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

[Nigel]

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.

Preferably not many, but 2 per week recently.

And I don’t need to be at home for my phone to be online and receiving notifications

 

[Dashmellow]

Preferably not many, but 2 per week recently.

And I don’t need to be at home for my phone to be online and receiving notifications

All in all this sounds far more involved than the "One mouse click on the map" you first touted.

 

[Nigel]

All in all this sounds far more involved than the "One mouse click on the map" you first touted.

You could use a touch screen if a mouse click is too complicated for you

You appear to be the only one not to understand the mouse click!

 

[Dashmellow]

You could use a touch screen if a mouse click is too complicated for you

You appear to be the only one not to understand the mouse click!

As I said earlier Nigel, if you are so enamored with these sort of bells & whistles like following your car's movements around an online a map or clicking on it to figure out where the hell you have been, by all means indulge yourself, but not everyone is as enthralled with these superfluous features as you are or finds them so useful.

But this isn't really about clicks on a map, is it Nigel?

 

[HonestReview]

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.

Route is definitely helpful. When I got rear ended, I loaded video into GPS CAM and it told me the exact road I had traveled. Quite useful.

 

[HonestReview]

As I said earlier Nigel, if you are so enamored with these sort of bells & whistles like following your car's movements around an online a map or clicking on it to figure out where the hell you have been, by all means indulge yourself, but not everyone is as enthralled with these superfluous features as you are or finds them so useful.

But this isn't really about clicks on a map, is it Nigel?

Seems an ass backwards way to find location when Android GPS CAM would tell him it within seconds by simply opening up the video file.

 

[raqball]

For me it's almost useless.. The only thing I use it for is date and time but my camera has an app when I can manually set it if needed. No big deal to manually adjust it twice a year...

 

[HonestReview]

For me it's almost useless.. The only thing I use it for is date and time but my camera has an app when I can manually set it if needed. No big deal to manually adjust it twice a year...

Imagine you are driving in another state (Since You're in the US). On an unfamiliar road or highway. You witness a hit and run, a drive hits your car, a deer strikes your car, etc. The GPS feature will allow a program like GPS CAM to read your exact location where the event transpired. Useful for filing an insurance report.

 

[raqball]

Imagine you are driving in another state (Since You're in the US). On an unfamiliar road or highway. You witness a hit and run, a drive hits your car, a deer strikes your car, etc. The GPS feature will allow a program like GPS CAM to read your exact location where the event transpired. Useful for filing an insurance report.

Sure and this is a to each their own kind of thing. I find GPS in a dashcam useless for the most part and have it turned off... I don't need nor want a GPS coordinate overlay on my cam footage...

 

[HonestReview]

Sure and this is a to each their own kind of thing. I find GPS in a dashcam useless for the most part and have it turned off... I don't need nor want a GPS coordinate overlay on my cam footage...

1. Do you own a smart phone? Log in to Google or Apple and have them locate your phone....If you're worried about being tracked in life, too late.
2. You can easily destroy the meta data if you want to post videos online.

A. Crop out the part with speed, gps, etc
B. Reencode the video with vlc.

Metadata destroyed no personal data on the video itself.

3. But if you need to share it (insurance company, etc) you will at least have the OPTION of possessing the GPS data when needed.

 

[raqball]

1. Do you own a smart phone? Log in to Google or Apple and have them locate your phone....If you're worried about being tracked in life, too late.
2. You can easily destroy the meta data if you want to post videos online.

A. Crop out the part with speed, gps, etc
B. Reencode the video with vlc.

Metadata destroyed no personal data on the video itself.

3. But if you need to share it (insurance company, etc) you will at least have the OPTION of possessing the GPS data when needed.

1. I said absolutely nothing about me being worried about getting tracked.
2. I am aware of how to operate video editing software.
2 (a and b) Why? I don't want or need it there to begin with
3. I understand it's usefulness to some and I am not arguing against it. I am saying that for me (singular = I) find it useless..

If others find it useful then cool beans, no hate from me..

 

[Dashmellow]

Imagine you are driving in another state (Since You're in the US). On an unfamiliar road or highway. You witness a hit and run, a drive hits your car, a deer strikes your car, etc. The GPS feature will allow a program like GPS CAM to read your exact location where the event transpired. Useful for filing an insurance report.

This makes sense. It's exactly why we would want GPS on a camera. For me, this is why I like embedding the GPS coordinates in my videos because even if I hand over nothing more than a screen shot my exact location is available to whomever looks at the image such as an insurance company or law enforcement. It is trivial to look up the location online by simply entering the coordinates on any of the many sites that can do that such as Google Maps, GPS Coordinates.org, or Lat Long Data.

Watching my vehicle move around on a Google map is something I don't particularly need but I'll sometimes use it for fun if I'm running Dash Cam Viewer. It's a simple matter of preference. So, I agree with @raqball, it is up to the user to decide which dash camera features they want to or don't want to use. There's no reason to vilify anyone for their personal preferences.

