SawMaster
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Apr 10, 2015
- Messages
- 9,450
- Reaction score
- 8,315
- Location
- SC
- Country
- United States
- Dash Cam
- Numerous and ever-changing
I currently have a 2-channel cam recording normally in my workvan 24/7 for security purposes as well as driving protection. It has a hefty battery (80A) and it gets driven daily for at least 15-20 minutes time which puts the battery near full after the drive. As best I can figure, it costs me about $0.25 per day in lost battery service life, and I'm happy to pay that for the peace of mind I get. Low-bitrate recording uses less power so would cost you less, plus you get less card wear and it's easier on the cam too My workvan is an old extended body full size Ford so to get complete side coverage looking outward will take 2 cams per side- i have half that right now. My K2S will be moving to the rear sides on fixed windows, and something better done on the front sides which mount to the body, not glass. Liking redundancy I have and will keep 2 cams front and rear, but different choices than I have in use right now.
Which brings us to another issue: Dual cams have to use a lower bitrate for the front cam since you have to share the SD card's limited data-writing capabilities with the rear cam. Today's cards can do ~30MB/s writing total, and a single cam can be set up to use all of that in giving the best recordings See the "Modified Firmware" threads on what can be done, and look at the vids from the "Pro" type single cams which approach this level. The standard firmwares and "non-Pro" versions of these cams use a lower bitrate, and that is about the same vid quality you'll get with a dual "Pro" type cam So if you want the very best, you need a single-channel cam These dual-channel cams are darn good though, and are enough for most folks. But until hardware advances they will always be less than is possible.
And yes, all the 4K cams have issues with high heat. Some shut down when they go overtemp to save the cam but to me that's not what i want happening; a non-operating 4K cam is a p-poor substitute for a cheap 480P cam that's still working which doesn't say a lot for today's 4K cams IMHO. We're pushing the current dashcam design parameters to their limits now, something better is needed but I've yet to hear of anyone making efforts in that direction We need doubled write speed capability, more and cheaper memory, larger and better sensors and lenses, and cooler running processors to make much more progress. Not much more can be done with what we've got now.
Phil
Which brings us to another issue: Dual cams have to use a lower bitrate for the front cam since you have to share the SD card's limited data-writing capabilities with the rear cam. Today's cards can do ~30MB/s writing total, and a single cam can be set up to use all of that in giving the best recordings See the "Modified Firmware" threads on what can be done, and look at the vids from the "Pro" type single cams which approach this level. The standard firmwares and "non-Pro" versions of these cams use a lower bitrate, and that is about the same vid quality you'll get with a dual "Pro" type cam So if you want the very best, you need a single-channel cam These dual-channel cams are darn good though, and are enough for most folks. But until hardware advances they will always be less than is possible.
And yes, all the 4K cams have issues with high heat. Some shut down when they go overtemp to save the cam but to me that's not what i want happening; a non-operating 4K cam is a p-poor substitute for a cheap 480P cam that's still working which doesn't say a lot for today's 4K cams IMHO. We're pushing the current dashcam design parameters to their limits now, something better is needed but I've yet to hear of anyone making efforts in that direction We need doubled write speed capability, more and cheaper memory, larger and better sensors and lenses, and cooler running processors to make much more progress. Not much more can be done with what we've got now.
Phil