VIOFO A329S - Testing/Review - RCG

[Nigel]

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It is not very clear what that means, could be interpreted in different ways, but I think it is saying that you get 60fps on the front camera and 30fps on the others. It will only be 30fps on the front if using HDR.

 

[rcg530]

Can't seem to find any specs on frame rate when running in 3-ch modes.. I'm assuming the front camera drops to 30 FPS when running 3 sensors?

VIOFO A329S 3CH First 4K 30FPS Front+2K Wide 210° FOV Fisheye Cabin+2K Rear Dash Cam with STARVIS 2 Sensor 3-Channel HDR, Support SSD Storage

A329S 3CH powered by Sony STARVIS 2 IMX678 & IMX675 Sensors, the 210° fisheye cabin camera is VIOFO's first cabin camera to record in 2K resolution, providing an enhanced clarity of the interior. With four infrared LED lights, it preserves more details in low-light conditions.

www.viofo.com

The "Specs" page entries show the max possible resolution for each camera, not what each camera's resolution is in 3-channel mode.

Here are the video resolutions offered in the Resolution settings menu with the test firmware that I have in my A329S:

• 3-channel
  • 4K P30+2K P30+2K P30
  • 4K 21:9+2K 21:9+2K 21:9
  • 2K P30+2K P30+2K P30
  • 1080P30+1080P30+1080P30
• 2-channel [Front + Rear] or [Front + Interior]
  • 4K P60+2K P30
  • 4KP60 21:9+2K 21:9
  • 4K P30+2K P30
  • 4KP30 21:9+2K 21:9
  • 2K P60+2K P30
  • 2K P30+2K P30
  • 1080 P30 + 1080 P30
• 1-channel
  • 4K 60fps
  • 4K 21:9 60fps
  • 4K 30fps
  • 4K 21:9 30fps
  • 2K 60fps
  • 2K 30fps

 

[Chuck McCoy]

It is not very clear what that means, could be interpreted in different ways

Don't shoot the messenger, I just posted the specifications link. lol

 

[Chewy]

Do you happen to have the CPL for the A329S rear camera or telephoto camera? Trying to understand if the existing A329 CPL that's offered for today's rear camera is the same, and interchangeable with the telephoto - or if I should just wait until one is officially released and listed as 'supported'.

 

[rcg530]

Do you happen to have the CPL for the A329S rear camera or telephoto camera? Trying to understand if the existing A329 CPL that's offered for today's rear camera is the same, and interchangeable with the telephoto - or if I should just wait until one is officially released and listed as 'supported'.

Yesterday, I posted this answer in another thread.

Short answer: The CPL-500 will NOT fit the telephoto / interior cameras. The prototype A329S I have came with a rear [inside] camera that has the same case as the A329 rear [inside] camera, so the CPL-500 will fit that. There does appear to be a change in the production A329S/A329T rear [inside] camera case since it appears to be the same size and have ventilation holes like the interior/telephoto cameras. I have not received my production A329S yet, but it does appear the production A329S/A329T rear [inside] camera will not accept the CPL-500. It looks like a CPL-600 [from what I've read on this site] will be needed for the interior, telephoto, and the rear [inside] cameras.

Post in thread 'Viofo A329T (unboxing & first impressions) (Sony Starvis 2 IMX678, Wi-Fi 6/GPS, HDR, Novatek NT98530, 4K front + 2.5K telephoto + 2.5K rear, HDR all)'

May 19, 2025

Glad to see the A329S products finally available for sale on viofo.com! I am buying the A329T 2CH with the short 0.15m telephoto cable (almost missed that choice). This doesn't come with the CPL filter for the telephoto, which I read is a new RTC-400. Will the same CPL-500 filter work or do I need to wait until a new accessory becomes available?

The CPL-500 will not fit on the A329T telephoto camera case. The CPL-500 will not fit on the A329S/T rear [interior] camera case as well if VIOFO has changed the case to the one with the ventilation slots.

Here are two...

• rcg530

• 

 

[DashcamDriversGermany]

The housing for the rear-camera from A329S is not exact same size as A329, I think somebody already posted comparison-photos somewhere in the forum.
So the regular CPL500 for A329-Rear-Camera does not match.

I have not unboxed the A329T yet tho because i focussed on A329S-testing first. But from the product photos I think telephoto A329T uses same housing as A329S-Rear-Camera.

