Vantrue E1 Pro Starvis 2 IMX678 PlatePix & HDR / The best 4k single channel camera in 2025?

[Julian23]

Here is a comparison between the A229 Pro, A329, E1 Pro. HDR/PlatePix is off for every camera. CPL is attached to every camera.
The images are screenshots made in full resolution in VLC, then cropped to the same resolution to remove any angle differences.
The plate is half blurred. Except for this, no editing has been done.
I placed the pictures next to each other to allow a quick switching.

In this cropped version the 60fps can be noticed on the 2nd image from the A329. The post from the guardrail and the wheel is more detailed.

The E1 Pro does create a very dark image if compared directly. This does not seem to affect the plate capture negatively in this example.

The audio quality from the E1 Pro does appear to have no distortion. It does handle heavy bass much better than the other two dashcams.
If there is loud bass, the audio becomes a bit quieter and muffled. Everything can still be heard quite good.

A negative point that has to be mentioned is the jumping video issue that others have noticed as well. It is also present with my unit

 

[Karagandinez]

A negative point that has to be mentioned is the jumping video issue that others have noticed as well. It is also present with my unit

Jumpy video on E1 Pro due to duplicate frames. Vantrue is working on eliminating duplicate frames.

 

[Nigel]

In this cropped version the 60fps can be noticed on the 2nd image from the A329. The post from the guardrail and the wheel is more detailed.

There is a lot less motion blur on the wheel in the 60fps frame! How did it manage that without changing the exposure? The darker exposure of the E1 should have been best for least motion blur.

 

[TonyM]

The darker exposure of the E1 should have been best for least motion blur.

With PlatePix enabled I think it's post processed in-camera to increase contrast and reduce highlights, rather than being a shorter/darker exposure at the time of capture.

 

[Augustus]

With PlatePix enabled I think it's post processed in-camera to increase contrast and reduce highlights, rather than being a shorter/darker exposure at the time of capture.

This is exactly what's happened and what I said when PlatePix was first introduced on the nexus 4 pro. It's not varying exposure at the time of capture, just a smash and grab after the video is recorded.

 

[coffeefiendlol]

Would increasing the exposure on the Vantrue app itself reduce image quality with PlatePix on? For some reason, I am feeling that the image quality drops when I increase exposure to combat the reduction in brightness with PlatePix off.

Not sure if having HDR on or off has made a difference.

 

[TonyM]

Would increasing the exposure on the Vantrue app itself reduce image quality with PlatePix on? For some reason, I am feeling that the image quality drops when I increase exposure to combat the reduction in brightness with PlatePix off.

Not sure if having HDR on or off has made a difference.

In general, if you take a dark photo on a camera then increase the Exposure Value in a photo editor, the result is brighter but the image quality may be reduced because it may add noise, especially in dark areas of the image.

If you take a brighter photo on the camera by using a longer exposure time, you often get less noise and improved image quality. In a dashcam, since both the camera and subject are often moving, using a longer exposure time might introduce more noticeable motion blur.

I have not done any testing to see if Vantrue takes the first or second approach when adjusting the EV setting - that would be a good bench test for a rainy day.

I am experimenting with HDR, PlatePix and EV settings to find a good balance for day and night recording on the E1 Pro. My current setup is:
HDR = Auto (sunset to sunrise, approx)
PlatePix = On
EV = +0.3

This has worked well for me in high-contrast daylight and also at night. I need to wait for overcast or dull conditions to see how it performs.

 

[coffeefiendlol]

In general, if you take a dark photo on a camera then increase the Exposure Value in a photo editor, the result is brighter but the image quality may be reduced because it may add noise, especially in dark areas of the image.

If you take a brighter photo on the camera by using a longer exposure time, you often get less noise and improved image quality. In a dashcam, since both the camera and subject are often moving, using a longer exposure time might introduce more noticeable motion blur.

I have not done any testing to see if Vantrue takes the first or second approach when adjusting the EV setting - that would be a good bench test for a rainy day.

I am experimenting with HDR, PlatePix and EV settings to find a good balance for day and night recording on the E1 Pro. My current setup is:
HDR = Auto (sunset to sunrise, approx)
PlatePix = On
EV = +0.3

This has worked well for me in high-contrast daylight and also at night. I need to wait for overcast or dull conditions to see how it performs.

Excellent information, thank you!

Why do you have HDR set from sunrise to sunset? Essentially, looks like you want it off during night time hours? I think only the PlatePix has a timer option but I don't recall saying HDR having a timer option as well so you would have to be turning it on and off manually?

