VIOFO Improvement Wish List 2024

[Panzer Platform]

@viofo @VIOFO-Support

1.) 24 Month Warranty, (30 Months with product registration)
2.) More efficient processors, (lower heat generation)
3.) Better heat dissipation, (bigger heat sinks)
4.) All 4K cameras 100 Mbps Bitrate
5.) All 2K cameras 50 Mbps Bitrate
6.) All IR Interior cameras 2K, (no more 1080p)
7.) Optional 60fps all models / all channels
8.) APP Live View Alignment Line



9.) Optional text stamp colors to increase legibility, (yellow characters on black background)




10.) Option to display text stamp at top, or bottom



11.) Larger text size on 4K models, (2K is correct size)




12.) Available Recording Time in addition to “Free Space on Card” for screenless models in APP
Models with LCD screens display Available Recording Time in the top right corner when recording is stopped




13.) 2TB SD Card support
14.) Swivel Mount for IR Interior cameras, (ability to show driver / passenger window during traffic stop)
15.) Optional CPL Filter for all Rear cameras
16.) Optional OBD2 Power Cable for parking mode
17.) Hardwire kit with capability to disable LVC, (low voltage cutoff);
https://dashcamtalk.com/forum/threads/viofo-prototype-hardwire-kit-test-review.50809/
18.) CLA Car Charger with LVC, (low voltage cutoff) 12.4V, 12.2V, 12.0V, 11.8V, OFF
19.) Voice Command guard phrase; “OK Viofo”
20.) Voice Command; “Turn On HDR” & “Turn Off HDR”
21.) Voice Notification; “GPS Signal Connected” & “GPS Signal Disconnected”
22.) Box Version Models, (separate cameras & processor box)
23.) Budget Suction Cup Model, (rental car, travel, temporary applications)
24.) Budget Rear View Mirror Model, (rental car, travel, temporary applications)
25.) Included 50cm Type-C to Type-C Data Cable (Replace 50cm Type-A to Type-C Data Cable)
26.) Included Viofo Brand 64GB SD Card
27.) Included Hardwire Kit
28.) Low Power Parking Mode, (Vueroid D21 4K)
29.) No Cloud, No Radar, No ADAS, No Geo-Fence, No AI, No H.265 (keep H.264 until 2034)

 

[DT MI]

26.) Included Viofo Brand 64GB SD Card

27.) Included Hardwire Kit

Keep these optional - not everyone wants them.

 

[icore]

coloured stamps thats what we want

 

[Panzer Platform]

Keep these optional - not everyone wants them.

Included Viofo Brand SD Card
Will reduce;
1.) Viofo man power spent dealing with tech support inquiries
2.) Diagnosis time for malfunctions by providing the consumer with a “known good card”
Will increase;
1.) Customer satisfaction
2.) Repeat buyers

Included Hardwire Kit
Will reduce;
1.) Viofo man power spent dealing with tech support inquiries
2.) Disgruntled first time buyers
Will increase;
1.) Customer satisfaction
2.) Repeat buyers

 

[DT MI]

Included Viofo Brand SD Card
Will reduce;
1.) Viofo man power spent dealing with tech support inquiries
2.) Diagnosis time for malfunctions by providing the consumer with a “known good card”
Will increase;
1.) Customer satisfaction
2.) Repeat buyers

Included Hardwire Kit
Will reduce;
1.) Viofo man power spent dealing with tech support inquiries
2.) Disgruntled first time buyers
Will increase;
1.) Customer satisfaction
2.) Repeat buyers

Does NOT change the fact that not everyone wants or needs them - and including them only increases the cost. The 'benefits' you listed only benefit Viofo.

 

[Panzer Platform]

The 'benefits' you listed only benefit Viofo.

Viofo only has 50+ employees.
If they can reduce man power spent dealing with tech support, they can allocate those resources to improve the product.
“Bad food, medicine ineffective. Good food, medicine not needed.”

 

[DT MI]

Viofo only has 50+ employees.
If they can reduce man power spent dealing with tech support, they can allocate those resources to improve the product.
“Bad food, medicine ineffective. Good food, medicine not needed.”

Does NOT change the fact the the added cost of the product will only benefit Viofo.

 

[Mtz]

No manufacturer will produce such camera because its price will be too hight and it will not sell. Such ideas can be good when iPhone will launch a dashcam, iPhone fans will pay $2000 on an iPhone dashcam.

