VIOFO A119 (production) feature requests and bug reports

[jokiin]

what's the version number currently shown in the settings menu?

 

[CaptureYourAction]

I'm loading the version that is currently on the viofo.com site.

I believe the version on the Viofo site is the version that came with your camera. For the Beta version, you can find it on my site in the downloads section.

 

[nDroid3]

what's the version number currently shown in the settings menu?

Right now, it shows A119.160607.v1

I have been trying to update to A119.20160607 as shown on viofo.com, but as I said, after it turns back on, there are no changes.

 

[runtohell121]

Right now, it shows A119.160607.v1

I have been trying to update to A119.20160607 as shown on viofo.com, but as I said, after it turns back on, there are no changes.

Think that is the latest version (stable) already...

 

[jokiin]

Right now, it shows A119.160607.v1

I have been trying to update to A119.20160607 as shown on viofo.com, but as I said, after it turns back on, there are no changes.

that's the same version, there's a newer beta if you want to try that

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/22493212/A119/A119_20160724_Beta.zip

 

[nDroid3]

Thank you @jokiin.

 

[Sunny]

cards are funny things sometimes, never say never with this kind of thing

It had microcenter 32gb in it.
I replaced it with A-Data 8GB, formatted in camera and no cookie.
Same issue.
I may have to give it a go to the beta fw.

 

[Rifleman]

My A119 will not retain my Time stamp. It always reverts to a time 4 hours ahead of my time. I have set the time manually and also on the screen that allows you to adjust the time from GMT. When I exit the menu, it always reverts back to 4 hours ahead. Bug?
Also, GPS is very slow to update. I can accelerate from 0 to 45 in 15 seconds, yet the speed indicator takes about 30 seconds or longer to "catch up" with my actual speed. When I stopped the car for 60 seconds to get out and get the mail, the GPS speed never went lower than 15km/hr, even when the car was stopped.

I've just reviewed the latest footage from my A119 and can confirm the GPS slow update mentioned by brewsky.
For example, approaching traffic lights at a steady 25mph the speed shown in the recorded footage is 40kph. Lights change to red and car comes to a stop. The displayed kph reduces steadily by 1 or 2 kph per 1 second of recorded footage so display does not show zero until 28s after coming to a stop. The last 3digits of each of the displayed GPS coordinates during this period can be seen to vary erratically
Similarly there is a lag when accelerating away from the lights, there is a long delay for the displayed speed to catch up with actual speed. Only when a constant speed is reached and maintained for quite a while does the displayed speed catch up and show the correct speed.

To my mind this a serious defect in the A119s GPS, it could be critical if the footage is used for evidence in the event of an accident.

@viofo Can anything be done about this ?

 

[jokiin]

The results you are seeing are indicative of poor reception

 

[Rifleman]

The results you are seeing are indicative of poor reception

I would accept that if it were not for the fact that the mini801 installed in the same car suffers no such effects, the displayed speed from the GPS unit on that one is much more rapid in response and in the same circumstance reduced from 25mph to zero mph in less than 2s. And before the issue of the proximity of the two devices interfering with each other comes up I see exactly the same results with a single device mounted in the same location.

I think the problem is a poor A119 RECEIVER, not poor reception...

 

[Gibson99]

Maybe you got a bad one? I thought Viofo was working with you on that?

 

[Rifleman]

Maybe you got a bad one? I thought Viofo was working with you on that?

Hi Gibson.
It's still an open issue with Viofo. I sent them some sample footage from a straight comparison between my mini801 and A119 but I've not heard anything back yet. I did say I'd keep monitoring the issue and let them have any updates but the initial problem I was having was with the GPS position data being way out compared with the mini801. The test I did prior to this latest one gave results where the A119 GPS position was much closer to the mini801 than my original test. I put that down to two possible causes, either a heat problem ( original test 32degC, 2nd test 18-20degC ) or possibly down to bad contacts as I removed and refitted the A119 multiple times between tests.
This new problem with displayed speed issues is something I only just noticed. It ties in with the position issues in that the gps track always overshoots the actual track taken when going around sharp corners, I assume this is down to lag which is probably what is causing the displayed speed issue.

I hope you're right in that I have a faulty GPS mount as I could then hopefully get a replacement under warranty...

I don't want to give up on the A119 as apart from the GPS issues I think it's a great little camera.

 

[jokiin]

I would accept that if it were not for the fact that .......

