What is the purpose/benefit of GPS in a dash cam?

[Grayson73]

I have the Viofo A119 V3 with GPS, but I'm curious what the purpose/benefit of having GPS in a dash cam is. Is it beneficial to have the coordinates for the videos, or is it having the speed recorded, or something else? For speeders, wouldn't having the speed recorded be self-incriminating? Haha.

 

[DT MI]

I have the Viofo A119 V3 with GPS, but I'm curious what the purpose/benefit of having GPS in a dash cam is. Is it beneficial to have the coordinates for the videos, or is it having the speed recorded, or something else? For speeders, wouldn't having the speed recorded be self-incriminating? Haha.

Is it beneficial to have the coordinates for the videos - That's a benefit if it's important to you.

or is it having the speed recorded, - Also a benefit if it's important to you.

or something else? - Most cameras with GPS will also set the date/time based on the GPS signals.

For speeders, wouldn't having the speed recorded be self-incriminating? - If video is being recorded then the vehicle speed can be determined from the video itself, no GPS needed. Also, self-incrimination only applies to testimony, not physical evidence.

 

[Privateer]

For me, the primary reason to have GPS on a dashcam is to automatically set the time and date.

A close secondary reason is to have the coordinates shown on the footage as well as being embedded in the video file so that the Dashcam Viewer software can show your location on the map as well as the route that you took.

As for speeding, I try to keep to the speed limit. I might occasionally reach 75 mph on a 70 mph motorway but in built-up areas, I try much harder to keep to (or below) the 20 mph or 30 mph speed limit. For most journeys in the UK, speeding will only get you to your destination a few minutes faster and it isn't worth the extra hassle or stress looking for speed cameras or hidden mobile speed checking sites. So I'm not worried about my speed being shown on the footage.

Regards,

 

[Dashmellow]

I find having the GPS setting the time and keeping it up to date and accurate to be invaluable. I also like having the time, speed and geographic coordinates embedded in my videos. Since the purpose of dash cams is to record evidence most of us want data like that.

The one GPS feature I finally concluded I can do without is watching the position of my vehicle as it moves around on a dynamic map on my computer screen. I have yet to discover a useful, practical purpose for this capability other than for entertainment value. It's basically a useless but kind of fun and interesting gee-wiz bell & whistle feature.....a toy.

I suppose someone may want to be able to document the route they traveled on any given journey but I've never seen anyone here on DCT report the need to provide that information to anyone.

 

[Cirrus]

FWIW, the AAA in the Netherlands (called ANWB) recommend to use dashcams with GPS, because the evidential value of dashcam videos with GPS data (precise time, coordinates, speed) is higher.

 

[Nigel]

The one GPS feature I finally concluded I can do without is watching the position of my vehicle as it moves around on a dynamic map on my computer screen. I have yet to discover a useful, practical purpose for this capability other than for entertainment value. It's basically a useless but kind of fun and interesting gee-wiz bell & whistle feature.....a toy.

But being able to jump to the correct piece of video by a single mouse click on the track shown on the map at the location you know an incident took place is a really nice feature to have

 

[Dashmellow]

But being able to jump to the correct piece of video by a single mouse click on the track shown on the map at the location you know an incident took place is a really nice feature to have

That's a lot of technology involved in something you can simply do manually. After all, we are only dealing with clips that are a few minutes long. On my computer I can scrub through an entire 5 minute video to reach whatever I want to view by scrolling in a matter of mere seconds or less. In fact, on a Mac using touch gesture scrolling one can scroll through a video at lightning speed with the flick of a finger and then you can scrub back and forth frame by frame in real time to zero in on whatever you might want to review. It's actually faster and more focused than having to go click on a map where you are essentially guessing that you'll land in the place or frames you are specifically looking for. Aside from that as soon as I see a video clip I already know where along the road an incident would have taken place and can go to there immediately. I don't need a map to tell me where it happened.

You can play with your bells & whistles if you like, Nigel. No doubt they are intended for customers like you.

 

[ImpliedConsent]

I have the Viofo A119 V3 with GPS, but I'm curious what the purpose/benefit of having GPS in a dash cam is. Is it beneficial to have the coordinates for the videos, or is it having the speed recorded, or something else? For speeders, wouldn't having the speed recorded be self-incriminating? Haha.

As a former cop, that GPS date/time/location stamp is everything for evidence. Regardless of situation, if you are at the right place/time (wrong place/time?) and have that GPS DTL stamp, untampered, that proves at least the camera was at that exact place and time. After further investigation, it would probably be attached to a vehicle driven by the owner.

Ask yourself this: why do you have a dashcam to begin with?

