VIOFO A119 (production) feature requests and bug reports

[Dimanman]

there's a limit to how many characters per line also, some things will need to be abbreviated

I counted 22 characters - as a maximum for this device

 

[jokiin]

I counted 22 characters - as a maximum for this device

that would include spaces

 

[lacibaci]

Out of the blue my A119 has developed a problem where the screen flickers whenever it is on, I had not changed any settings or updated the firmware in between it being OK and not OK. No sudden hot weather periods. It's been working fine up until last week but the flicker now seems to be permanent. I have tried changing the frequency between 50hz/60hz but it makes no difference. The flicker is not so severe that you can't read the screen but it is very annoying and tiring on the eyes.
Is this a reason to return for repair/replacement maybe?

I just noticed the same behavior. I turned it off for a minute and when I turned it back on it was OK. Will keep an eye on this.

 

[viofo]

Finished in an easy to read format. Bold the points you want to change compared to the current version.
1 - Resolution - Разрешение
2 - Loop recording - Цикл записи (мин)
3 - Exposure - Экспозиция
4 - WDR - WDR
5 - Time-lapse Record - Интервальная Съемка
6 - Motion Detection - Распознавание Движения
7 - GPS - GPS
8 - Speed Unit - Мера Скорости
9 - G-sensor - G-sensor
10 - LDWS - LDWS
11 - FCWS - FCWS
12 - Date Stamp - Штамп Дата/Время
13 - GPS Info Stamp - Штамп GPS Инфо
14 - Model Stamp - Название Устройства
15 - Record Audio - Запись Звука
16 - Screen Saver - Screen Saver
17 - LED - LED
18 - Date/Time - Дата/Время
19 - Time Zone - Часовой Пояс
20 - Language - Язык
21 - Beep Sound - Звук Клавиш
22 - Frequency - Частота Освещения
23 - Format - Форматирование
24 - Format Warning - Предупреждать о Формат.
25 - Default Settings - Сброс Настроек
26 - CarNo - Номер Автомобиля
27 - Customize Text - Свой Текст
28 - Version - Версия ПО

Thank you, another Russian user also update the string to us, we will check both.

 

[Gibson99]

don't forget that this "emergency button" feature is not really useful nowadays, because current memory cards have big size ( 64, 128 Gb ) for a cheap price, the scenario of a loss of important videos is very unlikely

For me, the emergency lock function is even MORE important on a large memory card. That's because i don't want to have to watch 8-16 hours of footage to find the very brief event I'm looking for.

Granted, when I actually was involved in a crash almost 2 years ago, I didn't remember to click the lock button, and I had g-sensor turned off due to too many false positives. But because i had a 32gb card in the camera and I turned the car off within a minute of the crash (no parking mode on that camera) I didn't lose the important footage leading up to the crash.

 

[Sutton]

For me, the emergency lock function is even MORE important on a large memory card. That's because i don't want to have to watch 8-16 hours of footage to find the very brief event I'm looking for.

Granted, when I actually was involved in a crash almost 2 years ago, I didn't remember to click the lock button, and I had g-sensor turned off due to too many false positives. But because i had a 32gb card in the camera and I turned the car off within a minute of the crash (no parking mode on that camera) I didn't lose the important footage leading up to the crash.

Just glance at ur watch so u can pinpoint the time of accident and get that file

 

[Curtis54]

For me, the emergency lock function is even MORE important on a large memory card. That's because i don't want to have to watch 8-16 hours of footage to find the very brief event I'm looking for.

