Viofo A119 M2 HDR poor vs old A119 v1 WDR (low light/day)

[speedingcheetah]

Now that I have two A119 Mini 2 dash cameras with the updated lens, I'll finally be able to complete my A119 Mini 2 review. I will gather "HDR On" vs "HDR Off" day/night footage since I have two of them that I can run at the same time. I just need to get through my testing of the A229 Pro / A229 Plus dash cameras.

Some video reviews, state that HDR during the day mainly helps with transitions from darker to very bright, like exiting a parking garage into bright day light..etc.

But for me, the very brief trip i made, in very cloudy darkish, wet weather, it just was way too much noise and yucky looking in HDR.

 

[Agie]

Some video reviews, state that HDR during the day mainly helps with transitions from darker to very bright, like exiting a parking garage into bright day light..etc.

But for me, the very brief trip i made, in very cloudy darkish, wet weather, it just was way too much noise and yucky looking in HDR.

Guessing that's one of the reasons why they advise to just leave it off during the day and throw it on at night

 

[speedingcheetah]

So... Did some tests tonight. And, YES! HDR is a drastic improvement when it is fully dark. Lighted signs are not blown out, overall, things are sharper and more balanced. Non-HDR, whole picture is soft and darker. HDR does add alot of noise though, but its a ok trade off. I did have a couple brief moments where there was a Purple haze over the whole image.
So, will be setting it to 60fps for day time and 30fps HDR for nighttime.

Here is 2 screen caps of sitting stationary in a parking lot, non-HDR 60fps, then 30fps HDR.

 

[speedingcheetah]

I just need to get through my testing of the A229 Pro / A229 Plus dash cameras.

Just seen this model on the Viofo home page. Too bad it so new it not on Amazon US. May have gone for that instead, as it also has rear 2K cam, both with the new Starvis 2 sensor.
Only thing i don't like, the front cam is 30fps. But maybe that is only for 4K rez, and it can do 2K at 60fps?

Either way, going from my A119 V1 to the Mini 2, huge upgrade for front cam. Wow.
The rear cam i have, an old Mini 0826, still looks very good and sharp during the day, and acceptable at night, even with my rear window have 50% tint on it.

 

[Panzer Platform]

Just seen this model on the Viofo home page.

A229 Pro Test & Review PP

Viofo is back at it again with another industry first. Last year they released the Original A229 Duo (May 2022). It was the first 2-Channel dash cam to offer 2K Front & Rear with Sony STARVIS 1 IMX335 image sensors. I’ve had the Original A229 Duo installed in my car since July 2022, and I’ve...

dashcamtalk.com

 

[Agie]

Just seen this model on the Viofo home page. Too bad it so new it not on Amazon US. May have gone for that instead, as it also has rear 2K cam, both with the new Starvis 2 sensor.
Only thing i don't like, the front cam is 30fps. But maybe that is only for 4K rez, and it can do 2K at 60fps?

Either way, going from my A119 V1 to the Mini 2, huge upgrade for front cam. Wow.
The rear cam i have, an old Mini 0826, still looks very good and sharp during the day, and acceptable at night, even with my rear window have 50% tint on it.

The mini08xx series was a decent performer in terms of quality, once their bugs were ironed out haha I remember having some back in the day.

Definitely big step up for you though coming from the OV4689 sensors of 2015/2016.

 

[speedingcheetah]

The mini08xx series was a decent performer in terms of quality, once their bugs were ironed out haha I remember having some back in the day.

Definitely big step up for you though coming from the OV4689 sensors of 2015/2016.

I wish Viofo made a cam in the same form factor/mount style as the Mini 0826. As that style is perfect for my Rear. The wedge shape just not suited for it.

The nearest style i see is the WM1, but, its seems to be much bigger, and looking at reviews of it, honesty, would not be that much of a upgrade, imo.
It also is not as advanced and better sensor as the Min2

 

[speedingcheetah]

The mini08xx series was a decent performer in terms of quality, once their bugs were ironed out haha I remember having some back in the day.

I never had any bugs with it. It been rock solid.

Only issue, the buttons on the thing barely work any more, especially the center menu button, do not register press.
So, it very very hard, to adjust the time when i need to. And it gets out of sync after a month or so.

 

[Agie]

I never had any bugs with it. It been rock solid.

Only issue, the buttons on the thing barely work any more, especially the center menu button, do not register press.
So, it very very hard, to adjust the time when i need to. And it gets out of sync after a month or so.

That's a bug haha the time going out of sync LoL.

I still have my v3 kicking around, and v1 I gave to someone where it's still working. Some brands are very reliable, Viofo is definitely my first brand to recommend if anyone asks.

 

[speedingcheetah]

That's a bug haha the time going out of sync LoL.

Well, every dash cam i have had, including the A119 v1, the time goes out of sync after a while. Heck, even the $2 button cell battery powered small lcd digital clock i have stuck in a slot under the radio, goes out of sync every few months. Nothing keeps perfect time (unless it a cell phone etc). The wifi "smart" aspect of the Mini 2, allows me to just connect to the cam, and sync the time... no more manually having to pull the thing off, and fiddle with buttons to update the time 2x a year for DST.

