Viofo A329S & A329T Testing

Vortex Radar said:
Isn't it simply a matter of downloading the files and putting them on the MicroSD card like usual? I didn't realize that they had different firmware versions like that, but isn't it basically just try one file, and if that doesn't work you delete it and try loading the other? I can try doing a quick update on my A129 Plus Duo to see if there's anything funky going on.

Edit: Nevermind, I'm seeing the same issue too, lol.

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I'm seeing newer firmware on the front cam and 2020 firmware for the rear cam too. Maybe that's what it's supposed to be?

I tried the *S file first and that updated. I then put the *SN file on the memory card, but that didn't do anything, so I guess my copy needs the *S one.

Back to the A329S though, I shot the video on the interior cam just now and it's time to edit. 🙂
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The last time I tried to update the firmware was when the A139 Pro was released, and I was blown away by seeing HDR work for the first time.
Shortly after Viofo released a firmware update that gave the A129 Plus Duo HDR.
So I want to test that.
At the time there was two separate files to update the firmware, one for front, one for rear, and you had to update them separately.
After 30-60 minutes I gave up, and went back to testing the A139 Pro.
If you, and I can’t figure this out what chance does a first time buyer have?

 
I agree that having the A329S/T/WW loader file with the same filename is a challenge for any user to keep straight which one is which. I don't know if it's within VIOFO's control to specify a name for the loader file or if it's a fixed filename based on the dev kit for the SoC. I would prefer the boot loader look for firmware files using a wildcard specification like "FWA329*.bin". Again, I don't know if that is within VIOFO's control either.

Recently, it was suggested by VIOFO that I should rename the FWA329T.bin to FWA329S.bin to try and load the "T" firmware into my "S" dash camera. While it seemed to make an attempt to load it, something was found by the loader to cause it to reject loading the "T" firmware with a "S" filename with a "S" loader in place. I created a video showing that behavior and sent it to VIOFO. That's when VIOFO stated they would make the loader files available on their website. I'm not saying it's a good thing to have a customer deal with multiple files, I'm just reporting what it currently takes to make the switch between submodel firmware types.

As far as OTA, I totally agree that the OTA feature should have been functional like VIOFO stated back with the v1.3.xx A229 Pro/Plus firmware versions.
 
Just finished the video on the new interior fisheye cam. I did it as a comparison of the A329S alongside some other popular 360° dashcams, especially in the interest of capturing things off to the side. Then I went into some of the A329S-specific settings and options for the interior fisheye.

 
Vortex Radar said:
Just finished the video on the new interior fisheye cam.
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Any plans to test a telephoto on the rear window?
I filmed this two hours ago, and the RTC300 is good enough to get the face of a motorcyclist wearing a full face helmet 15 minutes before sunset, (8:17PM)
In the same clip at 1:37 it captured two cars road raging 45 seconds before they ran up my behind.
C’mon @viofo, you’ve given us the A329WW, why not the A329TT? lol

 
Chuck McCoy said:
Any plans to test a telephoto on the rear window?
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I hadn't thought of that. I've got two cams on the rear window already and am trying to minimize blocking too much of my rear visibility, lol.

I was thinking about flipping the front telephoto around to the rear, similar to what Nextbase did.
Chuck McCoy said:
I filmed this two hours ago, and the RTC300 is good enough to get the face of a motorcyclist wearing a full face helmet 15 minutes before sunset, (8:17PM)
In the same clip at 1:37 it captured two cars road raging 45 seconds before they ran up my behind.
C’mon @viofo, you’ve given us the A329WW, why not the A329TT? lol

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Ah interesting. It's true that sometimes interesting stuff happens farther away and normal dashcams simply can't see them well.
 
Vortex Radar said:
Yesterday I received my new A329S and A329T. I've been eager looking forward to testing these out and installing them in the car. Over the next few weeks I wanna work on a series of videos as I test different aspects of the dashcams, and I can share my findings and videos here as I go.

First up is a general overview video of the two models.


To help put things into context, I also ran through Viofo's evolution of 4K flagships starting with the A129 Pro.