Granted, when I actually was involved in a crash almost 2 years ago, I didn't remember to click the lock button, and I had g-sensor turned off due to too many false positives. But because i had a 32gb card in the camera and I turned the car off within a minute of the crash (no parking mode on that camera) I didn't lose the important footage leading up to the crash.

for me a dashcam is like a black box for airplanes, as long as I don't have an accident I don't need to worry about preserving video file, all you have to do is forget the presence of the dashcam,
and if I have an accident then in theory I will have plenty of time if I want to backup the video file ( because the car will be in the garage for repair ),

that's why also this concept of "emergency button" for dashcam seems to me not really useful, but I can understand people who still want this feature even if they use large size memory card,

one interesting thing would be to reassign this "emergency button" to another function, like "parking mode", because currently it's difficult to activate the parking mode with the A119, we need to go to the menu options each time, a direct button would be more convenient

 

[Gibson99]

to me it would make more sense to re-map the power button to toggle between regular recording, time lapse and motion detection. when was the last time anyone ever wanted to actually TURN OFF the dashcam? if you're entering a military base or other secure facility that restricts video recordings, chances are that simply turning it off won't satisfy them - they'll want it completely unplugged and maybe even removed from the window.

but if they're going to do that, i'd rather have them spend their energy on making it automatically switch modes to be like other dashcams with true parking mode. use g-sensor to "feel" for a lack of movement, and if the car has been sitting still for say... 2 minutes, switch to time lapse mode. then when it "feels" something, switch back to regular recording. no user intervention required, so the user can't forget to switch modes.

 

[RCPilot]

don't forget that this "emergency button" feature is not really useful nowadays, because current memory cards have big size ( 64, 128 Gb ) for a cheap price, the scenario of a loss of important videos is very unlikely,

and more important : the concept of loop recording means that only the most old file is erased when memory card is full, that implies you will have more time to backup the important videos files in your PC,

there is no "emergency" when a big memory card allows you to record 14 hours of videos, if an important event occurs then that means you will have 14 hours before this scene will be deleted ( if you never stop driving, so in reality you will have much more time, probably several weeks if your ride does not last long )

I disagree with this statement. I already responded to a similar comment somewhere so here is the cliff notes version. If you are in a serious accident, you may be incapacitated. You MUST have your g-sensor enabled to fully protect yourself. Most people have 32-64GB cards. The videos will be overwritten in 3-8 hours on most cams. The ignition on you car may be left on following the accident. The ignition on your car may be left on when the car is dropped off at the tow yard. Critical footage could be overwritten while you are in the hospital, etc. The button is nice to mark videos to quickly to find them later. But don't ever rely on a large memory card being your solution to save a critical video. ALWAYS enable your g-sensor.

 

[Sutton]

I disagree with this statement. I already responded to a similar comment somewhere so here is the cliff notes version. If you are in a serious accident, you may be incapacitated. You MUST have your g-sensor enabled to fully protect yourself. Most people have 32-64GB cards. The videos will be overwritten in 3-8 hours on most cams. The ignition on you car may be left on following the accident. The ignition on your car may be left on when the car is dropped off at the tow yard. Critical footage could be overwritten while you are in the hospital, etc. The button is nice to mark videos to quickly to find them later. But don't ever rely on a large memory card being your solution to save a critical video. ALWAYS enable your g-sensor.

Never thought of that You are 100% right

 

[RCPilot]

Feature Request: @viofo - Maybe I'm old school, but I like the recording LED to be flashing when the camera is recording. Can there be a menu option to select steady or flashing LED during recording? As others have pointed out, we also need an end of recording beep warning. And don't forget the pre and post crash automatic video file lock. Thank you!

 

[RCPilot]

Never thought of that You are 100% right

I have an advantage in that I've investigated a zillion injury auto accidents. Many weird and unexpected things happen when people are being mangled in crashes. Your cam can payoff literally hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars in a serious accident. You don't want to leave anything up to chance or reliance on human intervention to preserve your video.

 

[cascagrossa]

I disagree with this statement. I already responded to a similar comment somewhere so here is the cliff notes version. If you are in a serious accident, you may be incapacitated. You MUST have your g-sensor enabled to fully protect yourself. Most people have 32-64GB cards. The videos will be overwritten in 3-8 hours on most cams. The ignition on you car may be left on following the accident. The ignition on your car may be left on when the car is dropped off at the tow yard. Critical footage could be overwritten while you are in the hospital, etc. The button is nice to mark videos to quickly to find them later. But don't ever rely on a large memory card being your solution to save a critical video. ALWAYS enable your g-sensor.

