Testing Low Power Parking Modes

[Vortex Radar]

So there's more and more dashcams that are now releasing low power parking mode and I've been curious to see how they all compare, so I've started testing with 5 different models:

• Viofo A329S
• Vueroid S1-4K Infinite
• Thinkware U3000
• Blackvue Elite 8
• Vantrue N4 Pro S

I've started with first measuring the power draw with all the dashcams at idle, both with regular parking mode as well as their low power parking modes. Since power draw can fluctuate a bit, I put a Fluke 117 multimeter in line to measure and display the average current draw, then I logged everything into a spreadsheet.

Here's all the measurements (lower is better):

For traditional parking recording (big bars), they're in the 300 - 600 mA range. It's not an apples to apples comparison though since the Thinkware and Blackvue are 2CH setups while the Viofo, Vueroid, and Vantrue are 3CH setups, plus I didn't mess with IR LEDs and so they were on with the Vantrue in motion detection while off on the Viofo in Auto Event Detection, for example, but I really just wanted those numbers as a baseline while comparing the low power draw numbers.

Here's a second chart with just the low power numbers.

The U3000 is my mental starting point since that model has had low power parking modes (both regular and radar-based) for years now. I know the Viofo's low power draw gives me over a week of parking recording on a traditional 96 Wh battery pack, but it turns out it has the highest power draw and all the other dashcams are even more efficient.

The N4 Pro S has less than half the power draw, but I believe its wakeup time is really long if it's anything like the E1 Pro which I've tested previously.

The S1-4K and the Elite 8 have astonishing low power draws, and I believe their wakeup time is on the order of a second or so.. but I'll test this next to measure and verify. Either way, I've heard Blackvue advertising parking record times of 1 year in this mode and looking at the numbers, I believe it. (My multimeter doesn't have enough precision, but its power draw would bounce between 0.000mA and 0.001mA so their claim of <1 mA is also accurate.

It's supposed to rain off and on all week, but I'm gonna go out to install all the dashcams and do some wakeup time testing, hoping the rain chills out for long enough for me to go out and test in dry weather.

 

[Mtz]

To not have differences between number of channels and number of channels recording at start up from low power mode, would be interesting to have such a comparison in just one channel mode for all daschams. And that graph to contain also the wake up time. Because I consider with actual values the power consumption to not be so important compared to wake up time.
So my priority would be wake up time followed by the power consumption.

 

[Vortex Radar]

To not have differences between number of channels and number of channels recording at start up from low power mode, would be interesting to have such a comparison in just one channel mode for all daschams. And that graph to contain also the wake up time. Because I consider with actual values the power consumption to not be so important compared to wake up time.
So my priority would be wake up time followed by the power consumption.

I can do 1CH for most of the dashcams (except the N4 Pro S), but does that affect the wakeup time? I haven't tested it directly, but IIRC, some cams like the Vueroid only record Front/Rear initially and then add the interior cam once it fully boots up. I could be wrong though. The Viofo and Vueroid I have installed in my car as 3CH setups, but the Blackvue, Thinkware, and Vantrue I'm was planning on installing now and running as front only setups for a simpler install, though it wouldn't be a big deal to plug in the add-on dashcams and set them down in the passenger seat or something.

 

[TonyM]

So there's more and more dashcams that are now releasing low power parking mode and I've been curious to see how they all compare

This is interesting for dashcam users who do not have a dedicated dashcam battery for parking mode, but would like to record whilst parked for more than a few hours.

 

[Vortex Radar]

This is interesting for dashcam users who do not have a dedicated dashcam battery for parking mode, but would like to record whilst parked for more than a few hours.

Agreed. It makes powering off your starter battery much more viable.

 

[Chuck McCoy]

some cams like the Vueroid only record Front/Rear initially and then add the interior cam once it fully boots up.

Do you mean the D21-4K, or the S1-4K?
I tested the S1-4K Rear & IR Interior wake up times in ELPM in relation to the front camera here;

Post #33

 

[Chuck McCoy]

My multimeter doesn't have enough precision, but its power draw would bounce between 0.000mA and 0.001mA so their claim of <1 mA is also accurate.

If you were really bored, and wanted to waste your time, and you had (2) test units you could measure the amperage / current draw from both cameras combined with Fluke 117 to see if the mA bounces between 1mA-2mA, or 2mA-3mA.
Like I said waste of time. lol

 

[Vortex Radar]

Do you mean the D21-4K, or the S1-4K?
I tested the S1-4K Rear & IR Interior wake up times in ELPM in relation to the front camera here;

Post #33

Thanks for the clarification! I was wrong then. 🙂

 

[Chuck McCoy]

Thanks for the clarification! I was wrong then. 🙂

You only have 40,000, million, kajillion, quadrillion data points memorized from 20 dashcam brands, and 50 radar detector / gun brands.
How could you forget this one thing?
This is unforgivable. lol

 

[jsmith]

@Vortex Radar

Wouldn't comparing the wakeup times with accurate figures be of great use, too? Power Saving is great, but if one camera takes 2 seconds and another takes 6 seconds, then it really isn't apples to apples comparison to miss the event needing recorded.

 

[SafeDriveSolutions]

So Vantrue finally fixed their current draw. But did they fix their wakeup time?

 

[jsmith]

So Vantrue finally fixed their current draw. But did they fix their wakeup time?

Just tested the N4 Pro S.... Vantrue has two settings under Collision. Power Savings and Quick Mode. Power Savings is like 7-8 seconds. Not efficient and I imagine Quick Mode would be more ideal.

Sent this feedback to Vantrue / @Jeff_Vantrue regarding extended wake time on Power Savings.

