VIOFO A119 V3

[Mtz]

To be honest, I don't see any horizontal stripes. Where in the image are these stripes?

Also I don't see any horizontal stripes on the uploaded picture. Maybe they exist but not in that picture.

I see, random noise in bands. Lol. Dude, do you really think that we are blind, or we don't know what we see?
I'm glad that you have the support of a manufacturer and a watchdog.

Oh, boy! Here we go again. I don't know if you really don't or you don't want to understand or deliberately hijack the discussions: we talk about banding not about noise.

Are you beta tester, too? Probably, yes. Otherwise I don't understand what does this zeal mean, why you want to minimize and deny a real phenomenon.

For sure you are not a beta tester because you don't have this camera.
I don't understand why are you posting so often in this thread if you don't have a A119 V3.
What real phenomenon you see if you don't have this camera? Why are you fighting against people which have this camera and they are telling things that you can not prove because you don't have this camera?
What random noise in bands you see if you don't have this camera?

Why are you trolling this thread and fight against people which have the camera? All your posts here are against A119 V3. You should buy this camera and only then to be against it.
But from what I see in all your posts is that you are against Viofo in general and against other forum members. You are free to be against any brand you want but why did you bought a dashcam if you consider it is bad? If you consider that you was cheated by Dashcamtalk forum members or by dashcamtalk.com website by presenting false advertising about Viofo and they made you buying this camera because it is a fantastic camera with 0 problems, you should not be here.

@Cristianson what bitrate are you using? Did you uploaded somewhere the original video, untouched, extracted from the card and let us see the problem with our players?

 

[ursamajor]

You are late in the discussion.
It started from here:

VIOFO A119 V3

Hi All, I am planning to use A119 V3 with Mapillary and while I am waiting for the order delivery, I want to do some pre-checks of processing workflows. Basically I want to check how GPS metadata is stored inside the files produced by A119 V3 running on latest firmware (2.3). Can someone...

dashcamtalk.com

VIOFO A119 V3

What firmware does the camera have installed? My St_MOD_9G_FWA_2.3_20210125

dashcamtalk.com

I showed that not only under 100$ camera have banding, as some claim.
Maybe my fault, I should post it on A129+ thread. But because cameras share same hardware and, possibly, very close firmwares, I think this will help engineers to have an overview of firmware behaviour on different cameras.

 

[Mtz]

You are quoting post about GPS but all your next posts are about image.

possibly, very close firmwares

You are making very solid conclusions based on possibilities? You can make some conclusions only if you have both cameras.

I think this will help engineers

Chillout, no firmware engineer is reading your posts here, they don't have time to read forum posts. Like we say in romanian, you are nobody on the road for them. They know much more that you know, they are engineers, they know the real and full specifications of the hardware used and what can be done and what can not. Do you think they don't want to offer the best of the hardware?

Talking about A119 V3 firmware, the biggest mistake of Viofo was to offer 60FPS for free by a firmware update of Viofo A119 V3. Camera was tested and launched at 30FPS and they should let it at 30FPS. But they wanted to listen the users feedback, to implement what some users like you are dreaming about a perfect product and the result is people like you posting against them, not only on this product but on all their products just because of same hardware and, possibly, very close firmwares, bla-bla. Like we say in romanian, doing good things for people is like fc*king your own mother.

 

[jokiin]

Talking about A119 V3 firmware, the biggest mistake of Viofo was to offer 60FPS for free by a firmware update of Viofo A119 V3. Camera was tested and launched at 30FPS and they should let it at 30FPS. But they wanted to listen the users feedback, to implement what some users like you are dreaming about a perfect product and the result is people like you posting against them, not only on this product but on all their products just because of same hardware and, possibly, very close firmwares, bla-bla.

one of the challenges when trying to please everybody is you inadvertently end up pleasing nobody, can't win sometimes

 

[ursamajor]

You are quoting post about GPS but your posts are about image.

Chillout, no firmware engineer is reading your posts here, they don't have time to read forum posts.

Links are OK, not about GPS. You misinform.

Too bad for them, then.

60fps mode works OK, until you activate HDR. Even with that blamed WDR there was no banding. So, no problem with 60 fps. As for the Romanians, you are a typical low-class one. You don't miss any opportunity to misinterpret my words and to show us how bad it is when customers report issues.

one of the challenges when trying to please everybody is you inadvertently end up pleasing nobody, can't win sometimes

This is a logical fracture. As for me, I never claimed that I'm unhappy with my camera. In fact, I am really satisfied with it. But I reported some issues, precisely because I trust that Viofo will solve them, if possible and they can.

 

[Paul Iddon]

Never ever had banding on my A113 V3. Ever.

Running the mod by @vvs49 at the moment at 30fps.

 

[Dashmellow]

Only because he agrees with you.

My A119 V3, running at 60fps, has never seen any banding so there must be some common denominator and not a blanket issue that you keep posting.