........ I think the problem is a poor A119 RECEIVER, not poor reception...

the statement still stands, the problem is reception related, I'm not suggesting you're doing anything wrong or where the problem lies, just that poor reception is what causes that behavior, that could be a hardware fault, interference problem etc but that's something that still needs to be determined

 

[Rifleman]

the statement still stands, the problem is reception related, I'm not suggesting you're doing anything wrong or where the problem lies, just that poor reception is what causes that behavior, that could be a hardware fault, interference problem etc but that's something that still needs to be determined

Point taken.
Out of interest is it the GPS chipset that calculates the speed and reports it to the A119 in the data stream or is it down to the A119 chipset to calculate the speed from the position data contained in the data stream from the GPS unit?

 

[jokiin]

speed data comes from the GPS in knots, it is converted to mph or kmh by the camera but no calculations are done by the camera

 

[jelevated]

Just got mine from amazon next day ship and updated to the beta firmware. Loving this cam next to my Panorama S replaced after two accidents (but left unharmed). The cheap price (even with GPS mount!!!) very tiny and dat adjustable lens, so great. Even my wife likes it. My WIFE she don't like much of anything but she likes this cam because its got a screen but is low profile and out of the way behind the rearview mirror (the panorama was much more bulky by comparison). Love the dual USB power adapter, very considerate of your guys, and the fact that this can be powered over USB in the first place is great. Curious as to why there was no suction mount included. I typically do not use 3M stickies because I like to remove my cameras when parking in sketchy areas or to move from car to car but I took a chance on this one. Definitely gives it a lowprofile look but I still would've used it if the option were there.

For reference i am using it with a high endurance surveillance/dashcam sandisk card, works well. I will probably start recommending to family and friends once the firmware issues are figured out but, I think you guys have a hit on your hands just improve the marketing a little bit. I had a hard time choosing but I went with this one since its a newer version of the 118.

 

[Treble318]

Just got mine from amazon next day ship and updated to the beta firmware. Loving this cam next to my Panorama S replaced after two accidents (but left unharmed). The cheap price (even with GPS mount!!!) very tiny and dat adjustable lens, so great. Even my wife likes it. My WIFE she don't like much of anything but she likes this cam because its got a screen but is low profile and out of the way behind the rearview mirror (the panorama was much more bulky by comparison). Love the dual USB power adapter, very considerate of your guys, and the fact that this can be powered over USB in the first place is great. Curious as to why there was no suction mount included. I typically do not use 3M stickies because I like to remove my cameras when parking in sketchy areas or to move from car to car but I took a chance on this one. Definitely gives it a lowprofile look but I still would've used it if the option were there.

For reference i am using it with a high endurance surveillance/dashcam sandisk card, works well. I will probably start recommending to family and friends once the firmware issues are figured out but, I think you guys have a hit on your hands just improve the marketing a little bit. I had a hard time choosing but I went with this one since its a newer version of the 118.

@jelevated What are your thoughts on the image quality for the A119 compared to your Panorama S? I ask this because I just got mine today as well and updated to the 0805 firmware update and it now does MPH and stops the annoying beeping when the card isn't in the slot =) I have the SGZC12SG which is supposed to be very similar to your Panaorama S but branded through StreetGuardian. My SGZC12SG from my three days experience has been good, but exposure is on the high side and unusable in certain lighting shown on the below thread at the video link if you are interested at about 5:15 on the video:

https://dashcamtalk.com/forum/threads/new-to-sgzc12sg-some-questions-about-brightness.20719/

So far for the price point for the A119 is remarkable considering how sharp and clear the quality is compared to the SGZC12SG. The sound is good as well. I am sure it is due to the higher resolution of 1440p vs 1080p! Just wanted to get your thoughts when you have enough time to test it out!

 

[SergeiF]

So the GPS data embedded in the video is affecting me already. I'm having some quality issues, and wanted to post some snaps, but can't do that without either revealing my location, or recompress the image (which might make it more difficult to troubleshoot quality issues).

I really hope Viofo can figure out a way of dumping that GPS data in a separate file, and not embed in the video, as sharing is now something I will avoid.

If you use tools like mkvmerge or ffmpeg to change the container, it should strip the GPS data, as it is stored in free "space" and not as a track. In fact cutting the video will generally remove the GPS data.
I am working on a tool (python script) to extract the GPS data as KML file or similar...

 

[Treble318]

If you use tools like mkvmerge or ffmpeg to change the container, it should strip the GPS data, as it is stored in free "space" and not as a track. In fact cutting the video will generally remove the GPS data.
I am working on a tool (python script) to extract the GPS data as KML file or similar...

I have to read up on that some more. Not exactly sure how that works. I tried to look for the KML but could not find anything, is it hidden?

Under the SGZC12SG folder, there are five subfolders, android, even, jpeg, lost.dir, and video. Could not find any GPS info, like you said it's likely embedded with the mp4 file?

 

[jokiin]

Only three folders for the SGZC12SG, the other two are Android system files