Street Guardian has the SG9665GC listed

I just want the dashcam to perform as good as possible during night time, and if that mean that the sky is a little off during daytime so be it.
But it is easy for me to say so as i will not use my camera to make Journey logs or actual movies, if i was to do somthing like that i would break out my Dslr.

For me the interesting things with dashcams at the moment is form factor ( witch this single cam nail pretty good ) and other technical additions in soft/firm ware.
The best dashcams allready more or less perform as good as current generation CMOS chips allow for, so i see no significant improvements in picture quality aside for 4K but i think that is still a couple of years in the future for dashcams.
1 thing is for sure regarding 4K and dashcams, no way in hell will i have 4-500 dollars glued to my windscreen all the time, so by then i expect hidden main units and a small remote camera.
 
Well I do have to say and reiterate the general feelings expressed on here about this product and at risk of repeating it all again - awesome is the word of the day, clarity, stability of the recording and the sound pick up and clarity is amazing for such a small device (I had forgotten to tell the present Lady Wife that all she said would be recorded oops!) Yes you could say I am impressed VERY impressed.

I might take the mount off the screen and move it a tad towards the center of the screen and below the sensor cover, the only thing being the cable from the GPS might not let me do this - we shall see.

Having a problem or two with the Registrator viewer but I will send a billets-doux to Niko and seek his advice on that matter as it has frozen up my pc three times and whilst it is running now I guess it is me that is not doing something right hey ho.

All in all a bloody great piece of Kit 'well' pleased with my purchase.
 
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Pier28 said:
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Thanks Jon, this is how I did it. I was extra cautious to not put strain on the wires, but maybe I was not that careful. But, I think the solder joints on mine were weak. Just be extra cautious when handeling, and try to put the least amount of strain on the wires as possible.
 
Timezone not working for me on Pacific time. Dashcam says it is an hour behind. Any idea how to fix it?

I adjust the time manually, then as soon as GPS locks it reverts back to an hour before. GPS lock is pretty quick, I must say.
 
mercaptan said:
Timezone not working for me on Pacific time. Dashcam says it is an hour behind. Any idea how to fix it?

I adjust the time manually, then as soon as GPS locks it reverts back to an hour before. GPS lock is pretty quick, I must say.
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This is normal. You need to set it to -07 until the fall daylight savings kicks in. Then you can go back to -08
 
jokiin said:
We still have some fine tuning to do so hope not to get judged too harshly
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Regarding firmware updates do most buyers even know they exist? Do you include something in the packet saying to look for firmware updates on a given website or encourage and allow email signup for future firmware update notices? If not it could easily be added to a warranty paper.

To me this information should be a separate piece of paper or on a sticker as many people seem to never look at the owners manual of anything they buy.
 
country_hick said:
Regarding firmware updates do most buyers even know they exist? Do you include something in the packet saying to look for firmware updates on a given website or encourage and allow email signup for future firmware update notices? If not it could easily be added to a warranty paper.

To me this information should be a separate piece of paper or on a sticker as many people seem to never look at the owners manual of anything they buy.
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Not trying to speak for Jon or Rick but this isn't something that's unique to dash cams. Just about any modern electronic device has some form of firmware that can be updated - sometimes it's mentioned in the documentation, sometimes on a website and sometimes not at all.

My DVD player will flash a pop-up message under some circumstances suggesting I check the manufacturer's web site. My car on the other hand has at least a dozen or so control modules all of which can be updated but the only way to find out by a trip to the dealer. I've had external hard drives that did not perform to specifications and when I called tech support the first thing they did was email me new firmware to install and check again. Never could find reference to the firmware anywhere on the 'web'.

I can understand a reluctance on the part of the manufacturer to make F/W updates generally available because it can cause a nightmare of support problems - failed installs, incorrect F/W for device, etc. There are enough postings on this site where people have 'bricked' their cameras to give you an idea of the support issues that could result.
 
Ok, some updates with my cam!

- GPS in Reg Viewer

Yes I was still on RV version 5 so I upgraded to 6 and now the GPS works, thanks for the tip @jokiin!

- Setting Time & Zone

So I tested the time settings by intentionally setting the wrong time in the menu. My GPS had a lock, and within seconds the time on the camera snapped back to the correct time, so that's awesome to see!

- 50 vs 60hz

I was noticing some "ugliness" in my playback video and remembered I was still on 50hz. I changed back to 60 hz and the video was a lot smoother.

- Picture Quality

So the picture quality is definitely better than my Mini 0801. Under similar conditions, same street, broad daylight, the SG seems to capture WAY more light, the picture is brighter and clearer. The SG files are a solid 15 Mbps while my Mini 0801 footage was about 11 Mbps.

Strangely though, there just seems to something "off", "fuzzy", or generally "not quite right" about the picture quality when I playback video. Perhaps I'm spoiled by other HD content I regularly watch...? After all, I RARELY pull out my SD card to watch my Dashcam footage... It definitely beats my Mini 0801, but I just feel like it should be better, clearer...

I'm not sure I can blame the camera yet... So far I've played back footage on my laptop and on my HDTV using an HDMI cable from my laptop. My laptop screen is only like 800p, so I know that's not ideal. My TV is 1080p, and when connecting my laptop via HDMI it bumps up to that resolution, but it tends to prodcue a picture that looks like it has been "sharpened" multiple times, if you know what I mean... very bright, saturated, and "grainy".

I need to take some files to my office PC at work where I have 2 full 1080p monitors so I can compare side by side and get a better idea of the quality.

- Night Quality

I can definitely corroborate what @CoolyKid was saying about night video, where everything outside the headlight beam was nearly black. This was during full night on a street with no lighting.

I do know that night quality is good though, because in final moments of twilight, the sky appeared dark to my eyes, but on the Dashcam screen, it was a vivid deep blue, so the cam appeared to be getting more light than my eyes.

I guess I can raise to Exposure to compensate for any darkness?
 
If you turn WDR off you'll see more night detail off to the sides but Center hot spot license plate numbers will be harder to read
 
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Ta-Da!! My GCs were finally delivered by FedEx. (I think they used horse drawn carriages given the time it took them, but at least they did deliver on Saturday.) As others have mentioned it's an extremely well packed product. I'm really impressed with the physical size of the camera.

I'll probably install in my wife's car tomorrow and do a temporary install in mine if I have enough time, otherwise that will wait until Monday. Permanent install in my vehicle will have to wait until I get the right-angle USB connector so I can install it in my preferred location.

Mine (and I assume all others) came with a sheet of plastic that appears to be a fairly large screen protector. I have no idea what the intended use is for that - can someone shine a little light into the dim recesses of my mind? 😉
 
DT MI said:
Mine (and I assume all others) came with a sheet of plastic that appears to be a fairly large screen protector. I have no idea what the intended use is for that - can someone shine a little light into the dim recesses of my mind? 😉
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You're not alone, it's actually a 3M static sticker, if you needed to temp install you can stick that to the window and then mount the bracket to it and it's easily removed afterward
 
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