Vantrue N4 Pro S - Testing / Review - RCG

rcg530

rcg530

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Dash Cam
70mai, BlackVue, Thinkware, Vantrue, Vueroid, VIOFO
I recently received a N4 Pro S 3-channel dash camera from Vantrue. I've captured a few pictures of the unboxing and I've completed my initial power consumption test suite.

Here are the first 10 unboxing pics....
DCT_Unboxing_Pics00.webpDCT_Unboxing_Pics01.webpDCT_Unboxing_Pics02.webpDCT_Unboxing_Pics03.webpDCT_Unboxing_Pics04.webp

DCT_Unboxing_Pics05.webpDCT_Unboxing_Pics06.webpDCT_Unboxing_Pics07.webpDCT_Unboxing_Pics08.webpDCT_Unboxing_Pics09.webp
 
Reserved
 
I finally have the N4 Pro S 3CH dash camera installed in one of my cars with five other dash cameras. Today's weather forecast was predicting less clouds and maybe even some sunshine. The sun appeared for 30-minutes about 5-hours after the time I drove my car.

Dash Cameras [left-to-right on windshield]
  • BlackVue DR970X Plus 2CH - Firmware v2.006, HDR, aftermarket CPL filter
    • I will be replacing this dash camera with the BlackVue Elite 9 2CH within the next week.
  • Thinkware U3000 Pro 2CH - Firmware v1.00.02, HDR, CPL filter
  • Center Rear View Mirror Position
  • Vueroid S1-4K Infinite 1CH - Firmware 1.3.5, HDR+Infinite Plate Capture, CPL filter
  • VIOFO A329S 3CH - Firmware v2.0_251204, HDR, CPL filter
  • VIOFO A229 Ultra 2CH - Front Firmware v1.1_250926, HDR, CPL filter
  • Vantrue N4 Pro S 3CH - Front Firmware EEK211, HDR, PlatePix, CPL filter
I have HDR enabled in all front dash cameras since the Vueroid S1-4K requires HDR to be enabled to get the "Infinite Plate Capture" feature to be enabled. As I believe I've read on this site, to get the Vantrue PlatePix feature to "work", you need to have HDR enabled [yes or no?]. I have CPL filters installed on all front dash cameras since this vehicle's front windshield creates some intense reflections of the dashboard at times. A foggy/cloudy day like today does not usually create the conditions for the reflections in the windshield. The average dash camera user will not be constantly installing/removing a CPL filter based on weather conditions or whether they're driving during the day/night. The Thinkware U3000 Pro CPL filter has a circular adhesive pad where the CPL filter touches the front of the camera. Constantly installing/removing the CPL filter will quickly cause the adhesive ring to fail.

The N4 Pro S footage with PlatePix enabled was very dark compared to the footage from the other dash cameras. Tomorrow, I will be driving that same car in the same location as the frame grabs in this post. I will disable N4 Pro S PlatePix feature [change "Image Quality" to "Standard"]. Tomorrow's weather forecast predicts there should be a lot of rain in this area. The brightness level might be somewhat similar as today's brightness level.

Frame grabs in the same order listed above:

20251218_H1C1_DR970XPlus_20251218_095851_NF.mp4_snapshot_00.55.webp20251218_H1C1_U3000Pro_REC_20251218_095843_F.MP4_snapshot_00.33.webp20251218_H1I1C1_S14K_20251218_095842_INF_F_N.mp4_snapshot_00.34.webp20251218_H1C1_A329S_2025_1218_095912_007161F.MP4_snapshot_00.02.webp20251218_H1C1_A229Ultra_2025_1218_095901_003815F.MP4_snapshot_00.14.webp20251218_H1P1C1_N4ProS_20251218_095850_00023_E_A.MP4_snapshot_00.28.webp
 
I was going to get a frame grab from a video from today's drive with PlatePix turned off. This morning, I switched the N4 Pro S "Image Quality" setting to "Standard", exited the settings menus and let it start recording. I then powered down the N4 Pro S. About 50-minutes later, I powered up all of the dash cameras in this car as I started my weekly drive. When I pulled the footage from the N4 Pro S, I found the footage was once again recorded with PlatePix enabled. I confirmed that the "HDR Timer" and "PlatePix Timer" were both turned off. I ran a test and found that PlatePix is getting restored as the "Image Quality" setting across power downs of the dash camera. Front camera firmware EEK141.

1766198937248.webp

I'm reporting this behavior to Vantrue now....
 
rcg530 said:
I was going to get a frame grab from a video from today's drive with PlatePix turned off. This morning, I switched the N4 Pro S "Image Quality" setting to "Standard", exited the settings menus and let it start recording. I then powered down the N4 Pro S. About 50-minutes later, I powered up all of the dash cameras in this car as I started my weekly drive. When I pulled the footage from the N4 Pro S, I found the footage was once again recorded with PlatePix enabled. I confirmed that the "HDR Timer" and "PlatePix Timer" were both turned off. I ran a test and found that PlatePix is getting restored as the "Image Quality" setting across power downs of the dash camera. Front camera firmware EEK141.

