VIOFO A129 non-IR 1080p Modified Firmware MODs Archive

[mellda]

The timelaps does not give you enough frames per second. Especially during the night the car must be close to capture the licence plate properely and when it moves quickly it could be too late for capturing the next frame when timelaps is set as 2 fps for example. But what about the low bitrate? How does it work? Most of the pixels of the video do not change when the car is parked. Only the pixels capturing the car (which is bumping my car) are changing. Are these pixels (or area) captured in low quality because of the low bitrate? I don't understand this properely.

 

[mellda]

I consider these cases:
a) A car bumps into my car and the g-sensor will trigger the recording.
b) A car bumps into my car and the g-sensor won't trigger the recording (not so strong bump) but the motion detection will.
c) A car bumps into my car and the g-sensor won't trigger the recording (not so strong bump) and the motion detection won't as well.

I consider the A129 and the F800 Pro cameras.

A129 is set to timelaps and motion/g-sensor detection and the F800 Pro is set in the same way.

a) There is timelaps video till the bump and then the g-sensor activate the recording. With A129 I have timelaps and normal video but without the bump. I cannot see the shaking of my car so it may not be possible to use it as an evidence. With the F800 Pro I have the evidence because the normal video starts couple of seconds before the bump.
b) There is timelaps video till the bump and normal video is triggered by motion detection. The F800 Pro gives me the evidence but the A129 may not give me the evidence (same as in previous case).
c) There is only timelaps video which may not give me the evidence because I cannot see the shaking of the car and if set to low fps I cannot read the licence plate.

A129 can be set to low bitrate which means I may have evidence if the quality is sufficient. This is something I do not understand properely.

F800 Pro gives me an extra option to use Energy Saving Mode. This means the camera goes in sleep mode and is activated when g-sensor triggers the recording. No buffering but the power consumption is 0.74 W instead of approx 4 W. This is useful when parking for long time.

I cannot decide which to buy. The A129 has better video quality allowing me to read the licence plates better. But the F800 Pro has the Energy Saving Mode and buffered parking mode. Please help

 

[jokiin]

I use either timelapse or low bitrate continuous recording when parked, so I'm not relying on motion detection at all.

far better options

 

[mellda]

Is it possible to use low bitrate and motion/g-sensor detection together?

 

[jokiin]

just use low bitrate, no need for motion detect

 

[mellda]

No need to normal quality video when bumped? I want to be sure I have the best quality when someone bump into me. Or is the quality difference not so important because the bumping car is close enough?

 

[TonyM]

Low bitrate can be useful if there is not much going on in the scene whilst your car is parked. Depends how busy it is where you are parked.

Before the A129 or any of my other cameras had parking modes, I simply recorded continuous 30fps video when parked. My 128GB card gives me more then enough capacity to record both channels for 8 hours parked at work.

 

[BCHobbyist]

Hi it is possible adding mic on at parkingmod and mic off in driving mod automaticly

Parking Mode recording in Time Lapse can't load the MIC with current settings even if it could would sound like a squirrel, only way is to select 30fps clips and that's normal video so no point. Selecting G-sensor Event in Parking Mode triggers capture only with impacts and that does enable MIC.
Will add your request on my To-Do-List.

 

[mellda]

I have two cases. I park in car park (when I am at home) where I believe the car is in safety. I don't want to activate the parking mode there. The second case is the other car parks when I want to activate the parking mode. So I will switch the parking mode on and off each time I leave my home. How difficult is the switching? One button?

 

[jokiin]

you can leave the parking mode set all the time and just power down the camera anytime you don't want to use it might be easier than going through the menus

 

[TonyM]

A129 parking mode still has a few reported issues, both with firmware and hardwire kit variations. I'm going back to continuous 30fps video for better reliability until I see improvements.

 

[mellda]

I am still curious if I can enable low bitrate parking mode and g-sensor detection. And when the g-sensor detects an impact, the camera will record normal video. How can I find out there were the impact? Is there any

 

[mellda]

A129 parking mode still has a few reported issues, both with firmware and hardwire kit variations. I'm going back to continuous 30fps video for better reliability until I see improvements.

What are the issues? Do I understand it correctly that it is better not to use the parking mode and let the camera recording normal video all the time?

