Question on viewing videos

K

krole

Active Member
Joined
May 1, 2018
Messages
173
Reaction score
73
Country
United States
I've been shopping around for a new dashcam. Looking at Thinkware I see they advertise "proprietary file system". I just want to make sure I understand correctly. The only way to view videos off one of these dashcams is with their proprietary software? I can't simply plug the microsd into my computer and watch the video in VLC or something?

Edit: I see that Thinkware is not alone in this technology either.
 
Last edited:
It's not that you NEED their software to view the files, typically the files are just MP4. So they should play in VLC, Quicktime, etc.

Most manufacturers have dedicated computer/mobile software, that allows you to see metadata like speed and GPS, would also allow you to modify settings for your cameras.

Not to mention the software would organize it better for you, good if you're considering a 2CH system with both front and rear cams.
 
DashOto said:
It's not that you NEED their software to view the files, typically the files are just MP4. So they should play in VLC, Quicktime, etc.

Most manufacturers have dedicated computer/mobile software, that allows you to see metadata like speed and GPS, would also allow you to modify settings for your cameras.

Not to mention the software would organize it better for you, good if you're considering a 2CH system with both front and rear cams.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply. What you wrote makes sense.

Is one able to view the mp4 files if I take the microsd card and plug that directly into my computer without any special driver or software?
 
Yep, should be fine. (y)

I just took my microSD card from a ThinkWare F800Pro and used the card adapter usb (thinkware came with it) to double check for you.
double clicking any mp4 just opened quicktime (nothing else installed - other than thinkware proprietary software).
 
Thanks for taking the time. I just don't want to be in the situation where I need to get files off but don't have access to special software.

While I guess in this scenario it's possible the software installed a driver or something with the adapter, I would hope they didn't go to that level.
 
For sure, the software is good to use as in gives you an easy way to watch both front + rear footage simultaneously.
See route info on a map and such.
Only ~18MB, so if you ever needed to download in a pinch, it's pretty small.
You can use the mobile app to transfer files into the memory of your phone too/view the files through the app.
But mostly it just works like a regular SD card - drag and drop files to copy to desktop, etc.

Good luck with your future purchase - tons of great people here on the forum who are very helpful if you ever have any questions.
 
You can have a look of some of the dashcam reviews, they often contain a Dl link to raw footage, you can try and Dl some and see how your computer handle it.

Personally i dont really use dedicated dashcam players as i dont need to see on a map where i am driving, but i have been using the old registrator viewer as it can bundle up several files and strip any file overlap there might be, but this little old gem do not support the newer cameras and surely not dual channel cameras.
So i just use regular players for win 10, VLC - MPC-CH and so on free popular players
 
One thing that some times trip up people is they try to play the files from the camera itself, and while some / many cameras can act as a mass storage devise connected to a computer, it is often a slow one and so viewing footage it might shudder.
It can be the same trying to play footage off the memory card in a older slow card reader.
I personally use a USB3.0 card reader from kingston, and with it i can maximize the memory cards write and read speeds, and i can play files directely off the memory card, the latter can be a problem with a older card reader, it was for me with my old one, but upgrading to USB 3.0 i never looked back.

If you experience shudder in playback copying your file to the computer will most often fix that.

My fastest memory cards i can get transfer speeds from card to computer of 90 MB /s or more, high end U3 memory cards can even do that in write speeds, but thats way more than most dashcams need.
 
If you have a memory card of some sort at hand and a card reader you can try copy my file to the memory card and see what happen when you play the same file off the card in your reader.
 
I always copy my files to my local computer first before watching\editing. I meant as simple as being able open\view the contents of the microsd card. Thanks for your help.
 
As said from some helpful people on here you can view all the current range of cameras footage straight from the memory card with VLC, Media Player etc.

Only on the very old H50 model you couldn't!
 
Thanks for the help. It's just when I see things like "proprietary file format technology" I tend to shy away. I like to use Windows and Linux. But if I can at least read the microsd card in Windows I'm good.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread starter Similar threads Forum Replies Date
M Question about type of selling options. Thinkware Other 1
Similar threads
Question about type of selling options.
Back
Top