 

[HonestReview]

This makes sense. It's exactly why we would want GPS on a camera. For me, this is why I like embedding the GPS coordinates in my videos because even if I hand over nothing more than a screen shot my exact location is available to whomever looks at the image such as an insurance company or law enforcement. It is trivial to look up the location online by simply entering the coordinates on any of the many sites that can do that such as Google Maps, GPS Coordinates.org, or Lat Long Data.

Watching my vehicle move around on a Google map is something I don't particularly need but I'll sometimes use it for fun if I'm running Dash Cam Viewer. It's a simple matter of preference. So, I agree with @raqball, it is up to the user to decide which dash camera features they want to or don't want to use. There's no reason to vilify anyone for their personal preferences.

No one is vilified. GPS has its uses. Not everyone will agree or need a GPS function. Privacy concerns are obviously minimal since both the GPS and Metadata can be destroyed.

I merely pointed the purpose of why manufacturers add in this feature as an option.

 

[Dashmellow]

No one is vilified. GPS has its uses. Not everyone will agree or need a GPS function. Privacy concerns are obviously minimal since both the GPS and Metadata can be destroyed.

I merely pointed the purpose of why manufacturers add in this feature as an option.

I wasn't suggesting that you were vilifying anyone, HonestReview. You clearly didn't do that. But you did kind of seem to be on @raqball's case though. People should do what they like and not do what they don't like. In any event, I was speaking in general terms regarding some of the opinionated comments about people's personal dash cam preferences we sometimes see on the forum.

 

[Kremmen]

There are obviously perfectly valid reasons for wanting or not wanting it.

Nobody is 'right' and it's a matter of personal preference.

For me no GPS would be a deal breaker but for others the inability to turn it off would be a deal breaker.

 

[HonestReview]

I wasn't suggesting that you were vilifying anyone, HonestReview. You clearly didn't do that. But you did kind of seem to be on @raqball's case though. People should do what they like and not do what they don't like. In any event, I was speaking in general terms regarding some of the opinionated comments about people's personal dash cam preferences we sometimes see on the forum.

I did not think I was on @raqball's case. I merely pointed out that if privacy is a concern with GPS enabled Dash Cams, cell phone tracking already does much worse.

GPS enabled Dash Cameras are far less nefarious than a cell phone, as dash cameras aren't "Registered" to you, like your cell phone. So the GPS / Coordinates are for user benefit only. One can easily enable or disable. The option to enable allows "sharing exact location" if there's an insurance claim or event. Or destroying the meta data, if the same video/videos are posted online (re-encode video / crop coordinates).

That's all I was highlighting. Any privacy concerns are easily remedied.

But yes, I respect anyone's right to simply turn off GPS, Speed, etc.

 

[TonyM]

Having GPS does increase dashcam complexity, and therefore it is a potential risk to reliability. Simple cameras like the B1W work well without GPS.

 

[ImpliedConsent]

For me it's almost useless.. The only thing I use it for is date and time but my camera has an app when I can manually set it if needed. No big deal to manually adjust it twice a year...

I read your and everyone's responses. I understand the desire to turn on/off GPS. My only questions: Why did you buy a dashcam to begin with? What possible reason would you want a dashcam? -on another note- how's the 750-Plus?

 

[raqball]

I read your and everyone's responses. I understand the desire to turn on/off GPS. My only questions: Why did you buy a dashcam to begin with? What possible reason would you want a dashcam? -on another note- how's the 750-Plus?

My main and #1 reason for the dashcam is parking mode.. A secondary reason is to show who is at fault in an accident like who had green light, who ran stop sign ect.

I've been using dash cams since 2010. Back then dashcams, so to speak, were not even a thing for the most part. Here is an old thread on a Camero forum I made back in 2010 with my setup.. Sadly the images are no longer viewable. I'll also link to the system I had installed.

Link to thread: https://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=107794
Link to the camera: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/605497-REG/V_I_O_POV375_POV_1_5M_Moto_Kit.html

So far I am happy with the 750 Plus as it does what I need. I don't really need 4K footage and 1080p is fine for me and my needs...

I personally don't have a need for GPS in a dashcam.. It's there, fine, but I just turn it off...

 

[Dashmellow]

My first dash cam was an old Panasonic cam corder I mounted on my dashboard. I purchased my first "real" dash cam in 2010. Back then most people didn't even know what a dash cam was and you could only buy dash cams direct from China as generics. There were virtually no name brands like Viofo or Blackvue or Thinkware with dedicated websites, customer service or warranties back then. In those days GPS dash cams didn't exist and capturing video at night was literally impossible but during the daytime you could get impressive looking 1080p video considering the technology limitations and low bit rates at the time.

The main thing was that a dash cam captured your journey and documented anything that happened in front of your car. That was the goal, and it still is. Nowadays, dash cams are available with all kinds of bells and whistles such as WiFi, GPS, ADAS, parking modes, etc. Some of these things have proven more useful than others but the bottom line is that the only thing one really "needs" in a dash cam is reliable high quality video and sound. Many of us have relied on and got along just fine on basic cameras without GPS for years until such cameras became available and indeed there are vast numbers of non-GPS cams still on the market today. Not everybody wants or needs the bells and whistles.