View attachment 81100

Here's the unboxing:


Here's a look at the interior fisheye cam and how it compares to some other options:

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Thanks mate for this great video! This is the highlight of the A329S in conjunction with the LP mode.
 
Chuck McCoy said:
C’mon @viofo, you’ve given us the A329WW, why not the A329TT? lol
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I remember Viofo saying that A329TT will be available as a custom option, though it may need a special bootloader / config / FW setup to work. It's on my wish list for Father's Day (very unlikely to happen)
 
Chuck McCoy said:
C’mon @viofo, you’ve given us the A329WW, why not the A329TT? lol
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viofo

Post in thread 'VIOFO A329T 3-Channel Telephoto Dashcam - 4k+2k+2k - Unboxing, First Impressions & Testing Europe'

danlat1415 said:
@viofo @VIOFO-Support is it possible to have main camera, interior and telephoto?
Instead of a rear?

The rear camera works on any port, but the telephoto only works on interior port.
Is this hardware limitation, or could it be opened up with a firmware revision?
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Yes, it is possible. Please wait for a few weeks, we will offer this bundle on the official site, and we need to release a new FW for this bundle.
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Viofo may release a one bootloader that be able to install any of A329S/T/W.bin files. It is so simple to write filename compare procedure not unique but one for all 3 update filenames.
 
So with proper firmware I'll be able to use A329T as a A329TT aswell? Because if so, I'll buy 2CH A329T + an additional telephoto to use as a rear camera.
 
Viofo added a new firmware (1.1) and the bootloader for switchen A329S to A329T and A329T to A329S on the support website
https://www.viofo.com/pages/firmware

1750070773291.webp
 
Chuck McCoy said:
Any plans to test a telephoto on the rear window?
I filmed this two hours ago, and the RTC300 is good enough to get the face of a motorcyclist wearing a full face helmet 15 minutes before sunset, (8:17PM)
In the same clip at 1:37 it captured two cars road raging 45 seconds before they ran up my behind.
C’mon @viofo, you’ve given us the A329WW, why not the A329TT? lol

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What does this have to do with the A329T? It's a different cam for the older Viofo models?
 
Ziradon said:
Viofo added a new firmware (1.1) and the bootloader for switchen A329S to A329T and A329T to A329S on the support website
https://www.viofo.com/pages/firmware

View attachment 81392
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Thanks for the heads up! I just updated my A329T, but I’ve lost the new parking recording options. My settings all reset when updating and I set the voltage cutoff to 8h again, but I’m not seeing the low power or hybrid parking recording options available.

Is anyone else seeing the same thing or is it still working?
 
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Vortex Radar said:
Thanks for the heads up! I just updated my A329T, but I’ve lost the new parking recording options. My settings all reset when updating and I set the voltage cutoff to 8h again, but I’m not seeing the low power or hybrid parking recording options available.

Is anyone else seeing the same thing or is it still working?
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Did you try manually defaulting the cameras settings?
 
I've got family in town at the moment so I don't have as much time for testing, but I've been collecting footage in the meantime and brainstorming ideas on how the telephoto can help.

For example, besides the usual stuff of helping capture license plates farther away, there's also things like capturing tiny motorcycle plates which are even smaller than car plates, capturing people's faces to see if there's distracted driving going on, capturing road rage farther away, as well as helping other people in case things like there's a crash up ahead or someone breaks into a car in front of you. You can get a better look at the thief. There's also fun stuff like getting a better view of wildlife in the road in national parks or better capturing beautiful mounts and scenery on road trips.

Traditional dashcams are optimized for wide angle coverage, and you can do things to help compensate such as using higher res sensors, faster shutter speeds for reduced motion blur like what Vantrue does with PlatePix, or HDR to also help reduce motion blur as well as grab plates when your headlights are shining on them. A telephoto would help do things on the optical side that you simply can't get away with with software zoom and processing.

I'm thinking of my ideal setup here for total coverage and I'm thinking of a 6 cam setup, lol.
1) Front regular, front telephoto, interior fisheye cabin
2) Regular front cam installed on rear window, plus two fisheye cabin cams installed on rear side windows to give the side recording. A fisheye would help give the added coverage front and rear that a normal real cam mounted on the side would miss.

