Viofo A139 Pro - 1|2|3 Channel 4K STARVIS-2 HDR + FHD dashcam

[Panzer Platform]

Lack of cloud connectivity is what kept me from pre ordering the A139 Pro. This will be my first dashcam. Should I be looking more at the video quality of the Viofo and disregard the cloud issue. Any idea why Viofo doesn’t offer cloud service or if they have any plans to offer that feature in the future. Any idea if Dride for Viofo works as a cloud provider. Thank you.

Hello 72 Guy,
I've only been using Viofo Dash Cams since 2019.
And the reason I like them is because they DO NOT have cloud connectivity, and extravagant features like ADAS, or other bells & whistle features that just add system complexity.
For my application, the only two things I want in a dash can are reliability, and the highest possible image quality.
Everything else after that takes a back seat.
-Chuck

 

[72guy]

kamkar
Thanks for such a complete and thoughtful response to my questions. I’d have to say that at this point I’m definitely leaning towards the A139Pro and experiment with Dride if I think cloud capability is something I really need. I’m looking forward to the excellent and in-depth reviews of the 139 Pro that I’m able to read on DCT.

 

[72guy]

Panzer
Sounds like you’re a strong advocate for the KISS principle. And I’ve got to say, I agree with you. Looks like I missed out on the free 128G sd card promotion. But, by waiting to purchase, I’ll be aware of any pitfalls of the camera when more reports start coming in.

 

[Mtz]

I just created full size screenshots of the two video frames and uploaded them to a Google drive folder.

Do you remember the HDR status? Was on on A139P and off on DR900 ?

 

[kamkar]

Cameras with the starvis 2 sensors are to me the most interesting things on the dashcam scene right now, and i am in no way expecting any major disruption of things, but as always i am ready to be blown away.

And i am also often blown away, but most often by mediocrity and stupidity coming at me from every direction as i walk down the home stretch of my life. BUT ! thats a whole other matter.

 

[Nigel]

Lack of cloud connectivity is what kept me from pre ordering the A139 Pro. This will be my first dashcam. Should I be looking more at the video quality of the Viofo and disregard the cloud issue. Any idea why Viofo doesn’t offer cloud service or if they have any plans to offer that feature in the future. Any idea if Dride for Viofo works as a cloud provider. Thank you.

What are you expecting a cloud service to give you, and will it actually be of any use?

Note that most dashcams that upload video to the cloud do so at SDR resolution or VGA, not even 16:9 aspect ratio! And often at low frame rate; it is far from good quality video, although it can sometimes still show what happened.

We see very few examples of cloud features being of real use. Is it actually important for you to receive a message in the middle of your meal to tell you that you need to go and check your car. This will disrupt your meal, while if you had not found out until you returned to your car, then you could have enjoyed your meal, and quite likely it was a false alarm anyway!

Cloud uploading is only really needed if you think that your memory card is going to get stolen, in which case you probably want to fit a hidden GPS tracker to the vehicle. There are a few other genuine uses, mainly for commercial vehicles, and of course if cloud functionality worked well and came for virtually free then we would all want it, but it doesn't.

 

[72guy]

Got it. Thanks, Nigel

 

[rcg530]

Do you remember the HDR status? Was on on A139P and off on DR900 ?

Back in post #53 I listed the info for each camera. HDR was on in the A139 Pro.



The BlackVue X Plus series cameras don't allow you to change anything exposure related. The only thing you can select is the "Image Quality" setting for the video bitrate and it was at the "Highest (Extreme)" setting which is the default value.

 

[kamkar]

Yeah my bet are on original video on the internal storage ( micro sd card )

If you @72guy are weary about your data security i applaud that, but theft of the memory card / the whole camera are still pretty rare, but of course you should install the system as stealthy as you can for sure, no need to advertise you are recording anything, in a alteration it might even aggravate things if the other part are the unpleasant type and spot the camera.

A alternative solution to this worry are the systems ( only a few of them sadly ) that have the cameras remote from the main box with the memory card, this mean you can hide that box pretty good in the car, and most times that will be enough as people do not have time to trace wires.
A plus with these remote style systems are that generally the camera units are very small, some even super small, thats a big deal in regard to stealth.

You should also browse the where did you mount the camera thread, it is pich heavy and feature all kind of cameras installed in all kind of ways depending on what is possible with the car people have.
That might give you ideas what is possible in your car with the layout it have on the windscreen.

Where did you mount the camera? Post your pictures

dashcamtalk.com

 

[DoubleDawg]

Panzer
Sounds like you’re a strong advocate for the KISS principle. And I’ve got to say, I agree with you. Looks like I missed out on the free 128G sd card promotion. But, by waiting to purchase, I’ll be aware of any pitfalls of the camera when more reports start coming in.