 

[DT MI]

...The one GPS feature I finally concluded I can do without is watching the position of my vehicle as it moves around on a dynamic map on my computer screen. I have yet to discover a useful, practical purpose for this capability other than for entertainment value. It's basically a useless but kind of fun and interesting gee-wiz bell & whistle feature.....a toy.

I pretty much agree with this, except on more than one occasion I've found it quite useful in locating a specific video. I'm more inclined to remember where something 'interesting' happened versus when it happened. Having the capability to have a trip route displayed on a map makes it easier for me to locate an event significantly faster than scanning through multiple clips - especially if some time has passed since the event happened.

 

[Dashmellow]

I pretty much agree with this, except on more than one occasion I've found it quite useful in locating a specific video. I'm more inclined to remember where something 'interesting' happened versus when it happened. Having the capability to have a trip route displayed on a map makes it easier for me to locate an event significantly faster than scanning through multiple clips - especially if some time has passed since the event happened.

I can certainly see the value of the feature. I can also understand Nigel's use of clicking on the map. For me, when I see in a video what road I was traveling on and then look at the time stamp of when the video clip was made I pretty much know where to look for any given incident and can navigate to it very quickly. Sometimes I find it faster and more efficient to use a media player instead of a dash cam viewer client.

For anyone who has software like Dash Cam Viewer and you've already got the mapping features, why not? On my system I have two monitors and so I can place the map on its own monitor in full screen and then place the viewer and all the tool pallets on the other screen. The whole thing is very impressive when I show it off to friends but after using the map for several years I started to feel like the map was really more entertaining than practical for my purposes. I still use it but it is definitely not my primary use for GPS.

 

[Nigel]

That's a lot of technology involved in something you can simply do manually. After all, we are only dealing with clips that are a few minutes long.

One mouse click on the map is far faster when you have a five hour journey along very similar looking roads and you didn’t press the lock button at the time!

 

[Dashmellow]

One mouse click on the map is far faster when you have a five hour journey along very similar looking roads and you didn’t press the lock button at the time!

One mouse click for a five hour journey? Really?

 

[DAP]

I used a dashcam without a GPS for a while. It was constantly forgetting what the time and date was. (super capacitor, not battery). My current cameras have GPS just to avoid this problem.

 

[Nigel]

One mouse click for a five hour journey? Really?

Might need to zoom the map in a bit first if you want it accurate to the second

 

[Dashmellow]

Might need to zoom the map in a bit first if you want it accurate to the second

So that would mean that you indeed already know where you want to find an incident on your alleged "five hour journey along very similar looking roads".

 

[HonestReview]

I have the Viofo A119 V3 with GPS, but I'm curious what the purpose/benefit of having GPS in a dash cam is. Is it beneficial to have the coordinates for the videos, or is it having the speed recorded, or something else? For speeders, wouldn't having the speed recorded be self-incriminating? Haha.

Let's say you're away driving and you get in an accident. Or witness an event.The GPS coordinates will be able to tell you exactly where you were at when it happened. There's actually software (Android APP: GPSCAM) that will even map the route being driven in live view based upon this metadata.

Give it a shot. GPS isn't a gimmick and has many uses.

 

[TonyM]

I have filed a few police incident reports using my dashcam video as evidence. There was a question on the form asking whether the date & time stamp in the video were accurate. On one occasion I had to explain that my Mobius camera (without GPS) had reset itself to 2013, so then I had to provide the correct date & time. Not a big deal, but I do like knowing they are usually correct - assuming I update them after the clocks go forwards / backwards.

I also like having the speed displayed to show that I'm generally sticking to the speed limits. In combination with the visual information relating to my vehicle's position on the road, it should hopefully demonstrate that I'm driving with due care and attention.

 

[Nigel]

So that would mean that you indeed already know where you want to find an incident on your alleged "five hour journey along very similar looking roads".

Yes, if I am looking up an incident then I normally know exactly where in which village or town it happened, what I don’t know is which of the 300 files it has been stored in (five hours of one minute segments), or exactly what time it occurred at. So clicking on the map makes far more sense than clicking on a file or timeline.

 

[Kremmen]

All of the above, plus, in my case, and Privateer, I'm a speed camera verifier and the GPS allows me to pinpoint the exact location and subsequent exact direction and as per Nigel's method of a map mouse click to get me to within earshot otherwise I'd need to play about 3 to 5 3 minute chunks.

 

[Dashmellow]

Yes, if I am looking up an incident then I normally know exactly where in which village or town it happened, what I don’t know is which of the 300 files it has been stored in (five hours of one minute segments), or exactly what time it occurred at. So clicking on the map makes far more sense than clicking on a file or timeline.

So how many five hour trips do you take anyway? You spend so much time logged into DCT it seems like it couldn't be too many.