Video Quality Only. A119 V3 vs A129 PRO

[bigston]

Hello all,
sole purpose of purchase is video quality only
no interest in anythings else, just clear clean detailed picture
have looked at the many you tube videos comparing this model to lots of others and it stacks up particularly well
So, 2 questions,

1 if i spend a significant amount more for the A 129 Pro, single unit
from what i see in the you tube footage its really not a huge advance on the A119 v3 except perhaps the colour tonings ,
i can see some extra detail, in a lot of the clips , but perhaps not enough to warrant double the price .
thoughts please,,,

2 if i purchased the A 129 Pro and reduced the resolution to the same setting as the A119 v3, will it perform marginally better than the A119 v3
due to its better sensor
thanks.

 

[Nigel]

I see the A129 Pro as a movie camera while the A119 V3 is an evidence camera.
In low light there is no doubt that the A119 V3 has more chance of reading a license plate unless parked, due to motion blur. In bright light the advantage goes to the A129 Pro.

In terms of detail, I saved these two frame grabs using MPC (Media Player Classic), the file sizes give us a good measure of the detail that MPC found in the video and stored in the jpg files, even after jpg compression the A129 Pro file has over twice the file size:
A119 = 823KB
A129 Pro = 1.79MB

The A129 has better colour, dynamic range, exposure (if you are movie making), wider angle (more view), the GPS is still working even though it it is surrounded by other cameras and the A119 GPS is suffering from EMI, it also has better audio, a better mount, Wifi, Bluetooth...

 

[Nath]

Ad 2, It will perform even worse. The pixel size is lower and 1440p is not direct multiple of the 2160p so it needs to be "resampled".

 

[Nigel]

2 if i purchased the A 129 Pro and reduced the resolution to the same setting as the A119 v3, will it perform marginally better than the A119 v3
due to its better sensor

Just to add a little to Nath's post, since he posted before me and I had already written most of this...

Not a good thing to do since the reduction is not by a whole number of pixels, you are splitting pixels up which will make a mess of the letters on number plates. A reduction to exactly half the vertical number of pixels, ie 1080, gives a very sharp and detailed image, but the 4K resolution of the A129 Pro is real, so then you do loose three quarters of the detail!

If you do do it, the resolution of the A119 V3 is also real, so you won't gain in detail, only in quality. Although having said that, there can be a small gain in detail because the A129 will be doing artificial sharpening at the higher resolution so has less negative impact on detail, but I don't recommend it, always best to record at the sensor's native resolution, or an exact multiple of that.

Remember you don't save memory space by changing resolution.
To save memory space you need to change the bitrate.

 

[SawMaster]

Welcome to DCT @bigston
If you're going to see a true comparison, you need to view the raw video files and you'll need a vid or PC monitor which has a 4K display. YouTube compresses vids which lowers their quality, so it isn't the best for comparison purposes.

The vid quality of the A129 Pro will be noticeably better than the V3 when viewed on a good enough computer. How much better it is and whether it's worth the price is something you have to decide. The V3 will do better at capturing details in low-light and is a more developed camera overall plus it has less data to process so it will run cooler which can matter a lot in hotter climates. Either will get you the best vids you can get from a dashcam today.

Phil

 

[bigston]

Thanks to you for the replies, and kind welcome.
apart from the hopefully not needed evidence of a collision etc,
i am moving to a tropical location where it is pretty hot year round, so if that has any bearing,
and will be doing many road trips and taking lots of footage of the trips, so the scenic picture quality is perhaps the decider
not so into strapping people into a chair for hours of torture on the big 4 K tv screen, like those good old slide nights, yes im nearly that vintage , but to enjoy the footage taken, now and then on the big screen will be nice
thanks .

 

[jokiin]

2k is going to be better in hot climates than 4k

 

[Nigel]

not so into strapping people into a chair for hours of torture on the big 4 K tv screen, like those good old slide nights, yes im nearly that vintage , but to enjoy the footage taken, now and then on the big screen will be nice

If you are going for a night of watching the big screen and turning out the lights so that you can see all the subtle details in the shadows, as well as replicating those "good old slide nights", then it has to be the A129 Pro. It may not be instantly obvious when viewed on a phone screen, but A129 Pro videos are much more enjoyable.

And don't forget the audio:

Viofo A129 Pro Dual Dashcam - 4K Front + 1080 Rear

Viofo A129 Pro Dual Dashcam - 4K Front + 1080 Rear The dash camera we have been waiting for, a 4K version of our favorite A129 Duo that records real 4K at a decent bitrate, and works at night! There are a few people with early versions of this camera now, so here is a thread to post your videos...

dashcamtalk.com

 

[murcod]

@Nigel , I've been comparing the A119 V3 to the A129 Pro (Ultra 4k) but don't want anything with a larger viewing angle than the A119 V3. Viofo list the A119 V3 as 140 degrees and A129 Pro Ultra 4K as 130 degrees- your screen shots show the A129 Pro 4K is wider though? Are they measuring them different ways or is the Pro Ultra 4k different to the plain A129 Pro?

