VIOFO A119 V3

Nigel said:
If you have it plugged into the accessory socket, then probably the socket turns off while cranking the engine.
The best solution is to hardwire the camera into the ignition power so that it doesn't turn off while cranking.
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Kremmen said:
Ignition pos 2, not 1
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I'm using the HK3 hard wire kit.
The kit is hard wired into the ignition live for position 2 in the internal fuse box and a permanent live.
If the car is driven frequently through the day it boots 100% of the time
But if it's been sitting overnight or similar, about 50% of the time it fails to boot as it cuts off as soon as i begin turn the engine over. Even though the engine starts in about 1 second, it's that initial turn over that causes the REC light to go off, then it needs to be powered up manually.
 
That scenario is one I've heard many times before. The temporary loss of power puts the cam into shutdown mode. Power is restored before that has completed so the 'signal' that power is there is lost.

What's the answer ?
 
Kremmen said:
That scenario is one I've heard many times before. The temporary loss of power puts the cam into shutdown mode. Power is restored before that has completed so the 'signal' that power is there is lost.

What's the answer ?
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Ideally, the camera would use its capacitor to keep it running for perhaps 2s or 5s while it waits to see if power is restored. That would allow it to cope with short-term power loss. It's like the opposite of boot delay.

I have to do a similar thing with my Mobius cameras. If I set them to immediate shutdown upon loss of power, they cannot cope with the momentary power loss when moving from ignition on to turning the engine on. And as you say, they are still shutting down when the power comes back on, so they don't get the signal to restart. If I set them to 2s or even 10s delay, then they can keep themselves going until external power becomes constant again.

I don't know if the A119V3 capacitors maintain enough charge to do this reliably, which could explain why the camera shuts down immediately upon power loss.
 
I think the issue is that, if I'm reading it correctly from your first post, you've just gone out for the first run of the day, so the capacitor hasn't charged up yet ?
 
From the official site on Sep 25:

Latest A119 V3 Dash Camera firmware is released , version number is V1.03(update 0924), please check the attachment:

Change log:
1. Fixed 1080P 60fps resolution issue
2. Other bugs fix.
 
Flavyus said:
From the official site on Sep 25:

Latest A119 V3 Dash Camera firmware is released , version number is V1.03(update 0924), please check the attachment:

Change log:
1. Fixed 1080P 60fps resolution issue
2. Other bugs fix.
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Thanks for the notification Flavyus. I can only hope "Other bugs fix" includes proper file Locking, Notification and Protection but I doubt it. That's such a critical defect I wouldn't think they'd slip it in a vague change log without announcing it.
 
It says "Japan" version on the topmost link - so the rest need to scroll down to the lower link.
 
I hope that they worked also on WDR.
 
The WDR is also very faulty on my device
 
dAk1nG said:
The WDR is also very faulty on my device
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Could you explain what you mean by "faulty" WDR? Over the years I've seen a variety of different flaws manifest with WDR on dash cams, so I'm just curious to know more about your experience.
 
When the WDR is switched on, many different stiffeners appear on the image. I thought of a defect with the first device, but this extreme image noise and different stripes also occurred with the replacement device.
 
Dashmellow said:
Could you explain what you mean by "faulty" WDR? Over the years I've seen a variety of different flaws manifest with WDR on dash cams, so I'm just curious to know more about your experience.
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Here you can see how it works a good WDR. On the first V3 firmware WDR is unusable.
 
dAk1nG said:
When the WDR is switched on, many different stiffeners appear on the image. I thought of a defect with the first device, but this extreme image noise and different stripes also occurred with the replacement device.
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Thanks for the explanation, that sounds unusual for WDR and definitely sounds like a defect in the firmware.
 
Reapplying firmware is often a good idea
 
Only in preliminary testing on second test of V1.03, after firmware update, and doing a soft reset and configuring for Auto Event Detection the A119 V3 is no longer entering into Parking mode. After waiting 10 min disconnected it and verified all files were normal recordings at 2 min intervals. I'll do a hard reset after this test completes and see if that helps. Any other suggestions?
 
relu said:
Here you can see how it works a good WDR. On the first V3 firmware WDR is unusable.
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Thanks, I'm quite well aware of "How it works" (or more specifically, how it is supposed to work) WDR can be implemented differently depending on the camera and this can affect the results. For example, on some dash cameras, WDR alters the foot of the contrast curve, thus opening up shadow detail but having little useful affect on bright highlights. (like we see in some of the scenes in your video) Others attempt to do essentially the opposite by altering the shoulder of the contrast curve as well which can be useful but also can have its own drawbacks. WDR can at times be quite useful (or not) but it is at best a kind of band-aid for the inherent characteristics of the sensors in dash cams as well as certain limitations in the DSP currently in use.

Over the years I've been happy to see slow but steady improvements in WDR and dynamic range in dash cams but to this day it is still very much a problem in regard to bright highlights on the upper end of the range. Much of this is the result of newer and better sensors. One day, I hope we will eventually see true HDR incorporated into dash cams. Unfortunately, to date, every attempt to implement HDR (vs WDR) in dash cams has failed, including Viofo's valiant attempt.
 
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On my 119s WDR worked flawlessly, and I hope to have same result on my new V3.
 
After several tests of the V1.03 firmware I'd suggest anyone that does not use the hardwire kit to hold off on updating until others chime in with their results.

It appears the Sense routine to detect Power / Acc to determine Parking mode has been altered to the point Parking Mode does not activate with either direct DC voltage from lighter socket or even if you connect to a hardwired GPS without turning ignition on and off.

I had to turn ignition on and off after connecting the A119 V3 to the GPS mount to get it to sense the hardwire voltage correctly and switch to Parking mode. Just connecting it with the key off it would not enter parking mode but rather stay in Normal recording mode.

With direct DC I've been unable to get it to enter into parking mode at all for any mode, Auto Event, Time Lapse, Low Bitrate.
 
relu said:
On my 119s WDR worked flawlessly, and I hope to have same result on my new V3.
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A lot of it will depend on the sensor. All in all however, Viofo tends to do a good job implementing WDR, especially compared with some of their close competitors.
 
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