VIOFO A129 Duo new Cameras including Infrared for Uber Lyft Taxi

Here is a quick review of the early IR Firmware for Taxi Uber Lyft Drivers. In a few clips you may be able to detect Focus issue, its for long range not short interior so passenger in front seat will be blurred slightly. Also didn't include much longer Power monitoring spiked at 0.73 Amps when in Mono mode. All feedback welcomed.

 
Hi BCHobbyist, do you have power consumption figures for the A129 with the new rear camera? Did it use less power without the IR LEDs on or are does it draws the same amount of power as the older model rear camera that do not have the IR LEDs? From your video the area outside the car is pretty visible without the IR LEDs. I can see the rear camera being use for parking to monitor the sides of the car especially if one backs up into a spot and don't need to monitor the rear of the car. Thanks for the video review.
 
Dave Bert said:
Hi BCHobbyist, do you have power consumption figures for the A129 with the new rear camera? Did it use less power without the IR LEDs on or are does it draws the same amount of power as the older model rear camera that do not have the IR LEDs? From your video the area outside the car is pretty visible without the IR LEDs. I can see the rear camera being use for parking to monitor the sides of the car especially if one backs up into a spot and don't need to monitor the rear of the car. Thanks for the video review.
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Yes I have all Power Requirement readings ready for next video. I like to run a full hour test for more accurate averages. Will be posted by this weekend, finishing the A129 vs A119 27Mb/s comparison video.
 
Matt Lockhart said:
Would I be right in thinking that this may help to enhance the rear night image for people like myself who have a very dark limo like tint on the rear window?

Is that correct @viofo? Are you going to release any to current owners for beta testing like you did with the hardwire kits?

Ta
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We do plan to offer some samples after Chinese new year, if someone interested please contact me, also please make sure you like to share interior recording. And tell us if you have A129 front camera already or not.
 
viofo said:
We do plan to offer some samples after Chinese new year, if someone interested please contact me, also please make sure you like to share interior recording. And tell us if you have A129 front camera already or not.
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Hi Viofo, I have just purchased the A129 rear cam / gps with the 3 wire hardware kit. I am interested in testing the infrared unit. I do drive an night more often than the day and usually on dark roads which would demonstrate how bright the cabin is lite.
Have been running the A119.
You should have my details but feel free to PM me.

Regards.
 
Expect to load updated A129 IR Camera Firmware this month with improved image quality and hopefully higher stock bitrate. Will share footage same day its released hopefully by March 20. Estimating the first IR Camera batch will sell out very fast, not sure if sold via select vendors or directly from Viofo. Exactly what month IR Cam will be available for public purchase is still unknown.
 
BCHobbyist said:
Expect to load updated A129 IR Camera Firmware this month with improved image quality and hopefully higher stock bitrate. Will share footage same day its released hopefully by March 20. Estimating the first IR Camera batch will sell out very fast, not sure if sold via select vendors or directly from Viofo. Exactly what month IR Cam will be available for public purchase is still unknown.
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Im more interested on the non-ir . Excited for its release.
 
Should be much better than the 2 main players we have now in the "Taxi cam" arena, of which neither of those have much to recommend them in comparison. Viofo seems to be scoring bulls-eye hits with each new addition the his dashcam line (y)

Phil
 
BCHobbyist said:
Expect to load updated A129 IR Camera Firmware this month with improved image quality and hopefully higher stock bitrate. Will share footage same day its released hopefully by March 20. Estimating the first IR Camera batch will sell out very fast, not sure if sold via select vendors or directly from Viofo. Exactly what month IR Cam will be available for public purchase is still unknown.
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Will be available for sale at the end of the March, shipping samples now.
For testing and review, please send PM to me, thanks.
 
BCHobbyist said:
Expect to load updated A129 IR Camera Firmware this month with improved image quality and hopefully higher stock bitrate. Will share footage same day its released hopefully by March 20. Estimating the first IR Camera batch will sell out very fast, not sure if sold via select vendors or directly from Viofo. Exactly what month IR Cam will be available for public purchase is still unknown.
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So for ride share drivers like Uber/Lyft, I can underand why they'd want to use the IR cam with the cabin view. But Im not sure what reasons other drivers would want the cam for. Would it be beneficial to swap out the regular rear A129 cam for the IR cam to get better night recording in the back?
 
