Vantrue E360

[Julian23]

That is nice but, what is with that crazy aspect ratio?
I like the "regular" 16:9 panoramic and you just drag the image to go 360 like this;

Seems like it is cropping out areas that are not needed when in dashcam mode?
Might also have something to do with the upload settings for Youtube.

 

[Nigel]

I'm glad it has in-camera stitching, it is time consuming to stitch it on PC.

That is nice but, what is with that crazy aspect ratio?
I like the "regular" 16:9 panoramic and you just drag the image to go 360 like this;

That is the 360° panorama mode, if you want the 16:9 that you can drag then I think they are saying that you are going to have to use the app.

The problem with this.panorama view is that it is only stitched on one side, so maybe it is 50% better than being unstitched, but it would make more sense to stitch it on both sides, with the edges of the panorama located at the rear centre of the car, and the centre of the image in the centre of the windshield. Then if you zoom in to the centre, you get a normal dashcam view that you can scroll to the left or right to look down the sides of the car, or you can zoom out to see the whole 360.

I suppose you could mount the dashcam sideways, then you would get a panorama view that was centred looking forwards 🤔

 

[TonyM]

it would make more sense to stitch it on both sides, with the edges of the panorama located at the rear centre of the car, and the centre of the image in the centre of the windshield.

The on-the-fly stitch is not seamless. I wouldn't want that running down the middle of the front windshield.

 

[Nigel]

The on-the-fly stitch is not seamless. I wouldn't want that running down the middle of the front windshield.

The example video above had the front lens facing forward and the rear lens facing the rear, the stitches will cover the A-pillars, currently the one stitch covers the left A-pillar, I'm suggesting that they also stitch the right A-pillar so that both sides are in the correct place for a normal front facing view. The edges then are in the centre rear, but given the very poor visibility out the back, that doesn't appear to matter!

To get the seam running down the middle of the front windshield, you would need to mount the camera facing sideways, which I did mention at the end, but it wasn't supposed to be a very serious suggestion, especially if you don't want a seam down the centre.

 

[Karagandinez]

Another question about E360:
Can this model be installed on vertical glass in a bus or truck?

 

[Jeff_Vantrue]

Another question about E360:
Can this model be installed on vertical glass in a bus or truck?

yes, but it wonly work with the suction cup mount. The suction cup will begin trial production this week, and samples will be available soon.

 

[TonyM]

Can the E360 be mounted upside-down, on the dashboard? That might increase the number of options for suitable mounting locations in a car.

I can see that it works upside-down on the stick, so in the car it should be the same?

 

[Jeff_Vantrue]

Can the E360 be mounted upside-down, on the dashboard? That might increase the number of options for suitable mounting locations in a car.

I can see that it works upside-down on the stick, so in the car it should be the same?

yes, it can be mounted upside-down on the dashboard.

 

[captain69]

Looks interesting. Not the first 360 dashcam though, I used Waylens ones for years, with 4g connectivity. Was only 1080 and not the best quality though. This looks kinda bulky for sitting in the window. Be cool to test it out. Wonder if it will have an input for a rear camera, as 360 up front doesnt really capture true rear footage.

Yes, it does. I'd be concerned about the processor catching fire though, as the thing already runs hot at 5k-pixels, and ostensibly won't do 4k+4k using its built in cameras. I'd probably run a dedicated rear-window camera, and just use this as a front-mounted 360º camera, but my personal use is on a convertible, so I get real 360º views and don't need a "rear window" camera, as there is no rear window. The bad part is that it captures the VIN on my dash, and me and my passenger in compromising positions. ;-p

 

[captain69]

Is the tripod so it can be used as a standalone camera, like out of the car?

yes. It's a poor-man's insta360, but without the Chinese spyware! 🙂 It *does* work just fine in DashCamViewerPro! (unlike instacrap that requires instaspyware in your phone and on your computer)

 

[captain69]

Just bought my first dashcam, the E360. A bit risky since I can't validate any real-life reviews, but hoping the pre-sale deal is worth it.