PS: Thanks for all your comparisons.

 

[gse]

your screen shots show the A129 Pro 4K is wider though?

A129 Pro 4K - 105° horizontal
A119 V3 - 95° horizontal

 

[Nigel]

but don't want anything with a larger viewing angle than the A119 V3.

The A119 V3 is almost too narrow for a dashcam, the A129 Pro is a better angle, less chance of missing things at the side which when driving you would normally see, but due to the extra resolution the A129 Pro still has more pixels per number plate so greater readability in good lighting.

Are they measuring them different ways or is the Pro Ultra 4k different to the plain A129 Pro?

There is only one A129 Pro, it has 4K resolution also called UHD (Ultra HD).

I am not sure how they are measuring these cameras, but I think it must be the field of view of the image generated by the lens that is being measured, not the field of view of the recorded image, or the field of view of the sensor. The reason that the A119 is the wider in the specification is probably that it has a 4:3 aspect ratio sensor while the A129 Pro has a 16:9 aspect ratio sensor, which means that the A119 needs a wider field of view lens in order to get the same horizontal field of view as the A129 Pro without vignetting on the corners of the image.

 

[murcod]

Thanks for the replies. They do their best to make the angles/ FOV as confusing as possible.

The A119 V3 isn't too narrow for what I'm used to/ prefer (the original Mobius "A" lens, it makes the A119 V3 look wide angled.) The 4k sensor's extra heat probably isn't a good idea in Australia.

 

[Nigel]

Thanks for the replies. They do their best to make the angles/ FOV as confusing as possible.

The A119 V3 isn't too narrow for what I'm used to/ prefer (the original Mobius "A" lens, it makes the A119 V3 look wide angled.) The 4k sensor's extra heat probably isn't a good idea in Australia.

The FOV for cameras is normally listed as part of the lens specification, so this confusion is normal!

It would be better if all dashcams were specified as gse has done above with the horizontal field of view of the recorded image. Although in some cameras that can change with the recording resolution.

Remember that the A119 V3 records about twice the detail of the Mobius, so you don't need such a narrow angle to read plates. The A129 Pro records twice the detail of the A119 V3.

Yes, the A119 V3 will do better in high temperatures, although if using the A129 Pro as a single channel camera I think you would be OK in the cooler parts of Australia.

 

[OCD Tronic]

2k is going to be better in hot climates than 4k

+1 to 4K running a bit hot for some areas.
When a pre-sale customer calls and say they live in Arizona, South Florida, etc, I recommend the A129 DUO (non Pro) or A119 V3 for higher heat tolerance.
(over the A129 PRO)

As a reminded:
Never put up any type of sun shield on the inside of your windsheild with any dashcam, it creates a super heated oven space right where the dashcam is mounted.

 

[Nigel]

When a pre-sale customer calls and say they live in Arizona, South Florida, etc, I recommend the A129 DUO (non Pro) or A119 V3 for higher heat tolerance.
(over the A129 PRO)

A129 Plus DUO should also be a good choice for a dual camera, for those that don't want to minimise resolution.

 

[SawMaster]

The less-sloped windshield of my old van makes it easy for me to get relatively accurate measurements of horizontal FOV using a plumb line and a protractor. I've checked many different cams and darn few even come close to the claimed numbers, even when you take into account that manufacturer FOV measurements are usually given as a diagonal measurement The last cam I checked actually met the specs for the front cam (135 degrees) but the rear cam was far off giving only about 110 degrees horizontally. I've never measured more than 135 degrees horizontally on any dashcam Most of the cams I've checked run about 120 degrees horizontal FOV or less; not many go higher, and the worst IIRC actually was about 85 degrees out of a claimed 165

My own curiosity came about when my Mobius C2 didn't show a car to my left who didn't stop for a 4-way stop intersection. It just barely missed the line on the road they should have stopped at; all I captured was them in the intersection. Had I been in that intersection and got clobbered my cam would not have shown anything useful except for me stopping properly before proceeding. Since there are many 4-way stop intersections around here and nearly nobody seems to know thew law regarding their use it's critical that I can show what the car to my left is doing, and that incident is what prompted me to setting up side-cams so I could capture that

The bottom line is don't believe the FOV specs. If you can't find an actual measurement taken by a cam owner, then look at vids they post and where the hood corners and windshield posts show up, and try to imagine that in your own car. If wide FOV is critical for you then you will probably need more than one cam to get it.

Phil

 

[murcod]

I've been running front and rear cams for a while now (separate rather than dual) and find that offers a lot more "protection". eg. you'd more than likely see any car that cut you off in the rear camera. Side cameras are definitely a good idea for full coverage, but very hard to implement in a normal passenger vehicle. Unless you manage to mount something externally eg. integrated into the side mirrors?

I saw a medium sized delivery truck that had side view cameras on the front corners of the cab, looking back on an angle down the sides. They had a neat colour matched cover that blended in with the bodywork. The driver said they were "dashcams" and not for parking.