Regarding warranty, in Europe it is 2 years. The bigger the warranty period the less care from the buyers for the product. Most of the buyers are thinking that they can do anything with the product, the seller must replace it forever in those two years.

Viofo dashcam can last more than two years if it is used and installed correctly. Most of the warranty problems are because of user fault. The product is good and if it was some mistake from the factory it will fail in first days. Right now I can say that one fault from some Viofo batch was out of focus lens and such problem should be covered by warranty even more than 2 years.

But you cant (?) put the dashcam in parking mode covered with a windshield sun protector and ask for warranty. You cant only in theory, in real life people are using windshield sun protectors and claiming the warranty after they are damaging the dashcams. A dashcam in these conditions will not last even one year, what to say about 2 years?

Finally, I expect Viofo will not offer 2 years warranty just because of people. A dashcam sitting in the sun, recording on some bad cards it is a too stressed product. Compare it with a fridge in the kitchen or a TV in a bedroom. They are inside, protected from human errors like bad installation or bad cards so I expect for such products to have 2 years of warranty.

 

[Agie]

4k 100mbps doesn't even happen with flagship phones so not sure how it will here, maybe at 60fps but not 30fps. That's reserved for high end mirrorless and DSLR APS-C cameras.

Agree with the rest though, I think Novatek have them by the balls though unless competitors can come up with better chipset solutions.

 

[Panzer Platform]

No manufacturer will produce such camera because its price will be too high

I agree.
When the first CD player came out it was $1,000, eventually the price came down to $30.
Hopefully these specifications will become affordable, I’m “wishing on a star”.

The product is good and if it was some mistake from the factory it will fail in first days.

This is so true, if the dash cam can outlast my 30 days of torture testing it will outlast the warranty period.

I expect Viofo will not offer 2 years warranty

BlackVue has 2 year warranty.
Gimme, gimme, gimme. lol

 

[Panzer Platform]

4k 100mbps doesn't even happen with flagship phones so not sure how it will here, maybe at 60fps but not 30fps. That's reserved for high end mirrorless and DSLR APS-C cameras.

It's just a "wish" list.
You don't get what you don't ask for. lol

 

[Agie]

It's just a "wish" list.
You don't get what you don't ask for. lol

Lol of course it is but unlikely ever to get it. At least the industry is still moving forward I guess haha

 

[Panzer Platform]

At least the industry is still moving forward I guess haha

My Sony Action Cam from 2015 does 50 Mbps, and it’s only 1080p;

https://www.sony.com/electronics/support/action-cam-hdr-as-series/hdr-as200v/specifications

9 Years later Viofo is only giving us 60 Mbps for 4K.
Of course this is apples to oranges, but this doesn’t sound right for a decade of tech advancement.
I want my MTV. lol

 

[Agie]

My Sony Action Cam from 2015 does 50 Mbps, and it’s only 1080p;

https://www.sony.com/electronics/support/action-cam-hdr-as-series/hdr-as200v/specifications

9 Years later Viofo is only giving us 60 Mbps for 4K.
Of course this is apples to oranges, but this doesn’t sound right for a decade of tech advancement.
I want my MTV. lol

View attachment 71785
View attachment 71786
View attachment 71787

Admittedly that was a low to high end action cam from a big brand. Just checked Sony a6300 from 2016 that was a lower end APS-C and that had 100mbps XAVC S.

Unless Sony or some other big wig imaging brand make a dashcam it ain't gonna happen. Lower end electronics just don't get those bitrates lol. One can dream....

 

[Panzer Platform]

Admittedly that was a low to high end action cam from a big brand.

HDR-AS200V was the “entry level” model for $270.
The 4K model FDR-X3000R (2015) was $500 with 100 Mbps.

https://www.sony.com/lr/electronics/actioncam/fdr-x3000-body-kit/specifications

Unless Sony or some other big wig imaging brand make a dashcam it ain't gonna happen. Lower end electronics just don't get those bitrates lol. One can dream.

How can you be so pessimistic / unimaginative?
I was taught to dream big, so I’ll be left with bigger pieces if they’re shattered.
It's not like I'm asking for 8K120fps 250 Mbps. lol

 

[Agie]

HDR-AS200V was the “entry level” model for $270.
The 4K model FDR-X3000R (2015) was $500 with 100 Mbps.

https://www.sony.com/lr/electronics/actioncam/fdr-x3000-body-kit/specifications

View attachment 71788
View attachment 71789

How can you be so pessimistic / unimaginative?
I was taught to dream big, so I’ll be left with bigger pieces if they’re shattered.
It's not like I'm asking for 8K120fps 250 Mbps. lol

I dabbled in mirrorless cameras for years, and have had extensive experience with smartphones for 20 years. Not being pessimistic. Being realistic.

 

[kamkar]

My action camera dji Osmo action V1, do 4K/60 100 mbit, and what is amazing is it dont really go strait to overheating either, i can record a whole battery worth of footage just fine, without being outside and in a hurricane.
I would like better ( higher ) bitrate too, but NOT when saving to stupid little SD cards, i want another faster form of storage for that.

And i do feel its about time someone did a rethink on dashcam storage, CUZ that is what you need to be able to do all the other stuff you might want to do.

 

[Agie]

My action camera dji Osmo action V1, do 4K/60 100 mbit, and what is amazing is it dont really go strait to overheating either, i can record a whole battery worth of footage just fine, without being outside and in a hurricane.
I would like better ( higher ) bitrate too, but NOT when saving to stupid little SD cards, i want another faster form of storage for that.

And i do feel its about time someone did a rethink on dashcam storage, CUZ that is what you need to be able to do all the other stuff you might want to do.

I had the first gen DJI Osmo Pocket, same boat with 100mbps. But wasn't running for hours a day and exposed to direct sunlight and heat though. Can't fault DJI on their reliability compared to GoPro.

eMMC is still slow but seeing more dashcams with them now, obviously they must think the reliability is ok if they're going with that over microSD cards. Personally I'd prefer UFS storage but that would have to come down in price first.

 

[Nigel]

4k 100mbps doesn't even happen with flagship phones so not sure how it will here, maybe at 60fps but not 30fps. That's reserved for high end mirrorless and DSLR APS-C cameras.

The Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max is a flagship phone.

It does 4K 60fps at 1768Mbps.

It is a bit power hungry when achieving that, and suffers from "Slow recording speed" errors if you don't meet Apple's storage requirements:

• 4K at 60 frames per second (fps), iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max only, when using an external storage device that supports speeds of at least 220MB per second and maximum power draw of 4.5W
• Your external storage device must be formatted with APFS or exFAT. Password-encrypted drives aren’t supported.
• Use a USB 3 cable with speed of at least 10 Gbits per second.
• Your external storage device must write at speeds of at least 220 MB per second. If you attach a slower external storage device, you may get a Slow Recording Speed message. (Nigel: in reality you get dropped frames.)
• Use the Files app to format your external storage device and manage your ProRes files.

Of course it can't manage 4 simultaneous channels, only one.

And i do feel its about time someone did a rethink on dashcam storage, CUZ that is what you need to be able to do all the other stuff you might want to do.

We have to use flash storage, magnetic storage wont survive an accident.

Flash storage is not designed for recording multiple simultaneous channels. If you look at the speed test results then it is quite fast for sequential writes, but very poor for the random (and parallel) writes.

We can't buffer the video up for long enough to make it reasonably sequential, because if there is an accident involving an electrical power cut, then the video will be lost.

The answer is either to use one microSD card for each channel, or to store all channels in a single file, which is then incompatible with all video players, or to have some big internal buffers with maybe 10 minutes of video, that can make the writes to card reasonably sequential, but that requires an internal battery to cope with power loss...

Given that most people view/download their video files via the phone app these days, maybe storing the video in incompatible files while on the dashcam is acceptable?

eMMC is still slow but seeing more dashcams with them now, obviously they must think the reliability is ok if they're going with that over microSD cards. Personally I'd prefer UFS storage but that would have to come down in price first.

eMMC guarantees that the dashcam will be replaced when the flash storage wears out, and that the dashcam warrantee expires when the storage wears out, just as it does when a battery wears out. So they must think it will last long enough that the purchaser will purchase an upgrade from the same supplier. Currently eMMC tends to only be found in 1080 resolution single channel dashcams?

As for UFS, I think that when it comes to simultaneous video files from multiple channels, there is no real performance advantage? It is still flash memory, only the interface is different.

 

[Panzer Platform]

use one microSD card for each channel

I was going to add “Dual 1TB SD Card support” to my wish list simply to increase storage capacity, but I think having two SD Cards would add system complexity, and be prone to malfunction.
I can see a consumer using two different cards with different speed classes, and uneven wear & tear, etc.