My biggest concern is powering it for parking monitoring in my Hyundai Tucson Hybrid. (I street park in NYC and would like the peace-of-mind.) I hear the Tucson may not have a very high capacity on the 12v battery. Anyone have experience in this area? Any suggestions for alternative power if necessary?

I don't leave the Midget parked for long periods, but a few hours hasn't seemed to exhibit any deleterious effects, and I just leave the camera running at full-bore. 1970s cars have cigarette lighters that are directly wired to the battery, so there's no "no cam for you!" when you shut off the ignition. I do put the car on a battery charger in the garage though, and that keeps the battery at 100% even though the vantrue is still rolling, since I usually forget to turn it off. So, that would indicate definitely no more than 2A draw, and probably less than 1A. How long can your battery support a 12W draw before not having the oomph to start the motor and run the generator?

 

[captain69]

I would post some video, but my VIN is clearly visible, so until I can figure out how to edit that out, I'll just have to report that the 360º video looks better to me than the video from the TypeS "four kay" cameras from Costco (all of which are soon to be returned because of the 1sec gap in video & GPS every minute). I can make out license plates at 10m, but not much beyond that, so it's hardly "top of the line 2024 dashcam" quality, but I think it'll do for general "I'm not at fault" captures, and "idiots in cars" sharing, if I can figure out how to cut out the personally identifying data from the shots (ie: VIN, me, my passenger, etc. ;-) It has zero security; no remote viewing, no "I'm being stolen" alarm... So, I'd probably not leave it out in sketchy places at night...but then I wouldn't leave the car there either! ;-) The 360º video imports perfectly to DashCamViewerPro, and syncs with the GPS, so I'm pretty happy. I only wish that it were a bit clearer, and 8k+, but for $299 I cannot complain!

 

[Nigel]

How long can your battery support a 12W draw before not having the oomph to start the motor and run the generator?

Not much more than 10 hours for a normal car battery, but a Midget battery is only going to be about half normal size?

I would hope the camera uses a bit less than 12W though.

Could you cover your VIN with a bit of tape while you record some video for us? It would be good to see some from an open top car...

 

[Chuck McCoy]

Could you cover your VIN with a bit of tape while you record some video for us? It would be good to see some from an open top car...

@captain69
Yes please, we are dying to see actual test footage.

 

[Julian23]

I would post some video, but my VIN is clearly visible, so until I can figure out how to edit that out

You can use Davinci Resolve to blur out any personal data.
It's free to use and has many features.

 

[kamkar]

Do Davinci work with 360 footage ?
I have started to use the Insta editing software a but as it will use both my GPU and CPU, which my other 2 editing programs will not do, Davinci do it too but i never really gotten to grips using that software.

 

[Chuck McCoy]

Finally some E360 test footage.
Shoutout to Dawid, and Pawel (driver).
@evad

 

[Chuck McCoy]

You can use Davinci Resolve to blur out any personal data.
It's free to use and has many features.

Excellent option but this requires a Windows PC or MAC computer, I may have an "easier" solution.

Do Davinci work with 360 footage ?
I have started to use the Insta editing software

For quick and easy with no software download required (Windows PC or MAC) you can upload the clip directly to YouTube, (unlisted or private).
Once the clip is on YouTube go to "studio".
From there you can add an assortment of blurs to hide all kinds of stuff.
After you have verified all sensitive info is blurred you can make the video "public" or leave it unlisted, and then post the link on DCT or wherever.

 

[TonyM]

Finally some E360 test footage.

I like that there are different aspect ratio options.

The underground parking garage footage looks busy, but it does show the potential benefit of recording all angles at once.

 

[Augustus]

Finally some E360 test footage.
Shoutout to Dawid, and Pawel (driver).
@evad

Nice, better than what I thought it would be and with the typical Vantrue image processing that's come to be expected

Seems to have a bit more field of view than a typical interior cabin camera, so it's nice to have that now in just the one package. Especially with the two separate fish eye lens going, this could come in handy with dashcam footage

I know they're marketing it as an action camera too, but that all seems rather auxiliary compared to its potential as first and foremost, a dashcam