What are the best exposure settings?

[rcs914]

So I received the camera on Friday, and finally got a chance to do some testing yesterday and today. I've noticed a couple things - the sky usually seems to be perfectly exposed, but then the cars in front of me can be too dark. This is if I am facing into bright light. When I turn and the sun is no longer in front of me it is better.

Also at night, I've noticed that mine doesn't appear to be quite as good as some of the youtube clips - basically most backlit signs (say I'm driving past a taco bell) are washed out completely, and the street lights are big fuzzy blobs. I noticed on one video for the G1W it stated that they were using a -1 exposure at night, and "cloudy". Well not sure what firmware they have, but I'm not seeing any scene settings like "cloudy" or "sunny".

I have not tested turning off the WDR yet - is that recommended to do with this camera? Does anyone have test footage with and without it turned on? Obviously I can test this myself, but not until it is dark again ;-)

 

[CheckYourLights]

The way the G1W reads its exposure settings is a little confusing to me, but if i remember correctly I have it set to +1/3 and it looks good to me.

I have not tested turning off the WDR yet - is that recommended to do with this camera?

Back when I was working out my Vico TF2 jokiin had mentioned here that "true hardware WDR is a function that will give you improved quality at night but there can be a bit of a trade off during the day" So I try to get into the habit of turning mine off and on when need be to get the best possible picture for the conditions.

 

[jokiin]

The way the G1W reads its exposure settings is a little confusing to me, but if i remember correctly I have it set to +1/3 and it looks good to me.

Back when I was working out my Vico TF2 jokiin had mentioned here that "true hardware WDR is a function that will give you improved quality at night but there can be a bit of a trade off during the day" So I try to get into the habit of turning mine off and on when need be to get the best possible picture for the conditions.

the Novatek is not a hardware WDR solution so doesn't work the same

 

[CheckYourLights]

the Novatek is not a hardware WDR solution so doesn't work the same

That's true I forgot about that I actually remember that there is a write up about it now that you mention it.

 

[rcs914]

So should I disable the WDR? Does it do anything with the G1W? I ran with the exposure set to -1 yesterday on the way home and in this morning, and it doesn't appear to have helped the issue with the lights. I really haven't gotten night footage that is anywhere near as clear as some of the G1W videos on youtube. I should probably upload a clip to show what I am speaking about. Of course many of the "night" clips have a lot of ambient light.

 

[jokiin]

So should I disable the WDR? Does it do anything with the G1W? I ran with the exposure set to -1 yesterday on the way home and in this morning, and it doesn't appear to have helped the issue with the lights. I really haven't gotten night footage that is anywhere near as clear as some of the G1W videos on youtube. I should probably upload a clip to show what I am speaking about. Of course many of the "night" clips have a lot of ambient light.

there are multiple versions of this same looking camera, your results being different to another G1W are not so unusual

ambient light at night will only make the night results better

 

[rcs914]

Ok, so in doing testing, having the WDR setting on leads to a lot more "bleed" from street lights than having it off - obviously it is more sensitive, but this seems to be at the expense of detail in the picture. I think I am going to leave that setting off going forward.