Please accept that it's not all A119 V3 setups that have this issue.

Just to be clear, I wasn't "agreeing" with urasmajor, I wasn't even communicating with him. I was replying to a post of yours actually and I was simply relating my own personal experiences with this camera. In fact, I've been talking about my personal experience with the V3 low light banding problem for 8 months now in this thread, since long before ursamajor decided to drop by even though he currently doesn't own a V3.

For some reason, you keep pounding the table for months now telling us over and over again that you have not experienced the banding issue that others have reported. I'm happy for you, but I'm not clear why you keep repeating this. The problem was first reported over eight months ago and the fact that it is still being reported and discussed by some V3 owners tells us the issue is a legitimate concern.

It is puzzling that you are one of the few who doesn't seem to encounter the banding issue in low light. Perhaps there is a manufacturing flaw in the sensor or DSP that is appearing in some units and not others? ( I raised this question last July but it still remains unaddressed.) Perhaps it is the different conditions each of us drive in? Perhaps there is some other factor? We just don't know yet.

I don't have any complaints about Viofo. I think Bill does a great job actually and their products are really well supported, all in all. As for this banding issue however, it would be nice if Viofo would be more interactive about the problem and any possible follow up considering how long it has gone unresolved. Unfortunately we've never heard any update about the issue from Viofo since the following post on July 20th, 2020.

We will recheck this 60fps issue, it seems only happen while in low light condition.

Personally, since I found that adjusting the frame rate minimized the banding in low light it doesn't bother me too much. Of course, I'd be happier if the problem wasn't there at all but it's not a deal breaker. For one thing, I find that I don't do all that much driving at night these days as a result of the pandemic with the exception of certain times during the early winter months when it starts to get dark at 4 PM where I live. And since I live in a rural area so often I'm driving around in the pitch dark so it doesn't matter anyway as there is nothing to see. And when the problem does occur it is usually fairly minimal if the camera is set accordingly.

 

[Kremmen]

I was simply replying to a similar string of regular posts saying that the A119 V3 has an inbuilt problem across the board. I think there are similar criticisms of the A129 but I haven't read those in detail.

If I see a post saying they are all flawed I may respond in defense.

If nothing else this may take the heat off Nigel.

 

[Dashmellow]

I was simply replying to a similar string of regular posts saying that the A119 V3 has an inbuilt problem across the board. I think there are similar criticisms of the A129 but I haven't read those in detail.

If I see a post saying they are all flawed I may respond in defense.

If nothing else this may take the heat off Nigel.

No, you were replying to @ursamajor with reference to my reply to your post but making the case that I somehow "agreed" with him in some way when I was simply describing a problem I first posted about 8 months ago. Now, you are claiming that it was a "string of posts".

There is clearly a longstanding problem here with the V3, but for some reason you are parsing it into the notion that it appears in some units and not others as if to minimize the issue. The fact that it appears in some units and not others may in fact be indicative of the problem itself. What are you defending exactly and why?

 

[Mtz]

It seems that the newest firmware V2.3 also has the horizontal stripes during low light, not so bad like V2.0 but enough to ruin the video.

Personally, since I found that adjusting the frame rate minimized the banding in low light it doesn't bother me too much. Of course, I'd be happier if the problem wasn't there at all but it's not a deal breaker.

The latest discussion started from first quote. In that post was a screenshot (or snapshot) and some of us we don't see the banding. How a thing which cannot be seen by users, except the OP, is ruining a video? Ruining!
Where is that banding? On a dark sky? Are there cars or people walking on the sky? Any of us are using the camera to record the sky?

Many people when are buying a dashcam are looking at night videos on Youtube to see which camera is offering more bright images on the dark. Maybe Viofo is the best in comparisons but sometimes, depending of how much percent of dark is on the image, it is possible to appear some banding. Like you said, I don't care about it because if I need a video proof in the court the judge will not care about banding, he want to see what was happening. Or maybe is better to have a complete dark video in the court, but with no banding?

Speaking generally, if the banding is permanent then it is not OK, even it is not affecting the footage needed for proof. If the banding is there only because Viofo added a feature you requested then not use it, it is not for you. Use the camera with the features it had when you paid for it and stop complaining. All Viofo A119 V3 dashcams should be sold with first firmware, for example v.1.3. No banding, no complaints.

What I see in this forum:
1. Viofo adding 60FPS. 5% thanks, 95% hate, banding, darker image, etc
2. Viofo adding HDR. 5% thanks, 95% hate, poor image during day
3. Viofo adding 21:9. 10% great! 90% not useful, cannot see traffic light in very rare situations
etc.

 

[Dashmellow]

The latest discussion started from first quote. In that post was a screenshot (or snapshot) and some of us we don't see the banding. How a thing which cannot be saw by users, except the OP, is ruining a video? Ruining!
Where is that banding? On a dark sky? Are there cars or people walking on the sky? Any of us are using the camera to record the sky?