 

[speedingcheetah]

Some brands are very reliable, Viofo is definitely my first brand to recommend if anyone asks.

Yea. VIOFO seems to be top dog in the (Consumer) dash cam sector.
Having watched many many compare vids on YT and around here, (even back in 2015/16) it is astounding how many other systems, priced over $500+, had far worse image quality over the VIOFO cams.
I even seen some "Modern" Police dashcam systems that cost over $2K that are not up to picture quality of a ~$130 VIOFO dash cam. Granted those systems have to support much more things, for their emergency lights, siren, brake, etc sensors, and be more robust/secure than just stuck up on the windshield, but still.

 

[Agie]

Yea. VIOFO seems to be top dog in the (Consumer) dash cam sector.
Having watched many many compare vids on YT and around here, (even back in 2015/16) it is astounding how many other systems, priced over $500+, had far worse image quality over the VIOFO cams.
I even seen some "Modern" Police dashcam systems that cost over $2K that are not up to picture quality of a ~$130 VIOFO dash cam. Granted those systems have to support much more things, for their emergency lights, siren, brake, etc sensors, and be more robust/secure than just stuck up on the windshield, but still.

It's a shame they don't get more publicity and sales to be honest,.they 100% deserve it.

 

[Panzer Platform]

Well, every dash cam i have had, including the A119 v1, the time goes out of sync after a while. Heck, even the $2 button cell battery powered small lcd digital clock i have stuck in a slot under the radio, goes out of sync every few months. Nothing keeps perfect time (unless it a cell phone etc). The wifi "smart" aspect of the Mini 2, allows me to just connect to the cam, and sync the time... no more manually having to pull the thing off, and fiddle with buttons to update the time 2x a year for DST.

Every Viofo dash cam with a GPS Module syncs the date & time every time it gets a GPS lock.
However, you must first set your TIME ZONE.

 

[speedingcheetah]

Every Viofo dash cam with a GPS Module syncs the date & time every time it gets a GPS lock.
However, you must first set your TIME ZONE.

Ah. Yea. But, it uses confusing GMT +/- thing. (never messed with that on other cams if they even had that)
Googleing, tells me its -5 GMT for me Summer time, -6 GMT Winter.... so, i still would have to change that setting anyways?

Stupid daylight savings time... they been threating to do away with it for years, but it never passes.

Edit: My A119 V1, it came with a GPS mount, but it never worked for some reason. Same with the GPS mount on the Mini 0826... but i never really cared about it.

 

[Kremmen]

It's a shame they don't get more publicity and sales to be honest,.they 100% deserve it.

Fully agree, there are annual dashcam reviews in many UK magazines but they all focus on Nextbase and a couple of other largely unknown brands.

I have messaged a few in the past to consider Viofo but they never reply and they never do.

At the time, when the V3 ruled supreme, before the Volvo Mini and multi channel systems they would/should have clearly won

 

[Agie]

Fully agree, there are annual dashcam reviews in many UK magazines but they all focus on Nextbase and a couple of other largely unknown brands.

I have messaged a few in the past to consider Viofo but they never reply and they never do.

At the time, when the V3 ruled supreme, before the Volvo Mini and multi channel systems they would/should have clearly won

There was a time when tech reviewers and companies worked together to take on feedback, but now it's all paid reviews on YouTube and fake Amazon reviews with 4 out of 5 stars. The tech sphere just sucks these days

 

[speedingcheetah]

One thing that that these cams are still behind the times with, they still use h264, which is a 20yr old codec.

h265 HEVC been around plenty long enough now (10yrs), where u can retain the same image quality, with half the bitrate, and much smaller file sizes. Support for it is pretty much standard now everywhere, phones, pcs, tvs, etc. Even the 6yr old CCTV system installed at my folks home uses h265.
This modern codec even works fine and is supported in 4K even, on SBC hardware, like the Rpi4b, now the 5. and those are very cheap boards.

AV1 is the newest codec, which has its own advantages over HEVC... but it is not supported on many things yet.

 

[Panzer Platform]

h265 HEVC

AV1

Death to H.265 & AV1 for dash cams.
In 2033 I'll revisit my death campaign. lol

 

[speedingcheetah]

Death to H.265 & AV1 for dash cams.
In 2033 I'll revisit my death campaign. lol

lol. Not sure as to all the hate for it. It is proven superior and effecient codec. It IS the standard for blurays, and many media streaming now. Even OTA tv (ATSC 3.0) antenna tv is h265 (with AC4 audio). Is default on most smartphones too. Even a cheap Chomebook or the cheap kids tablets can play h265 with full hardware acceleration.

I would hope, that at least 4K dash cams would use h265. I don't fancy 1GB per minute video files at the such high bitrates u can set using h264. I would need at least a 1TB micro sd card just to cover my trip the local Grocery store and back, let alone my 1hr+ long commute at 4K h264

 

[Nigel]

I would hope, that at least 4K dash cams would use h265.

H265 doesn't help significantly for dashcam video, AV1 is what we want, it will arrive, eventually...