Not sure yet if I'd also benefit from a rear telephoto, but I'm hesitant to block too much of my rear visibility (I already run 2 rear cams in my Audi, for example, and I'd rather keep it to one in the Kia.. and a front cam in the rear is gonna be bigger than a traditional rear cam) plus it would require 7 cameras which I can't do with a pair of A329x's.
 
Vortex Radar said:
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I'm thinking of my ideal setup here for total coverage and I'm thinking of a 6 cam setup, lol.
1) Front regular, front telephoto, interior fisheye cabin
2) Regular front cam installed on rear window, plus two fisheye cabin cams installed on rear side windows to give the side recording. A fisheye would help give the added coverage front and rear that a normal real cam mounted on the side would miss.

Not sure yet if I'd also benefit from a rear telephoto, but I'm hesitant to block too much of my rear visibility (I already run 2 rear cams in my Audi, for example, and I'd rather keep it to one in the Kia.. and a front cam in the rear is gonna be bigger than a traditional rear cam) plus it would require 7 cameras which I can't do with a pair of A329x's.
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That is pretty much what I do at the moment. If I were to use the A329x I would use the main chassis wide angle, telephoto, and fisheye for both the front and rear. A fish eye from the front looking rearward and a fisheye at the rear looking forward would pretty much capture surrounding events. Wiring the main chassis in the rear requires adding wire to the HK4/6 to step down the 12vdc to 5vdc. Of course if there is a rear CLA or available 5vdc power source that could be used as well.
 
lufa6977 said:
That is pretty much what I do at the moment. If I were to use the A329x I would use the main chassis wide angle, telephoto, and fisheye for both the front and rear. A fish eye from the front looking rearward and a fisheye at the rear looking forward would pretty much capture surrounding events.
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hmm, that's an interesting idea.. sacrificing the dedicated side cams for an interior fisheye and a rear telephoto. Wouldn't that be a lot on the rear window though with 3 cameras? How is your rear visibility?
lufa6977 said:
Wiring the main chassis in the rear requires adding wire to the HK4/6 to step down the 12vdc to 5vdc. Of course if there is a rear CLA or available 5vdc power source that could be used as well.
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You could use a 5v USB port I suppose, but would your parking mode recording work properly? I always do traditional hardwire cables for both front and rear cams when doing independent cams like this.
 
Vortex Radar said:
hmm, that's an interesting idea.. sacrificing the dedicated side cams for an interior fisheye and a rear telephoto. Wouldn't that be a lot on the rear window though with 3 cameras? How is your rear visibility?

You could use a 5v USB port I suppose, but would your parking mode recording work properly? I always do traditional hardwire cables for both front and rear cams when doing independent cams like this.
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I have a Subaru Outback, so there is a good bit of glass. The main chassis is in center of rear window, in the arc of the wiper blades. The interior non-fisheye is positioned on the drivers side, upper portion of the glass. This position catches the image along the driver side exterior (some), the inside and passenger front and side. The front interior is positioned on the upper glass to the right of the windscreen, and looks along the passenger exterior (some) and catches all of the driver side, including driver window, and the driver side exterior all to the rear.

The only issue I found with this setup is at nighttime, the IFR LED from the interior cams will sometimes trigger each other and the camera will record for extended periods. I have not been able to resolve this other than to disable the IFR LED for one camera. I even blacked out my garage completely and this still occurred. What I noticed were, from the video anyway, were one led would seem to increase in brightness and this would trigger the other interior camera and it would start recording. No idea what causes this fluctuation in power to the IFR LED ( using two HK4 ).

So far, there has been no impact on my Odyssey AGM 24M battery, but I also use the car everyday. Odyssey AGM24M Once or twice a month I do a full charge with my CTEK wall charger.

Yep, not likely the parking mode will do too very well on the CLA, but it can be used for those that do not want parking mode. Frankly, I find it much saner to just pull in the HK4 or whatever wiring and take advantage of parking mode.

I think that somewhere on DCT, I posted images of how the HK4 with extended power leads. I would almost bet a dozen donuts that @viofo would extend the power lead if asked to do so in a support ticket. By doing that I was able to place the HK4 controller close to the dash cam in the rear.
 
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