Many people when are buying a dashcam are looking at night videos on Youtube to see which camera is offering more bright images on the dark. Maybe Viofo is the best in comparisons but sometimes, depending of how much percent of dark is on the image, it is possible to appear some banding. Like you said, I don't care about it because if I need a video proof in the court the judge will not care about banding, he want to see what was happening. Or maybe is better to have a complete dark video in the court, but with no banding?

Speaking generally, if the banding is permanent then it is not OK, even it is not affecting the footage needed for proof. If the banding is there only because Viofo added a feature you requested then not use it, it is not for you. Use the camera with the features it had when you paid for it and stop complaining. All Viofo A119 V3 dashcams should be sold with first firmware, for example v.1.3. No banding, no complaints.

What I see in this forum:
1. Viofo adding 60FPS. 5% thanks, 95% hate, banding, darker image, etc
2. Viofo adding HDR. 5% thanks, 95% hate, poor image during day
3. Viofo adding 21:9. 10% great! 90% not useful, cannot see traffic light in very rare situations
etc.

I agree. It's not like the banding prevents you from seeing what is going on and that is the point of having a dash cam. And as I mentioned the other day the low light performance of the V3 is so superior to older dash cams that even with some occasional banding, noise or motion blur it is still far better than what we had previously.

 

[Cristianson]

@Cristianson what bitrate are you using? Did you uploaded somewhere the original video, untouched, extracted from the card and let us see the problem with our players?

high bitrate, 21:9 30 fps no hdr.
Ok, maybe "ruining the video" is a bit too much said, the footage is serving its purpose but the banding is there otherwise i wouldnt waste my time here.
i will check for another video soon, arround the city with street lights the banding is bearly noticeable, on roads outside the city with no lighting is worse and so is in 60fps mode(not that i want to use 60 fps) but i like the ultrawide format.

 

[jokiin]

high bitrate, 21:9 30 fps no hdr.
Ok, maybe "ruining the video" is a bit too much said, the footage is serving its purpose but the banding is there otherwise i wouldnt waste my time here.
i will check for another video soon, arround the city with street lights the banding is bearly noticeable, on roads outside the city with no lighting is worse and so is in 60fps mode(not that i want to use 60 fps) but i like the ultrawide format.

do you get the same result with the banding in low light when set to 16:9 also?

 

[Mtz]

I expect less banding on 21:9 because less dark sky, less stress for the CMOS to add some brightness to the image because being with less height the car headlights are covering more part of the image compared to the 16:9 image. But also I want to hear what user is reporting.

high bitrate, 21:9 30 fps no hdr.

Are you using the original Viofo charger? If yes, try to connect it to the camera not to the GPS mount. Do not use another device into the original Viofo charger.

For me is more like a power issue. If the result is the same after you made the all things I asked you at the start of this post try to use another 5V adapter with at least 1.5A real, better 2A.

I know some case when the Viofo original charger was used almost all the time to charge also another device which have a big battery and after some time the Viofo charger was damaged. Viofo should put a warning on their charger to not use other devices which are drawing too much power when using the dashcam. Unfortunately actual devices because have big displays have also big batteries and this situation is different compared to 4 years ago when Viofo charger was released, when smartphones were smaller (maybe 2500mAh batteries) and not drawing so much power.

 

[Dashmellow]

Are you using the original Viofo charger? If yes, try to connect it to the camera not to the GPS mount. Do not use another device into the original Viofo charger.

I've seen the banding issue with the Viofo supplied charger as well as a 20,000 mAh 1.5 amp power bank. I should probably do a more scientific comparison though.

 

[Cristianson]

I did not tried 16:9 with this latest firmware but with the previous firmware, thus in 16:9, the banding was at its worst. I imediatly returned to 1.03 firmware.
I power the camera straight from the car's usb outlet(dont think they are underpowered being used for apple carplay/android auto), viofo cable plugged into the gps module and with V1.03 all was great, no problems.
I will try using viofo charger instead. Thank you!

 

[jokiin]

I did not tried 16:9 with this latest firmware but with the previous firmware, thus in 16:9, the banding was at its worst. I imediatly returned to 1.03 firmware.
I power the camera straight from the car's usb outlet, viofo cable plugged into the gps module and with V1.03 all was great, no problems.
I will try using viofo charger instead. Thank you!

definitely would not do this

 

[Dashmellow]

I power the camera straight from the car's usb outlet,

Most cars have built-in USB outlets that only output 500 mAh. Definitely not adequate for any dash cam. Even without any banding issues this would not be a good idea.

 

[relu]

I did some tests with 119V3, the last fw 2.3, but with different power sources. With the 1A source banding appears in low light, but with the 2A source the banding disappears.

 

[Mtz]

This is because firmware V1.03 is based on a different SDK compared to firmware V2.X and in the firmware with latest SDK the power consumption is bigger because Viofo added new things like 60FPS and HDR.