Vantrue E1 - impressions/samples

[Dadi_T]

I have received a Vantrue Element 1 sample dashcam and i will share some night and day video samples with you.

First of all, i was quite surprised by the quality of the package and also the build quality of this tiny cute dashcam. It is also equipped with lots of functions such as voice control. The phone app it is working very good, better than Viofo app for example, in my opinion.

Ok, the most important stuff, video footage.

Day samples:

Night samples:

Note that the youtube footage is, in generaly, worse than the original footage. I will put some original files to dropbox. Note also that for original quality you have to download the video from dropbox.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/twmtnr63x0t6ckn/20221027_231125_0278_N_A.mp4?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/6hhpdtjgz4u3umk/20221027_231325_0280_N_A.mp4?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/mqt39vefzaxtxho/e1 sample3.MP4?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/adllja8q0y32zs0/e1 sample4.MP4?dl=0


So, there is room for improvements. I think the bitrate is to low (16994 kb/s) and this can compromise the video on sunny roades with shadows. I took some screenshots from the originals files for a comparasion with the Viofo T130.
The E1 settings are standard 1440 HDR On.













I have noticed, after tests, that the received dashcam doesn't have the newest firmware. Our member @Falsificator is working on a modified firmware based on VT-EBJ131(newest one), so i will wait for that one.

 

[gse]

Our member @gse is working on a modified firmware based on VT-EBJ131(newest one), so i will wait for that one.

Good afternoon.
This is a mistake, I do not have this DVR and I do not make firmware.
Although I made a request for a test sample of the DVR in order to somehow help the company and the community, I never received a response.

 

[Dadi_T]

Good afternoon.
This is a mistake, I do not have this DVR and I do not make firmware.
Although I made a request for a test sample of the DVR in order to somehow help the company and the community, I never received a response.

Sorry for that! It was about @Falsificator

 

[Julian23]

You might want to check your images. They aren't showing properly.

 

[Jeff_Vantrue]

I have received a Vantrue Element 1 sample dashcam and i will share some night and day video samples with you.

First of all, i was quite surprised by the quality of the package and also the build quality of this tiny cute dashcam. It is also equipped with lots of functions such as voice control. The phone app it is working very good, better than Viofo app for example, in my opinion.

Ok, the most important stuff, video footage.

Day samples:

Night samples:

Note that the youtube footage is, in generaly, worse than the original footage. I will put some original files to dropbox. Note also that for original quality you have to download the video from dropbox.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/twmtnr63x0t6ckn/20221027_231125_0278_N_A.mp4?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/6hhpdtjgz4u3umk/20221027_231325_0280_N_A.mp4?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/mqt39vefzaxtxho/e1 sample3.MP4?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/adllja8q0y32zs0/e1 sample4.MP4?dl=0


So, there is room for improvements. I think the bitrate is to low (16994 kb/s) and this can compromise the video on sunny roades with shadows. I took some screenshots from the originals files for a comparasion with the Viofo T130.
The E1 settings are standard 1440 HDR On.













I have noticed, after tests, that the received dashcam doesn't have the newest firmware. Our member @Falsificator is working on a modified firmware based on VT-EBJ131(newest one), so i will wait for that one.

The Low Bitrate Recording helps you save hours of footages as small files (1080P@15FPS or 720P@15FPS) to save SD card space.
For the birates settings, you can choose 1080P 15FPS or 720P 15FPS.
If no movement is detected after 5 minutes of recording, there will be a icon appears in the center of the screen. The resolution of all current video will be automatically switched to 1080P 15FPS or 720P 15FPS for recording, and the recording duration is determined according to the currently set loop recording duration. When the camera is vibrated or moved, it will automatically exit, wait 5 minutes and enter again.

 

[kamkar]

It is funny you guys ( Vantrue ) made low bitrate time lapse too, but of course that will probably make the parking guard files even smaller.
I prefer low bitrate to be 30 FPS, and think they get small enough, but of course if you have not gotten a adequate large memory card it could be a issue.
I always use 256GB cards in my main cameras, and then i only use parking guard for 3 hours on a timer, so even if a pretty much drive a little every day, though like today only 5 minutes, then i do get at least 3 hours of parking guard footage in daily, other days where i drive a bit longer, well i also pause longer at destination so those days i get 2 X 3 hours of parking guard.

I don't have a hard wire kit for the E2 you sent me, but i will try to see if it can run on the viofo hard wire kit i have in the car.