Viofo actually just changed it from a pre-order deal to a Black Friday deal, so the free 128 GB card and $30 off is now still available through November 30.

 

[Mtz]

Back in post #53 I listed the info for each camera. HDR was on in the A139 Pro.

OK, so BlackVue didn't had HDR enabled. When you have time and if you want, maybe you will post snapshots like on post #53 but with both dashcams having HDR On and then both of them HDR Off.
Small things like this are not important for most of the people, but for people like me are important because when doing side by side comparison the setup must to be very correct to not create some advantage for one of the dashcams. Of course, always will be some very little disadvantage for one of them because cannot be installed at exactly at the same position, but both of them can have exactly the same line of horizon (which is the most important thing when doing side by side comparison).

 

[Nigel]

IMHO, I don't see differences
Looks like "dr900x plus" is little bit overexposed ("for lease" sign at right is white and not visible), but, on the other hand, texture of the tree at left is better visible.

Quite a lot of the bright stuff is over exposed on the DR900, while the dark stuff is just slightly brighter than on the A139 Pro, so the problem for the DR900 is mainly insufficient dynamic range rather than overexposure.

Also noticeable from the size of the above cutouts that the A139 Pro has a bit more magnification, which helps to record a little more detail in everything that hasn't fallen off the sides of the image. Doesn't make a lot of difference and some people will prefer the wider field of view, personally I think the DR900 is a little too wide.

Note that these images do not show any bitrate limitations, because there is no motion, so not much bitrate is needed. The quality of the DR900 images decreases significantly with some movement.

 

[Mtz]

Quite a lot of the bright stuff is over exposed on the DR900

The DR900 image is overexposed also because of different mount situation. In the DR900 image appears a black A139 Pro, some black dots, the black mirror. Also the horizon line of the dashcams is not at the same level, the prefect spot for comparison is the roof of that central house. Difference of brightness can be seen also on the car dashboard. With HDR Off I expect also the A139 Pro image to be more bright and the sky to become overexposed.

 

[rcg530]

OK, so BlackVue didn't had HDR enabled. When you have time and if you want, maybe you will post snapshots like on post #53 but with both dashcams having HDR On and then both of them HDR Off.
Small things like this are not important for most of the people, but for people like me are important because when doing side by side comparison the setup must to be very correct to not create some advantage for one of the dashcams. Of course, always will be some very little disadvantage for one of them because cannot be installed at exactly at the same position, but both of them can have exactly the same line of horizon (which is the most important thing when doing side by side comparison).

The DR900X Plus does not have a HDR on/off setting.

 

[mentadent]

Easy to build own cloud thing.

 

[Mtz]

The DR900X Plus does not have a HDR on/off setting.

I didn't know that only 900S have HDR, I assumed that also 900X have HDR. Also on your Blackvue custom text the last word was OFF so I assumed that means HDR off.

 

[rcg530]

I didn't know that only 900S have HDR, I assumed that also 900X have HDR. Also on your Blackvue custom text the last word was OFF so I assumed that means HDR off.

The DR900S and DR900X dash cameras do have a HDR setting that can be changed by the user (don't have my original DR900S to get a screenshot). The "OFF" in the bottom right of the BlackVue DR900X Plus screenshot is the 2-channel dash camera noting that the rear camera is not connected (operating in 1-channel mode). That section of the BlackVue camera status text notes whether a camera is connected and what general resolution it can operate in.

DR900X Plus - with rear camera connected (front - rear)


DR900X Plus - operating in single channel mode (OFF = rear camera not connected)


Older DR900X - with HDR enabled


DR750X-3CH Plus (front - rear - interior)


Beginning with the "X Plus" series of dash cameras, Pittasoft changed the firmware to remove the recording/exposure related settings from the user. The "X Plus" series is also when they introduced the RC110F rear camera which at times grossly underexposes the rear video, but there are no user selectable settings to change the rear cameras exposure level. I've been chasing that issue with Pittasoft for a very long time.

Here are two screenshots of the firmware settings related to recording for both the older "DR900X" and the current generation "DR900X Plus" (model info in upper left of screenshot - unit I have installed in my car).

 

[Uaciuganadu]

Easy to build own cloud thing.

What do you mean by this?

 

[mentadent]

File list is on HTTP it's easy

 

[KoSoVaR]

Trying to sum this thread up for a newb like myself. Seems like the consensus is that the A139 Pro is > 900X Plus at the moment due to the starvis 2 sensor on the front cam. It seems objectively better than the BV sensor.

With Black Friday deals available for both models, I’m leaning towards the viofo only after reading this thread.

Any other gotchas before I ship it? Thanks for the entertainment!