Excelent statement.

cheers

 

[DavidUK]

I'd like to be able to mount the camera from the left or right as well as the top of the mount. As the camera clips into place, this shouldn't be an issue but would help with bringing it closer to the top of the screen rather than having to leave 7-8mm for the camera to pull upwards off the mount.

 

[Sutton]

I'd like to be able to mount the camera from the left or right as well as the top of the mount. As the camera clips into place, this shouldn't be an issue but would help with bringing it closer to the top of the screen rather than having to leave 7-8mm for the camera to pull upwards off the mount.

so don't use the GPS mount and u can just use the connector on the side on the cam

 

[Mtz]

Feature Request: @viofo - Maybe I'm old school, but I like the recording LED to be flashing when the camera is recording.

Oh, no! Viofo came with a GREAT feature which is protecting our eyes and help concentration for driving. So engineer will stop working for something useful and he will start working to put the blinking LED back into peoples eyes. As option, of course. There are more great features of A119, lets make them as optional.

When someday you will not see expected firmware to be released just think the engineer got tired or busy for unnecessary requests. With 2-3 models to come, 300% more work for firmwares and some of models will be delayed because others will have priority.

enjoy,
Mtz

 

[vla-ra]

According to the rules of the Russian language is no need to start the second word with a capital letter.

1 - Resolution - Разрешение
2 - Loop recording - Циклическая запись
3 - Exposure - Экспозиция
4 - WDR - WDR
5 - Time-lapse Record - Интервальная съёмка
6 - Motion Detection - Распознавание движения
7 - GPS - GPS
8 - Speed Unit - Единицы скорости
9 - G-sensor - Датчик удара
10 - LDWS - LDWS
11 - FCWS - FCWS
12 - Date Stamp - Штамп Дата/Время
13 - GPS Info Stamp - Штамп GPS
14 - Model Stamp - Название устройства
15 - Record Audio - Запись звука
16 - Screen Saver - Хранитель экрана
17 - LED - LED - Светодиодная индикация
18 - Date/Time - Дата/Время
19 - Time Zone - Часовой пояс
20 - Language - Язык
21 - Beep Sound - Звук клавиш
22 - Frequency - Частота освещения
23 - Format - Форматирование
24 - Format Warning - Напоминать о формат.
25 - Default Settings - Сброс настроек
26 - CarNo - Номер автомобиля
27 - Customize Text - Свой текст
28 - Version - Версия ПО

"Speed Unit" - it would be better translated as "Единицы (измерения) скорости".
"GPS Info Stamp" - no need to add the word "инфо".
"Format Warning" - this feature - a reminder of the need for formatting. It would be better translated as "Напоминать о формат."

 

[Mtz]

According to the rules of the Russian language is no need to start the second word with a capital letter.

Maybe in all languages is not needed such thing but for cameras menu was used a lot, maybe to show which is a menu and which is a sub-menu. For me is no problem to read such words. Usually I write on forums On and Off even it is not needed the O but I am using it to be clear that is about On and Off for cameras.

enjoy,
Mtz

 

[Dave19]

Not sure if this is the right thread, but today is the first time I tried to connect the unit to the PC to apply the loader/firmware update. It appears the included USB cable is faulty. No power, regardless of port. I have other cables, all of which work. Should I report the lot number, is this a common occurrence, and should I connect the seller (Spytec)? I mean, I don't really need a replacement cable, since I already have others. Just want to know if I should report this or not. Thanks!

 

[borik]

Not sure if this is the right thread, but today is the first time I tried to connect the unit to the PC

you should see on your camera screen "mass storage" when connected to Windows OS. which means your camera connected to a PC like an external hard drive.
what do you see on a camera screen when you connect it to a computer?
do you see a new "removable hard drive" in your computer?