 

[GPak]

Wake-up time and power consumption are important, but the most crucial aspect is sensitivity and reliability of event recording.
There are three main triggers: impact detection, motion detection, and radar.
All DCT impact tests are typically conducted with a relatively strong impact to the windshield or by tapping the dashcam itself. This doesn't reflect real-life parking incidents; these are typically light impacts and scratches on bumpers, fenders, and doors.
I'd like to see how the dashcam responds to such light impacts.
On the other hand, motion detection and radar can generate too many false alarms, which is probably OK: a false recording is better than no recording.

 

[jsmith]

Wake-up time and power consumption are important, but the most crucial aspect is sensitivity and reliability of event recording.
There are three main triggers: impact detection, motion detection, and radar.
All DCT impact tests are typically conducted with a relatively strong impact to the windshield or by tapping the dashcam itself. This doesn't reflect real-life parking incidents; these are typically light impacts and scratches on bumpers, fenders, and doors.
I'd like to see how the dashcam responds to such light impacts.
On the other hand, motion detection and radar can generate too many false alarms, which is probably OK: a false recording is better than no recording.

I prefer low bitrate, which of course consumes the most power, and offers the least amount of recording time. You at least know if there's an event, it's captured with certainty. Unfortunately, unless you are running battery packs, low bitrate isn't ideal for extended parking periods. Say you're on holiday a few days, and left your car at the airport parking lot, low power consumption would likely be your first choice. However, with 8 second wakeup times, I'd be curious if the event were actually captured on the Vantrue.... I'll do a test on that one and report back.

 

[SafeDriveSolutions]

Wake-up time and power consumption are important, but the most crucial aspect is sensitivity and reliability of event recording.
There are three main triggers: impact detection, motion detection, and radar.
All DCT impact tests are typically conducted with a relatively strong impact to the windshield or by tapping the dashcam itself. This doesn't reflect real-life parking incidents; these are typically light impacts and scratches on bumpers, fenders, and doors.
I'd like to see how the dashcam responds to such light impacts.
On the other hand, motion detection and radar can generate too many false alarms, which is probably OK: a false recording is better than no recording.

I discussed this in one of our videos. You make it too sensitive and the impact detection is useless. Rain will set it off which makes the whole feature pointless. Because now it is awake the whole time anyways. I do think they should find a way to have a g sensor in the rear camera. That would help a lot in my opinion

 

[Vortex Radar]

@Vortex Radar

Wouldn't comparing the wakeup times with accurate figures be of great use, too? Power Saving is great, but if one camera takes 2 seconds and another takes 6 seconds, then it really isn't apples to apples comparison to miss the event needing recorded.

Obviously, lol. I mentioned it in the OP and that's what I spent the afternoon testing today. It's gonna take a while to go through all the test footage, sync everything, measure things, etc.

I also ran into a few issues with things like forgetting to disable the feature on the Vueroid that disables parking mode in certain locations, so a bunch of my test whacks are with the Vueroid turned off. Whoops! Luckily I realized it after several whacks and all the rest have that dashcam enabled.

 

[Vortex Radar]

Wake-up time and power consumption are important, but the most crucial aspect is sensitivity and reliability of event recording.
There are three main triggers: impact detection, motion detection, and radar.
All DCT impact tests are typically conducted with a relatively strong impact to the windshield or by tapping the dashcam itself. This doesn't reflect real-life parking incidents; these are typically light impacts and scratches on bumpers, fenders, and doors.
I'd like to see how the dashcam responds to such light impacts.
On the other hand, motion detection and radar can generate too many false alarms, which is probably OK: a false recording is better than no recording.

That's a tough one to deal with because all the dashcams have sensitivity options and it's a balance to both detect what you need to detect while also not getting a ton of unnecessary recordings. Should we test with default sensitivity? Max sensitivity? Side hits vs front hits? There's always a ton of things we can test and many ways to do it. Feel free to jump in and test how you're curious too.

It's a great idea for a test, but that would have to be a different test. Given that I want to specifically measure wake up times, testing in a way that prevents certain dashcams from waking up defeats the purpose.

 

[jsmith]

Obviously, lol. I mentioned it in the OP and that's what I spent the afternoon testing today. It's gonna take a while to go through all the test footage, sync everything, measure things, etc.

I also ran into a few issues with things like forgetting to disable the feature on the Vueroid that disables parking mode in certain locations, so a bunch of my test whacks are with the Vueroid turned off. Whoops! Luckily I realized it after several whacks and all the rest have that dashcam enabled.

I wasn't faulting you, and know you mentioned in the OP, but the data posted is incomplete without insight into wake up times. Vantrue consumes 15 MA in Collision Detection and Power Savings, but is that of any use? I mean 8 seconds to wake up could result in missing the event.

I'm going to test this and see myself....

On the flip side, are cameras with a quick wake up in power savings recording immediately after wake up or is there a delay?

 

[Vortex Radar]

I wasn't faulting you, and know you mentioned in the OP, but the data posted is incomplete without insight into wake up times. Vantrue consumes 15 MA in Collision Detection and Power Savings, but is that of any use? I mean 8 seconds to wake up could result in missing the event.

I'm going to test this and see myself....

On the flip side, are cameras with a quick wake up in power savings recording immediately after wake up or is there a delay?

I guess I wasn’t clear so I’ll say it more explicitly. This thread is my place to log things as I test. It’s not intended to be the final result in post 1. Sorry for any confusion.

 

[jsmith]

I guess I wasn’t clear so I’ll say it more explicitly. This thread is my place to log things as I test. It’s not intended to be the final result in post 1. Sorry for any confusion.

Understood. FYI: I meant these as suggestions and not as any criticisms to your hard work. Complete Data definitely helps consumers know if a device's claims live up to the hype.

Thank you for everything you've done thus far!