JamesC85 said:
So for ride share drivers like Uber/Lyft, I can underand why they'd want to use the IR cam with the cabin view. But Im not sure what reasons other drivers would want the cam for. Would it be beneficial to swap out the regular rear A129 cam for the IR cam to get better night recording in the back?
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The IR filter in the normal camera does cut out some light, mainly IR light, and sensors normally work best with more light, so you should get a better image from the IR camera. However most people will probably see that as a small advantage to balance against the much bigger disadvantage of it not seeing in human colour! Normally with IR cameras there is also an issue with the focus being rather poor, so normally they are not recommended unless you actually want to be able to see in the dark using IR illumination, however that may not be much of an issue with the Viofo IR camera.

The IR camera is really intended for use in the cabin.
 
JamesC85 said:
So for ride share drivers like Uber/Lyft, I can underand why they'd want to use the IR cam with the cabin view. But Im not sure what reasons other drivers would want the cam for. Would it be beneficial to swap out the regular rear A129 cam for the IR cam to get better night recording in the back?
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The advantage of swapping out the original Rear camera is for the 180 Lens rotation for view selectablilty and additional mounting positions. The IR Camera when pointed out back window in daytime actually has much better focus than original. During low light/night all footage will have purple glare reflections as shown in other videos or when set to Mono or Auto will always be black and white. There is no reason why you can't use it for inside or outside view but the small 4 IR Lamps will only illuminate 1-3m (4-10 ft).
My hope is the new 180 rotation feature will be be offered for the regular non-IR Rear camera. As shown in the video the IR Camera uses more power so Parking Mode will be affected. Power consumption comparison video will be posted shortly.
 
BCHobbyist said:
The advantage of swapping out the original Rear camera is for the 180 Lens rotation for view selectablilty and additional mounting positions. The IR Camera when pointed out back window in daytime actually has much better focus than original. During low light/night all footage will have purple glare reflections as shown in other videos or when set to Mono or Auto will always be black and white. There is no reason why you can't use it for inside or outside view but the small 4 IR Lamps will only illuminate 1-3m (4-10 ft).
My hope is the new 180 rotation feature will be be offered for the regular non-IR Rear camera. As shown in the video the IR Camera uses more power so Parking Mode will be affected. Power consumption comparison video will be posted shortly.
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Thank you for the insight. I look forward to your video.
 
BCHobbyist said:
Here are the three cameras, my favorite is the non-IR for its 180 degree Lens rotation and sharper 130 degree FOV Lens.

View attachment 45097
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Is the new non-IR rear cam a mod of yours or did viofo make that? I thought they were only working on the IR rear cam right now.
 
JamesC85 said:
Is the new non-IR rear cam a mod of yours or did viofo make that? I thought they were only working on the IR rear cam right now.
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Its demonstrated in the Pre-Production video on first page of this thread. Viofo sent me that sample by mistake, ended up being superior to my original Rear cameras and is my daily driver now.
The non-IR has huge potential allowing multiple mounting options the original just can't offer. The rear interior view point is appealing and both 180 degree rotation cameras would sell very well "if" Viofo decides to produce the non-IR version using the new rotation design.
 
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BCHobbyist said:
Its demonstrated in the Pre-Production video on first page of this thread. Viofo sent me that sample by mistake, ended up being superior to my original Rear cameras and is my daily driver now.

The non-IR has huge potential allowing multiple mounting options the original just can't offer. The rear interior view point is appealing and both 180 degree rotation cameras would sell very well "if" Viofo decides to produce the non-IR version using the new rotation design.
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I would be very interested in the non-IR cam, the 180 degree rotation and the new plug location on the side make it quite appealing. Hopefully Viofo will start selling the non-IR version too.
 
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It will be interesting to test the newer IR Camera Beta Firmware. I discovered while recording the IR Cam 5volt 0.64Amp power consumption demo today it doesn't always reach 0.68Amp as shown in IR Cam Firmware 1.01 video. Not sure if newer Firmware can reduce the power usage. Selecting MONO mode sets IR Lamps to always on, while AUTO mode only activates IR Lamps in low light reducing power during the day.
 
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JamesC85 said:
I dont have much use for the IR version but I would be very interested in the non-IR cam., the 180 degree rotation and the new plug location on the side make it quite appealing. Hopefully Viofo will start selling the non-IR version too.
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I suspect BCHobbyist's non-IR camera has an IR lens? In which case it might be wise to wait and see what arrives before making a decision, I don't really expect Viofo to use the same lens in both.

The side cable entry and greater angle adjustment where partly for mounting it in the side windows where you don't want to mount it on the glass because the windows can be opened, instead it can be mounted on the window ledge. I am expecting this to become the standard rear camera eventually.
 
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