Reviewing and Testing the Vantrue N4 Pro S

EricSan said:
@jsmith - Think I found it again, not sure which one might work best, but here are a few rear polarizers. Looks like some tape around the body of the camera would hold the polarizer in place by the ears.

Polarizing Filters for BlackVue, Thinkware, Garmin Dash Cams

Improve the video quality of your BlackVue, Thinkware, Garmin or Waylens dash cam with a slip-on Polarizing Filter! CPL filters reduce glare & reflections
www.thedashcamstore.com www.thedashcamstore.com
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Couldn't find the post where it was taped on with 3M . Can you link me to it?

Ya I was trying to look at a few different options. For the S1 Pro Max, the Viofo CPL-300 looks like a good fit. But I want one for the N4 Pro S camera. I would hope Vantrue would make a factory CPL for their rear units. It really does make a huge difference with glare given these cameras sit back from the windshield if wanting full stability.
 
Ordered 2x CPL-300s. One for my A139 Pro and another for the S1 Pro Max. Cheap work arounds until Vantrue maybe comes out with a factory spec'ed CPL filter.
 
I keep meaning to get one for my A229 Pro rear camera, the crazy severely slanted rear window makes horrible reflections.
 
A bit of night time comparison with the N4 Pro S against the 70mai T800 (sorry for the wait at the lights - I was hoping more cars would cross!)


Here is some daylight fottage:


@EricSan I hope you don't mind my adding to your thread m8?

Paul.
 
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Paul Iddon said:
I hope you don't mind my adding to your thread m8?
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No worries at all. Awesome job on the side by side comparison, your video even has a musical overlay! I presume both cameras are set to EV 0.0? The 70mai seems brighter by at least a full stop, making it easier to identify vehicles.
 
EricSan said:
No worries at all. Awesome job on the side by side comparison, your video even has a musical overlay! I presume both cameras are set to EV 0.0? The 70mai seems brighter by at least a full stop, making it easier to identify vehicles.
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Yes both cameras are unchanged from the boxed settings.

I have used BluTac to put a CPL on the rear camera which I think has taken away a bit of the bad triangular flaring I saw on first usage.

Paul.
 
jsmith said:
Couldn't find the post where it was taped on with 3M . Can you link me to it?
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Here you go, it’s in my S1PM thread. I wasn’t sure if it was there or if I put it in someone else’s thread. I ordered two as well, one for the S1PM and one for my A139P. The adhesive that comes with the polarizer is pretty lame, I’ve already had to reposition it after it spent some time in the sun. My advice is to ditch the pre-applied adhesive and go with VHB.

EricSan

Post in thread 'Reviewing and Testing the Vantrue S1 Pro Max'

I played around with some rear camera polarizers today. There is a dedicated one for my Viofo A139 Pro rear camera, so I ordered two. I was expecting something thin and flexible for some reason (that I probably made up all on my own) and what arrived was more rigid than I thought:
IMG_15367.webp


It installed quickly and easily on the Viofo it was was intended for, but I had a bit more difficulty putting it on the S1 Pro Max rear camera because the rear lens protrudes out from the flat surface of the camera face. This means I needed to add a little bit of space to clear the curvature of...
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Paul Iddon said:
I have used BluTac to put a CPL on the rear camera
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That’s a clever solution - easier to work with than VHB and easier to get the elevation to clear the protruding lens on the S1PM rear camera.
 
Paul Iddon said:
Yes both cameras are unchanged from the boxed settings.

I have used BluTac to put a CPL on the rear camera which I think has taken away a bit of the bad triangular flaring I saw on first usage.

Paul.
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On S1 Pro Max or N4 Pro S rear camera?
 
Its a round one, I think it's from the front camera of the old A139
 
I just published the results of a fun little experiment: I mounted the 4k rear camera from the S1PM on the front grill of my car and mounted the rear camera from the N4PS on the bottom of my trunk.

The result is a front and rear camera systems that is mounted 100% externally, so there is no window glare and no footage of my dash/hood. See what you think:

EricSan

Thread 'Look Ma - No Window Glare!!'