 

[-orion-]

How does the bitrate split look when using the 3ch configuration of front back and telephoto or interior cam? In the a329 the front has 65mbps and the back has ~25mbps. Does the front bitrate drop to share bandwith with the telephoto as in the a229 3ch or is it different now?

 

[rcg530]

How does the bitrate split look when using the 3ch configuration of front back and telephoto or interior cam? In the a329 the front has 65mbps and the back has ~25mbps. Does the front bitrate drop to share bandwith with the telephoto as in the a229 3ch or is it different now?

I have not gathered test footage for bitrate measuring purposes in 2CH mode.

1CH mode: Bitrate = Maximum / 65.53 Mbps (F)
3CH mode: Bitrate = Maximum / 65.53 Mbps (F) + 27.03 Mbps (R) + 27.03 Mbps (I)

 

[-orion-]

I have not gathered test footage for bitrate measuring purposes in 2CH mode.

1CH mode: Bitrate = Maximum / 65.53 Mbps (F)
3CH mode: Bitrate = Maximum / 65.53 Mbps (F) + 27.03 Mbps (R) + 27.03 Mbps (I)

This looks very promising as it suggests the 3rd cam doenst share bandwith with the main 4k sensor as in the a229pro, otherwise youd see a ~40+25+25 split.

The curious thing is that the a329 in 1ch mode uses 90mbps for the front sensor and the S apparently keeps a constant 65 regardless of 1, 2 or 3 ch.

 

[Nigel]

The curious thing is that the a329 in 1ch mode uses 90mbps for the front sensor and the S apparently keeps a constant 65 regardless of 1, 2 or 3 ch.

1. There is very little improvement in going from 65 to 90 Mb/s. You don't need it for accident video.
2. These bitrates may not be the final rates yet.

3. 27.03 Mb/s is a very good bitrate for a rear camera, most brands are giving more like 10 Mb/s for the rear! This should be as good as putting a separate A119 Mini 2 on the rear.

 

[-orion-]

1. There is very little improvement in going from 65 to 90 Mb/s. You don't need it for accident video.
2. These bitrates may not be the final rates yet.

3. 27.03 Mb/s is a very good bitrate for a rear camera, most brands are giving more like 10 Mb/s for the rear! This should be as good as putting a separate A119 Mini 2 on the rear.

I agree that 95mbps for the front is useless overkill but on the other hand id be dissapointed if the newest flagship still had to drop to 40mbps on the main 4k sensor to accomodate the 3rd cam, just like the a229 pro did.

Additional 27mbps for the 3rd cam is indeed excellent, does it mean there are hardware changes on the S like a new more powerul chipset or does the non s version not fully utilize its horsepower?

 

[Nigel]

Additional 27mbps for the 3rd cam is indeed excellent, does it mean there are hardware changes on the S like a new more powerul chipset or does the non s version not fully utilize its horsepower?

There is a new interior camera. I assume the codec for the interior channel is on the interior camera for the A329S, so there is not much extra work to do for the main camera processor, while on the A229 it is the main camera that has the codec. The non S version doesn't have a 3rd channel. Having said that, if you are using a multiplex option which includes the interior channel, the video must have a final encode on the main processor, but everything else will have already been done.

 

[-orion-]

There is a new interior camera. I assume the codec for the interior channel is on the interior camera for the A329S, so there is not much extra work to do for the main camera processor, while on the A229 it is the main camera that has the codec. The non S version doesn't have a 3rd channel. Having said that, if you are using a multiplex option which includes the interior channel, the video must have a final encode on the main processor, but everything else will have already been done.

The interior camera is new and I guess the telephoto is new too as a329s has only coax interface and the rtc300 is usbc.

 

[Dex_]

does it mean there are hardware changes on the S like a new more powerul chipset or does the non s version not fully utilize its horsepower?

A329 and A329S uses same processor - NT98530, with 4 ARM Cortex a53 cores and integrated CEVA SensPro2 DSP for AI image processing (uses for MultiplexVideo and FishEye corrections as example).
A329 utilize it enough for boot up and start recording a twice faster than A329S.

 

[-orion-]

A329 and A329S uses same processor - NT98530, with 4 ARM Cortex a53 cores and integrated CEVA SensPro2 DSP for AI image processing (uses for MultiplexVideo and FishEye corrections as example).
A329 utilize it enough for boot up and start recording a twice faster than A329S.