View attachment 88855
I'm reporting this behavior to Vantrue now....
Click to expand...
This extremely odd behavior could not be replicated by Vantrue support engineers. Vantrue recorded a video showing it working correctly. If I didn't have the video showing it wasn't working before using the app to change it, nobody would believe me that it even happened. The "Image Quality" setting would remain at whatever I selected it to be if I didn't power cycle the dash camera. At Vantrue's request, I created a screen capture using the Vantrue app to list all of the settings in the N4 Pro S to see if any other setting might be impacting this issue.

As an experiment, I used the Vantrue app to change the "Image Quality" setting from "PlatePix" to "Standard". The "Image Quality" setting remained "Standard" across a power cycle of the dash camera. I then used the dash camera menus to change it to "PlatePix", I had it start recording, I used the menus to change it to "Standard", and I had it start recording again. The "Standard" setting remained in place across another power cycling of the dash camera. Somehow, using the app to make the setting change resulted in this working like it should work.
 
I just tried this again with the "Image Quality" set to "Standard" by the app and then use the menus to change it to "PlatePix". The "Image Quality" setting remained "PlatePix" as long as the dash camera remained powered up. When I power cycled the dash camera [long press of the side power button to turn it off, wait about 10 seconds, and the a press of the side power button to power it up], the "Image Quality" setting went back to "Standard". The problem seems to be that the on screen/menus cannot store the "Image Quality" setting in whatever location the N4 Pro S pulls the setting value from during a power up event. Using the Vantrue app does seem to be able to change the setting and have it survive a power cycling of the dash camera. I have video evidence of this behavior that I'll send to Vantrue. For now, I will have to set the Image Quality setting via the app only.
 
This video contains video samples from five 4K UHD front cameras on a rainy day. All cameras have HDR enabled and a CPL filter installed.

 
rcg530 said:
I just tried this again with the "Image Quality" set to "Standard" by the app and then use the menus to change it to "PlatePix". The "Image Quality" setting remained "PlatePix" as long as the dash camera remained powered up. When I power cycled the dash camera [long press of the side power button to turn it off, wait about 10 seconds, and the a press of the side power button to power it up], the "Image Quality" setting went back to "Standard". The problem seems to be that the on screen/menus cannot store the "Image Quality" setting in whatever location the N4 Pro S pulls the setting value from during a power up event. Using the Vantrue app does seem to be able to change the setting and have it survive a power cycling of the dash camera. I have video evidence of this behavior that I'll send to Vantrue. For now, I will have to set the Image Quality setting via the app only.
Click to expand...
Vantrue has stated they've reproduced my issue with the "Image Quality" setting not staying in place across power cycles of the dash camera. They're working on a fix now.
 
I gathered day and night footage for the six dash cameras in the car that has the N4 Pro S dash camera installed in it. I'll be putting together a sample footage video over the next few days.

Here are a few day and night frame grabs from the N4 Pro S front and rear cameras. I show the day frame grab and then the night frame grab from the same location. The window glass was cleaned before each drive.

I posted the frame grabs from a BlackVue Elite 9 dash camera in this post: BlackVue Elite 9 - Testing/Review - RCG - Post 40
I posted the frame grabs from a Thinkware U3000 Pro dash camera in this post: Thinkware U3000 Pro - Testing/Review - RCG - Post 20

Front [PlatePix Off]: Day = CPL / Night = No CPL

01_N4ProS_Day_CPL_H1P0_20251228_095230_00489_N_A.MP4_snapshot_00.55.webp01_N4ProS_Night_H1P0_20251228_180731_00563_N_A.MP4_snapshot_00.40.webp
02_N4ProS_Day_CPL_H1P0_20251228_095430_00491_N_A.MP4_snapshot_00.42.webp02_N4ProS_Night_H1P0_20251228_180931_00565_N_A.MP4_snapshot_00.37.webp
03_N4ProS_Day_CPL_H1P0_20251228_101230_00509_N_A.MP4_snapshot_00.39.webp03_N4ProS_Night_H1P0_20251228_183201_00588_E_A.MP4_snapshot_00.14.webp

Rear:

04_N4Pro_S_Rear_Day_20251228_101230_00509_N_C.MP4_snapshot_00.13.webp04_N4ProS_Rear_Night_20251228_183101_00587_E_C.MP4_snapshot_00.48.webp
05_N4ProS_Rear_Day_20251228_101230_00509_N_C.MP4_snapshot_00.39.webp05_N4ProS_Rear_Night_20251228_183201_00588_E_C.MP4_snapshot_00.15.webp
 
rcg530 said:
Vantrue has stated they've reproduced my issue with the "Image Quality" setting not staying in place across power cycles of the dash camera. They're working on a fix now.
Click to expand...
I received a test firmware [EEL241] to resolve the "Image Quality" setting not staying as set across a power cycling of the dash camera. I ran a series of tests with EEL241 installed and the "Image Quality" setting remains in place as it should across power cycling of the dash camera.
 
This video contains day and night video samples from five dash cameras [including the VANTRUE N4 Pro S]. I show how well each front and rear camera captures license plates.

I had the "Image Quality" set to "Standard" while creating the day and night footage.

 
This video contains day and night driving video samples from the VANTRUE N4 Pro S dash camera.

 
This video contains daytime driving video samples from four 4K UHD front dash cameras that use the Sony STARVIS 2 IMX678 image sensor.

 
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