 

[Julian23]

and then i only use parking guard for 3 hours on a timer

This depends on where you park your car. If you are only gone for a short period of time this can be enough. But for me 3h would be too short.
I personally use parking mode until the voltage is too low or I am back to my car. I get up to 9h without any issues on my Viofo.

 

[kamkar]

Indeed. I would also up the timer if i was to park in a place where i think it would be needed, i have a 12.2 Volt cut off to end long sessions.

And i use to just have 1 hour on the timer, but then a couple of months ago my car was hit while parked, and hit 2 hours after i parked so no recording, fortunately there was a witness so i did not have to pay myself to get my car fixed ( new rear plastic fender and paint )
So now i run 3 hours, which should cover most times i park where there are no CCTV coverage, like at my little sisters place where my car was hit, at home i have CCTV from a camera on my 2 floor balcony door on the car parked down below, his is AI motion control, so only human or vehicle shape very near to my car ( zoomed in on the car ) trigger a notification to my phone.
Originally the battery in my small Suzuki car are just 45 Ah as i recall, but i have upgraded to a 50 Ah one, i could also put in a even larger battery ( physically ) but then i would need to modify the battery tray and extend the battery wires too.
And i would have done that if i had a garage and the tools needed to do that, but i do not have a garage and only very basic tools in my apartment.

With a lotto win, i would have a house with a garage / work shop, lathe, mill, several kind of welders and so on, as i have the skills / educations to use them.

 

[Julian23]

Its even better when you dont need to run the parking mode and have other cameras cover the car. Better for the battery and you get an external view.
But that limits it to places you know.
If you are anywhere else, parking mode is the way to go.
In my car I have a 90Ah battery. Pretty big so the camera can run long enough.

 

[kamkar]

Indeed.
There are no CCTV when i visit family,,,, or the 4 people of the family i see, but my 1 friend do of course have CCTV too, and both myself and my friend do not mind acting like judge and jury, and we deal out swift and hard punishment.


TBH i don't mind little parking dings much, even if we Danes pay for 2 cars to get one car due to taxes, what annoy me the most about those are they prove that i live among a flock of irresponsible animals, and i do not like that.
So even if i have paid BMW price for my little Suzuki in 2012 when i got it new, then it is just a means of not walking to me, if it start when i need it to and otherwise don't cost much, then i am good.
And all that have ever happened to my car was the front Right spring broke last year, otherwise no cost other than regular wear and tear.
O and i almost forgot my front headlights "glass" that keep cracking ( on 2 set now and they cracked before a year ),,,, and i only use the factory recommended 55W H4 bulbs,,,,, no silly boy racer LED light in my car.

 

[Dadi_T]

The Low Bitrate Recording helps you save hours of footages as small files (1080P@15FPS or 720P@15FPS) to save SD card space.
For the birates settings, you can choose 1080P 15FPS or 720P 15FPS.
If no movement is detected after 5 minutes of recording, there will be a icon appears in the center of the screen. The resolution of all current video will be automatically switched to 1080P 15FPS or 720P 15FPS for recording, and the recording duration is determined according to the currently set loop recording duration. When the camera is vibrated or moved, it will automatically exit, wait 5 minutes and enter again.

I have checked the parking feature today with my HK4 parking device from my T130 and it is working with E1.
I have set the 1080p/15fps option.

From normal recording to parking recording there is a 7 seconds gap without footage.
From parking recording to normal recording there is a 6 seconds gap without footage.

Despite the fact that my loop recording option is 1 minutes (124 MB size), the parking mode files are 3 minutes (223 MB size).

Events locked by the G-shock sensor in normal recording will do automatically also a photo from each file from when/where the G-sensor was triggered. I think this information it's not wrote in the user manual.

 

[Jeff_Vantrue]

Its even better when you dont need to run the parking mode and have other cameras cover the car. Better for the battery and you get an external view.
But that limits it to places you know.
If you are anywhere else, parking mode is the way to go.
In my car I have a 90Ah battery. Pretty big so the camera can run long enough.

Yep. Definitly, the “Smart” Parking Mode in the dash cam ensures immediate recording whenever its G-sensor detects any motion while your vehicle is parked and the engine is off. Parking mode eliminates the need to leave the camera continuously On when you park your car, which helps to minimize unnecessary recording time and save energy.