Since it looks like the brain of both cameras is the same I hope they can potentially add the hybrid parking and low power impact mode to my a329 non S via a firmware update...

 

[Nigel]

Ok so the hardware is ssignificantly different, bummer as I hoped they could potentially add the hybrid parking and low power impact mode to my a329 non S via a firmware update, it seems unlikely now.

The hardware is basically the same, but there are changes for the 3rd channel. I don't know if there are any hardware changes to support sleep mode, I guess not, and I don't think any changes are needed to support the HK6. So I think there is a possibility, but I wouldn't expect it to be done soon, since there will be firmware changes needed, I suspect a Novatek SDK update, and a fair amount of testing.

 

[Accomplished_Arm_447]

I hope they can potentially add the hybrid parking and low power impact mode to my a329 non S via a firmware update...

A similar hybrid mode that falls back from whatever choice of Parking Mode during the day to use Night Vision when it is too dark instead of recording black would nice too.

 

[rcg530]

Hybrid Parking Mode

This feature allows the use of one of previously available parking modes [Time-Lapse 1fps, Low Bitrate, Auto Event Detection] along with the new low power impact detection parking [LPID] mode.

• Options: [Primary -> Secondary]
  • Time-lapse 1fps -> Impact
  • Low Bitrate -> Impact
  • Event Detection -> Impact

When the dash camera first enters parking mode, it will record/monitor as defined by the primary parking mode. When one of the the "Vehicle Battery Protection" settings limits has been exceeded / breached, the dash camera will transition from the primary parking mode to the secondary parking mode of low power impact detection. The dash camera will continue to operate in LPID parking mode until the input voltage level to the hardwire kit goes below the hardwire kit's slide switch selected low voltage cut-off value.

Hybrid Required Settings:

To select one of the "Hybrid Parking" modes, you must have one or both of the settings in the "Vehicle Battery Protection" settings group [Cut-off Time, Cut-off Voltage] set to something other than "Off".

Vehicle Battery Protection:

Cut-off Time: [HK4 & HK6 hardwire kits]

The maximum amount of time to allow the primary parking mode to be operational. When the amount of time the primary parking mode has been operational exceeds the cut-off time value, the dash camera will transition from the primary parking mode to LPID parking mode.

• Options
  • Off
  • 30 minutes
  • 1 hour
  • 2 hours
  • 3 hours
  • 4 hours
  • 6 hours
  • 8 hours
  • 12 hours
  • 24 hours
  • 48 hours

Cut-off Voltage: [HK6 hardwire kit only]

When the voltage level of the power supplied to the HK6 hardwire kit goes below the selected value, the dash camera will transition from the primary parking mode to LPID parking mode.

• Options
  • 12.4V / 24.8V
  • 12.2V / 24.4V
  • 12.0V / 24.0V

Additional Low Voltage Setting:

The HK4 and the new HK6 hardwire kit have a user selectable low voltage cut-off value via a slide switch. This voltage selection defines when the hardwire kit will stop powering the dash camera in parking mode.

 

[haiou_f]

@Chuck McCoy here are two frame grabs from the A229 Pro 1080p interior camera and the A329S 1440p interior camera with HDR on. My car was in my "dark" garage. Still a few floating dust particles in the video, but I found some video frames that were "dust free". The A329S interior camera has the fish eye mode setting set to on.

View attachment 80130 View attachment 80131

The 329 internal camera seems to have not improved significantly in terms of clarity and viewing angle, which should be learned from the 70mai camera

 

[rcg530]

Parking Mode - Video Storage

The A329S/A329T dash cameras allow the user to select where [MicroSD Card, External SSD] the video files are stored during normal recording mode and parking mode.

If you intend to use the new "Low Power Impact Detection" [LPID] parking mode by explicitly selecting LPID parking mode or use one of the three Hybrid Parking Modes [HPM] which end up switching to LPID parking mode, you must select the "MicroSD Card" video storage option for parking mode video files. The normal mode recording files can be stored on the external SSD, but the LPID files must be stored on the microSD card.

If you attempt to select the "External SSD" option for the "Parking Files Storage" setting with LPID parking mode being the selected parking mode, this message appears:

If you attempt to select the "External SSD" option for the "Parking Files Storage" setting with one of the three hybrid parking modes being the selected parking mode, this message appears: