VIOFO's A119S

Gagge89 said:
I've been reading around the web that the parking mode function on the VIFIO (A119 and A119S) was coming out recently and then still "immature" and improving.
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I once stated or implied that the A119S Parking ModeTHREAD was immature, but what I meant was that the Parking Mode was better documented in the A119 Parking Mode threadsince the Parking Mode Beta testing was done on the A119. As far as I have observed, the Parking Mode works the same way on the current firmware of both the A119 (Version 3.3) and A119S (Version 2.1) and has not changed from the A119 V3.1B Beta version. Several tweaks have been suggested but none implemented to my knowledge.

{Edited: In Parking Mode, once the A119 goes to Standby (not recording) after a quite period (no motion or no G-sensor triggers sensed for 1.5 minutes), the camera waits for motion sensed in the FOV to enter Time-lapse recording.} A G-sensor trigger is needed to resume normal recording from Standby or Time-lapse recording, but the G-sensor sensitivity is very high at this point. The G-sensor trigger described above does not trigger an Event (emergency) recording which "locks" the file. I found previously that Event (emergency) recording will still happen and file(s) will be "locked" while Time-lapse or normal recording if a "hard bump" or crash occurs, but that such did not happen while in Standby Mode (not recording) for an instantaneous event. From Standby mode, the aftermath from an instantaneous "hard bump" would be recorded normally because the "hard bump" "wakes up" the camera, but the file may not be "locked".

It should be noted that at times in the Parking Mode, the A119 automatically switches the G-sensor Menu setting to "High Sensitivity", mostly during and a while after a Standby/Time-lapse/Normal recording cycle, so that Event recordings activate much easier during these periods. {Edit: The A119 will eventually switch the G-sensor setting back to the user's setting (I don't know what makes this happen) so that the G-sensor operates normally while driving.} If you notice frequent G-sensor activated Event (emergency) recordings while driving, check the G-sensor menu setting and reset if necessary.

The A119/A119S do not do pre-buffered video recording so that instantaneous triggering events (sensed motion or G-sensor activity) that have no aftermath will be missed if they occur when the camera is in Standby mode (not recording). In addition, recording gaps of 2-3 seconds occur when the camera is switching from Time-lapse to normal recording after a G-sensor trigger.

In Parking Mode, once screensaver kicks in, the screen stays off unless you press a button or an Event (emergency) recording is activated by a "hard bump" G-Sensor trigger. The button lights can be turned off using the "LED" menu setting. This would give complete stealth as long as no buttons are pressed and no Event (emergency) recording is activated. With LED menu setting OFF, you must activate the LCD screen with a short press of the power button to check the recording status, which is not convenient while driving. Even with LED OFF, the A119 still sounds the repeating double beep warning if not recording. The Parking Mode can be used continuously while driving or parked as long as it is powered. It's possible that the A119 may slip into the Standby and Time-lapse recording while driving if stopped with little motion about for a 1.5 minute or greater period, but it's a rare occurrence in my experience.

G-sensor and button press activated Event (emergency) recordings are "locked" by being saved to a separate "RO" file folder. In the latest firmware, the file being recorded at the time of the event (current file) is "locked". If the event happens within the first 15 seconds of a file, the previous file is also "locked". The duration of each locked file is, at maximum, the Loop Recording time. Any subsequent files you want locked, you will have to do that manually by button press. {Edit: The behavior above is described for an event happening while recording normally (not sure about Time-lapse - checking).} Older RO files can be overwritten by new RO files when the card is full, so it is advisable to save your RO files to another device occasionally if you want to ensure they survive.
 
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5Cowbells said:
In Parking Mode, once the A119 goes to Standby (not recording) after a quite period (no motion or no G-sensor triggers sensed for 1.5 minutes), motion sensed by the camera will start and sustain Time-lapse recording.
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Camera will enter in stand by mode waiting for a motion to enter in Time-lapse recording or normal recording.

enjoy,
Mtz
 
Mtz said:
Camera will enter in stand by mode waiting for a motion to enter in Time-lapse recording or normal recording.
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Agree except camera must see G-sensor activity (camera movement) before resuming Normal recording.
 
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So...i don't understand... the stealth mode is pratically impossible? During the parking mode, the camera go in stand-by ( and so the screen is off) but if it see a motion the screen however light up? ( if LED stay ON there are no problems, my problems are if the screen light up everytime it see a movement)
 
Gagge89 said:
So...i don't understand... the stealth mode is pratically impossible? During the parking mode, the camera go in stand-by ( and so the screen is off) but if it see a motion the screen however light up? ( if LED stay ON there are no problems, my problems are if the screen light up everytime it see a movement)
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You can get a stealthy mode with LED menu setting OFF and Screensaver turned on. After Screensaver turns off the LCD screen, you will not see any lights on the camera until 1) you press a button or 2) the camera/car is bumped hard enough to generate an Event (emergency) Recording. In both those cases the LCD screen turns on for some period of time of duration dependent on what action occurred, recording mode, and some menu settings. {Edit: Motion sensed in the field of view of the camera will not cause the LCD screen to turn on with the A119S V2.1 firmware.}
 
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@Gagge89 please see edit to last post - "Motion sensed in the field of view of the camera will not cause the LCD screen to turn on with the A119S V2.1 firmware."
 
Is the A119s at risk of becoming out of focus when left in heat for a long time? The same
issue that Street Guardian corrected by switching to a metal housing?
 
Smoke Pants said:
Is the A119s at risk of becoming out of focus when left in heat for a long time? The same
issue that Street Guardian corrected by switching to a metal housing?
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We had a heat wave on Sunday Sept. 24, 2017.
At 10:30AM I parked the car with the windshield and A119S dash cam facing into the direct sun (no shade), temperature was 35C/94F and the car was closed up tightly with a thermometer placed directly under the A119S.

At 12:00PM Noon, the outside temp of the car in the direct sunlight was now 40C/110F and the inside temp at the A119S was 46C/115F.I immediately drove the car across the street to a building with a brick wall. From 150 ft out I aimed the car and the hot A119s towards the wall.I drove towards the brick wall in about 30 ft increments right up to the wall.
I drove back right away and placed the micro sd card in my computer. There was no lens distortion or degeneration of the optics whatsoever.
This is my actual practical 1 ½ hours test directly under the rays of an unusually hot sun.

The dash cam was purchased Aug. 14 and shipped Aug. 16th from Shenzen China and is an A119S, V2, 7G F1.6 Lens, Sony 1MX Sensor, with GPS, CPL Filter and Firmware 2017.6.22 V1.7, it continues to operate flawlessly.
No one can change my point of view based on my actual experience, it's the test that counts.
If you think your dash cam has lens distortion go do the same test as I did and you can find out for yourself if your lens is faulty or not.
 
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CaptureYourAction said:
Left side looks OK, right side is out. Email your seller about a replacement.
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Not so fast........... Looks reasonably good to me on the right because when faster the closer you are at speed the blurrier it can become so now look at the left side with stuff further away in the background
 
Thanks Hombre, I didn't think of that. It's only been a day so maybe I should drive around with it for a week and then reassess.
 
I didn't notice the links to the videos before, just the photos.
Judging by the shadows on the brick wall plus the roadway and extending out from the cars this isn't a good test.
You need an evenly balanced light source across the screen to evaluate the whole screen..
The sun is low in the sky and strong from the left side which enhances the metallic paint finish on cars to the right.
The videos strike me that if the Exposure is tweaked it would be fine.
It would also reduce the dash reflection.
 
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"Soap" right there, watching as the grass, trees, etc.

2017_1006_150259_004.MP4_snapshot_00.11_[2017.10.07_17.14.25].jpg

2017_1006_150259_004.MP4_snapshot_00.52_[2017.10.07_16.39.06].jpg

2017_1006_150259_004.MP4_snapshot_00.38_[2017.10.07_17.08.14].jpg
 
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Smoke Pants said:
Thanks Hombre, I didn't think of that. It's only been a day so maybe I should drive around with it for a week and then reassess.
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I noticed at the start of your Dropbox video with the brick wall along the bottom had a bluish tint.
However, seeing all the bricks (even around the faded sign) it indicates to me the lens is in focus.
Nothing beats a test pattern to evaluate lens focus or at least some consistency in the background.
 
Mineshaft said:
However, seeing all the bricks (even around the faded sign) it indicates to me the lens is in focus.
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Look carefully, right side defocus.

фокус2.jpg
 
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I don’t agree.

If a lens is out of focus it would remain constant throughout the video.

I only see inconsistent reflection on the bottom when the car goes into sun.
 
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