 

[TonyM]

Why do you have HDR set from sunrise to sunset? Essentially, looks like you want it off during night time hours? I think only the PlatePix has a timer option but I don't recall saying HDR having a timer option as well so you would have to be turning it on and off manually?

I have HDR on from sunset to sunrise - overnight - using the HDR timer option.

I have considered the PlatePix timer but I'm not sure when I would want to use it.

 

[Julian23]

Excellent information, thank you!

Why do you have HDR set from sunrise to sunset? Essentially, looks like you want it off during night time hours? I think only the PlatePix has a timer option but I don't recall saying HDR having a timer option as well so you would have to be turning it on and off manually?

If you look on the previous page you can see there are timers for both HDR and PlatePix.
HDR should be on in darker conditions to improve the plate capture.

 

[coffeefiendlol]

If you look on the previous page you can see there are timers for both HDR and PlatePix.
HDR should be on in darker conditions to improve the plate capture.

YOu're right! I just put HDR on a timer as well (same as TonyM from dusk to morning).

I think leaving PlatePix all the time on is probably what I'll do. It may mean I need to skip getting a CPL filter because then the image will get too dark. But PlatePix does seem to yield better clarity for plates, so I have a hard time giving that up.

 

[Julian23]

YOu're right! I just put HDR on a timer as well (same as TonyM from dusk to morning).

I think leaving PlatePix all the time on is probably what I'll do. It may mean I need to skip getting a CPL filter because then the image will get too dark. But PlatePix does seem to yield better clarity for plates, so I have a hard time giving that up.

Based on my experience with the N4 Pro you would want to run the HDR timer always. PlatePix is optional to your liking. The CPL is recommend in my opinion. Some cars have pretty bad reflections without it.
Maybe we will see a firmware soon that will slightly brighten the image.

 

[coffeefiendlol]

Based on my experience with the N4 Pro you would want to run the HDR timer always. PlatePix is optional to your liking. The CPL is recommend in my opinion. Some cars have pretty bad reflections without it.
Maybe we will see a firmware soon that will slightly brighten the image.

Sorry, I might be a bit dense. When you say "would want to run the HDR timer always," does that mean that HDR is on permanently OR off permanently?

 

[Julian23]

Sorry, I might be a bit dense. When you say "would want to run the HDR timer always," does that mean that HDR is on permanently OR off permanently?

You would want to have HDR enabled from sunset to sunrise. To do this use the HDR timer.
This is what I meant with you would want to run the HDR timer all the time.

 

[Julian23]

I took several screenshots of different settings with HDR, PlatePix. CPL was always on.
Each setting is written on the picture.

Here is a zoomed-in version.

A zoomed-in crop of the plate will be in the next post.

 

[Julian23]

Here is the zoomed-in crop of the plate.

Based on this situation, HDR on and PlatePix off seem to produce the best plate capture.

 

[Julian23]

@DashCamMan would you please move this thread into the E1 Pro forum?

 

[TonyM]

Based on this situation, HDR on and PlatePix off seem to produce the best plate capture.

This indoor parking location with artificial lights (and headlights?) seems to represent night driving more than daylight driving, so I am not surprised that HDR=On is working better just for the number plate.

Looking at the pair of images with HDR=Off, it is interesting that enabling PlatePix results in a brighter video. When used for daytime driving it often appears that PlatePix makes the video darker.

 

[Julian23]

This indoor parking location with artificial lights (and headlights?) seems to represent night driving more than daylight driving, so I am not surprised that HDR=On is working better just for the number plate.

Looking at the pair of images with HDR=Off, it is interesting that enabling PlatePix results in a brighter video. When used for daytime driving it often appears that PlatePix makes the video darker.

I purposely chose a location with difficult lighting that would allow me to have a static test to switch these different settings.
It also shows how bright the image is with the different settings and how it handles the bright and dark areas.
Headlights on my car were on.

HDR was expected to be a winner here but I'm surprised that PlatePix did not help in combination with HDR.

 

[Augustus]

I purposely chose a location with difficult lighting that would allow me to have a static test to switch these different settings.
It also shows how bright the image is with the different settings and how it handles the bright and dark areas.
Headlights on my car were on.

HDR was expected to be a winner here but I'm surprised that PlatePix did not help in combination with HDR.

These results make sense I suppose. Great test area in the rapey garage.

PlatePix just seems like it sharpens and darkens the image, the HDR is what we needed at night to brightness the plate but not blow it out. It's not a one size fits all solution unfortunately, sure PlatePix helps in some instances but seems like it's limited somewhat too