 

[TonyM]

I am still curious if I can enable low bitrate parking mode and g-sensor detection. And when the g-sensor detects an impact, the camera will record normal video. How can I find out there were the impact? Is there any

Yes, that is how it should work. However the G-sensor will not pick up everything like scratches and dents you might get in a car park.

 

[BCHobbyist]

@BCHobbyist, great work. I'm going to try this out soon.

Can you explain the numbers in the slashes in "override BitRate Menu to increase ... to 22/22/8/7Mbs?" Does it mean Bit Rate Low/Bit Rate High/BR Low Wifi/BR High Wifi + APP?

Also, how difficult is it to edit the menus? Can you add/expand options in the menus? For example, under Bitrate, can you have Low, High, Super High?

I figure you're just hex editing and not decompiling or building the firmware from the SDK?

The Bitrate values for WiFi with Rear camera connected can't be changed at the moment will remain 8 & 7Mbs which in my opinion is an insult but probably meant for stable connection during setting changes and never meant for continuous Live View by Co-Pilot.
The only way to "add" options to Firmware is by decompiling the full SDK then recompiling with customization. I will offer this type of modification later in 2019. Much easier and faster to hack the HEX and edit values.

VIOFO is doing a good job listening and applying A129 owner requests for features, just look at how the Date Format suddenly changed. Owners will always have the option to use official firmware or highly customized modified firmware. Until VIOFO fixes their A129 Parking Mode there isn't much point in opening the SDK source code.

 

[TonyM]

What are the issues? Do I understand it correctly that it is better not to use the parking mode and let the camera recording normal video all the time?

Most of the time it is fine, but I don't see it as 100% reliable. The delay in switching between parking and normal mode is one issue. On rare occasions the camera has remained stuck in timelapse mode even when driving, or sometimes failed to record when parked.

 

[BCHobbyist]

No need to normal quality video when bumped? I want to be sure I have the best quality when someone bump into me. Or is the quality difference not so important because the bumping car is close enough?

Low Bitrate drops quality to allow longer parking mode recording on memory card, it also uses slightly less power. It will always be a trade off. I'd only select Low Bitrate for over night Parking Mode use.

 

[mellda]

Low Bitrate drops quality to allow longer parking mode recording on memory card, it also uses slightly less power. It will always be a trade off. I'd only select Low Bitrate for over night Parking Mode use.

I thought there is lower bitrate needed for stationary areas so more bitrate can be used for the area which are changing.

 

[BCHobbyist]

I have two cases. I park in car park (when I am at home) where I believe the car is in safety. I don't want to activate the parking mode there. The second case is the other car parks when I want to activate the parking mode. So I will switch the parking mode on and off each time I leave my home. How difficult is the switching? One button?

Currently there is no 'single button' activation for Parking Mode like MIC Mute or WiFi has, its deeper in Menu. For your needs leaving Parking Mode enabled 24/7 will drain battery in secure parkade where it isn't needed filling memory card with useless clips, I'd suggest manually entering Menu each time which is tedious.

Many don't know the A129 Duo is undergoing Parking Mode Beta testing and its not working 100% and requires a new 'under development' hardwire kit connected to Front camera side connector which is silly and another design opportunity missed by VIOFO.

If you haven't purchased the A129 Duo yet but need Parking Mode protection I'd almost suggest waiting until February 2019 for current testing to end, or you could buy now and contribute to the Parking Mode Beta Testing efforts which is also tedious.

Nah, DCTeam officially recommends BUY NOW fix later.

 

[BCHobbyist]

I thought there is lower bitrate needed for stationary areas so more bitrate can be used for the area which are changing.

All good questions and as @TonyM pointed out A129 Parking Mode isn't working perfectly for everyone especially if you don't own and have correctly installed the newest 3-wire Hardwire Kit. I can't confirm the Parking Mode Low-Bitrate option even works, best for owners to test it themselves and see if quality is below 10Mbs.

I'm actually surprised how long it's taking VIOFO to finally solve the Parking Mode issue for it's top of the line Dash Cam.
Many customers will buy the A129 Duo for Parking Mode then take in for Professional installation only to discover the nice hidden cable hookup suddenly must be moved from GPS mount to side port of Front camera making it look worse.