Ok, cultural parody of the kid's phrase: "Look, Ma - No hands!"

Some time I ago, I installed the rear camera of my S1 Pro Max camera externally on the trunk of my car and posted a video. After making a few videos, I was REALLY impressed with the image quality (lack of defrost lines, no glare, no rear dash). Following this, I suggested to @Jeff_Vantrue that Vantrue make a camera that has externally mounted front AND rear cameras. Because I like to play around and I'm fairly impatient, I made "my own version" of my idea: I mounted the 4k rear camera from the S1 Pro Max camera...
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I took 2x CPL-300s and placed one on the Viofo A139 Pro Rear Camera without modification. I took the 3M adhesive and put it on either side of the CPL-300 and Placed it over the lens on the N4 Pro S. I have tinted windows so I get some rainbow effect, but the visibility wasn't great due to a lot of reflection.

I'm going to test drive around, but I think it's helped a lot to clear up the reflections which hindered seeing out of the tint. I can live with rainbow effect on the upper video (as I do with front CPLs) if it helps me see out my windows better.

Will report back.
 
The site seems quiet
jsmith said:
I took 2x CPL-300s and placed one on the Viofo A139 Pro Rear Camera without modification. I took the 3M adhesive and put it on either side of the CPL-300 and Placed it over the lens on the N4 Pro S. I have tinted windows so I get some rainbow effect, but the visibility wasn't great due to a lot of reflection.

I'm going to test drive around, but I think it's helped a lot to clear up the reflections which hindered seeing out of the tint. I can live with rainbow effect on the upper video (as I do with front CPLs) if it helps me see out my windows better.

Will report back.
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What rainbow effect are you referring to? I haven't seen any on my Vantrue or Viofo filters or maybe I missed it in some other reviewers' posts.
 
Hack_man said:
The site seems quiet

What rainbow effect are you referring to? I haven't seen any on my Vantrue or Viofo filters or maybe I missed it in some other reviewers' posts.
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Tinted windows cause a "Rainbow Effect" due to ceramic tinting. It's nothing to do with the CPL and everything to do with having tinted windows.
 
Hack_man said:
The site seems quiet

What rainbow effect are you referring to? I haven't seen any on my Vantrue or Viofo filters or maybe I missed it in some other reviewers' posts.
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Not great examples, and I cropped these images, but you can see with and without CPL. The CPL creates a Rainbow Effect with Ceramic tint but Without the CPL, you get a very bad glare.

It's a tradeoff between less reflection, being able to see out the rear window better, but living with the Rainbow or having a bad glare that hinders definition and detail at times.

(Using CPL-300 from Vantrue)

1.webp


No CPL Filter on N4 Pro S

2.webp
 
No question, with the tint, CPL filter is the way to go even with the rainbow.
 
Hack_man said:
No question, with the tint, CPL filter is the way to go even with the rainbow.
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With direct sunlight, the whole sky will have a swirl rainbow periodically but you can see what's behind you much more clearly. I didn't realize Viofo had ever released a CPL for the A139 Pro... and used 3M tape or VHB whatever it is that comes with cameras to adhere same CPL-300 to the N4 S Pro.

Going to order one for S1 Pro Max. That vehicle doesn't have tint and should be a vast improvement.
 
jsmith said:
Tinted windows cause a "Rainbow Effect" due to ceramic tinting. It's nothing to do with the CPL and everything to do with having tinted windows.
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Here's an older, but complete, post on the subject of 'rainbows'.

Dashmellow

Thread 'Strange Rainbows in Your Dash Cam Videos?'

Strange Rainbows in Your Videos?
header.jpg


With a steady stream of posts to the forum from members trying to understand why they are suddenly seeing unusual rainbows appearing in their dash cam footage I decided to create a sticky where we can learn about and discuss the problem and where visitors searching for some answers can find them.

Quick Start Spoiler: Ultimately, the problem of unusual, internally generated rainbows appearing in your dash cam videos will require removing the CPL from your camera if you want to eliminate...
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