.
Early models of Viofo Dashcams that used IR didn't have the IR filter.

Note all the pinks in the cabin are Blacks in real life.

 

[Dashmellow]

There is a T130 here in the living room with me, I took it out of the car a few days ago after about 2 years use. I've got a second one somewhere. I've never had a police officer point a torch at it, but that would not be normal here!

Why are you criticising people again? You attacked Panzer Platform above, and now you have attacked me for having no experience, yet both of us have used dashcams with switchable IR filters, and both of us have used dashcams without. Have you ever used a dashcam with an interior camera of any sort?

Kamkar also has experience:

Yes, that is when they click, driving under trees in late afternoon, not when passing people at night.

I haven't attacked you, I merely disagreed with you by saying that I was not convinced of your statement!

Does the T130 have a switchable interior IR cut filter or not?

And what is this business of police officers pointing a torch into your car? This is something you brought into the conversation twice now but not something I've mentioned. Even if it were to happen it would be quite a rare event and not a concern.

My thoughts about PP telllling the OP to go out and spend nearly twice as much money on a different camera when he enjoys those same pricey cameras provided to him for free are self explanatory, thank you.