 

[Jeff_Vantrue]

It is funny you guys ( Vantrue ) made low bitrate time lapse too, but of course that will probably make the parking guard files even smaller.
I prefer low bitrate to be 30 FPS, and think they get small enough, but of course if you have not gotten a adequate large memory card it could be a issue.
I always use 256GB cards in my main cameras, and then i only use parking guard for 3 hours on a timer, so even if a pretty much drive a little every day, though like today only 5 minutes, then i do get at least 3 hours of parking guard footage in daily, other days where i drive a bit longer, well i also pause longer at destination so those days i get 2 X 3 hours of parking guard.

I don't have a hard wire kit for the E2 you sent me, but i will try to see if it can run on the viofo hard wire kit i have in the car.

Low Bitrate is great for a continuous recording, but you save a lot of space on the memory card. The camera records at a bitrate of 4Mbps (per channel), which saves considerable space on the card. The car is stationary so low bitrate has minimal affect on image quality most of the time. Sound is also recorded in Low Bitrate mode (it's recorded in Auto Event too, but it's not recorded in Time Lapse parking mode). With this mode, you miss nothing. You don't risk the camera not triggering recording because it's always recording

 

[Dadi_T]

Ok, i didn't had enough patience to wait for mod firmware from @Falsificator and i've flashed the latest official firmware and... very nice surprise: this tiny budget camera can do night license plates under certain situations.







Nice job! Indeed, the street has to be quite narrow and the upcoming cars close to you, but still, great great step forward for a budget dashcam, if we consider that there are 400 or 500 dollars dashcams that can't do this.

Yes, generally image/footage looks better with HDR Off. It is less noisy and sharper, but it can't do license plates or other possibly important evidence.

HDR On

HDR Off


HDR On

HDR Off


HDR Off



One important fact.
HDR, in my opinion, it is very bad in day time. In my first post, there is a sunny day picture with trees and shadows. Very very bad picture. I thought that is a bitrate problem, but a very similar picture, maybe in harder conditions (early morning) with HDR Off, turn out to be very good.


So, i think the @vantrue team must work on a programable HDR.

 

[Jeff_Vantrue]

Ok, i didn't had enough patience to wait for mod firmware from @Falsificator and i've flashed the latest official firmware and... very nice surprise: this tiny budget camera can do night license plates under certain situations.







Nice job! Indeed, the street has to be quite narrow and the upcoming cars close to you, but still, great great step forward for a budget dashcam, if we consider that there are 400 or 500 dollars dashcams that can't do this.

Yes, generally image/footage looks better with HDR Off. It is less noisy and sharper, but it can't do license plates or other possibly important evidence.

HDR On

HDR Off


HDR On

HDR Off


HDR Off



One important fact.
HDR, in my opinion, it is very bad in day time. In my first post, there is a sunny day picture with trees and shadows. Very very bad picture. I thought that is a bitrate problem, but a very similar picture, maybe in harder conditions (early morning) with HDR Off, turn out to be very good.


So, i think the @vantrue team must work on a programable HDR.

Thanks for speaking out how you exactly feel.
So, HDR high-dynamic technology can help presents details perfectly.

HDR stands for High Dynamic Range. It can reach the shooting outcome that a normal combination of aperture and shutter cannot do by compositing various photos of different exposure and conducting tone mapping. Compared with ordinary images, it can provide more dynamic range and image details, and demonstrate the original vibrant colors to the maximun extent.

Vantrue E1 dash camera is equipped with a top-quality Sony CMOS sensor that's capable of capturing crisp 2592*1944P footage. The Sony Starvis IMX335 CMOS sensor and HDR technology ensure super night vision. With these two, the Vantrue E1 dash cam can catch even minor details during nighttime.

 

[IAmATeaf]

I’ve been looking at your night time footage and it seems so much better than my night time footage, what settings did you use for night time?

 

[Dadi_T]

Standard settings. 1440p, HDR On, exp.0.
You may check the firmware. Mine didn't had the newest one.

 

[IAmATeaf]

Standard settings. 1440p, HDR On, exp.0.
You may check the firmware. Mine didn't had the newest one.

I was using 131 the same as you, really surprised at the difference, my night time footage is just full of flares/glare/haloing around any light source.

 

[kamkar]

That is your windscreen i think, this time of the year you will soon see who is good cleaning their windscreen and who is not.

Actually writing this i just remembered i washed my car yesterday, and i did not clean the windscreen on the inside while i waited the 8 minuted for that to be done

 

[IAmATeaf]

If it is the windscreen then I wonder why the A119 V3 footage looks so much better? I’m going to give the widescreen a clean inside and out to see if that makes a difference.

I thought that a CPL may help but from what I’ve read some people suggest removing it for night time?