What parking mode is everyone using

[Skylar132]

Hello all, been a while since I've posted on here. Between falling ill and my job I've struggled to find time to use the forum properly although I did have a peruse time to time. I will be receiving an a139 pro front and rear this christmas courtesy of my partner. I'm wondering which parking mode everyone who uses the a139 has been running, I am somewhat stuck between AED and low bitrate. would love to hear everyones thoughts on this.

 

[kamkar]

I prefer low bitrate, but that is a no brainer when you only use it for a few hours, i am not sure i would use that if i was in need of really long duration parking guard.

 

[Skylar132]

I prefer low bitrate, but that is a no brainer when you only use it for a few hours, i am not sure i would use that if i was in need of really long duration parking guard.

the longest i would realistically be using parking mode is 9 hours because thats the longest time id leave my car exposed

 

[Nigel]

I use low bitrate too, and normally have the parking duration timer set to 3 hours since I only need it for supermarket parking, and I don't want to miss anything, video or audio, when parked there.

 

[Julian23]

+1 for the low bitrate

 

[shado]

Low bitrate because of audio recording.

 

[Nigel]

Strange, almost all the questions we get are about auto event buffered parking mode, with a few about timelapse, but everyone is using Low Bitrate!

Either Low Bitrate mode works much better than the others and doesn't need any questions asked, or maybe all the newbies decide to use the wrong mode!

Viofo should change the default parking mode to Low Bitrate...

 

[kamkar]

It would not surprise me if newbies get enticed by flashy bells and whistles modes.
I like low bitrate as its always there so you miss nothing, and as mentioned it have sound too, which you do not have if you use things like time lapse.

PS; i do like to have G-sensor on too even if i use low bitrate, act like a flag if there have been a actual event, so i do not have to sit and browse thru 3 hours of footage,,,,,, providing i see someone scratched / dented my car in the first place ( highly unlikely )

 

[Dadi_T]

Low bitrate for full audio/video recording and g-sensor on highest level in parking mode.

 

[GPak]

Low bit-rate for all the above reasons.

And if you need longer parking recording, get a dedicated battery, or suitable power station, so you don't put a strain on your main/starter battery.

 

[rcg530]

I use low bitrate in any dash camera that supports that parking mode type and my fallback is time-lapse if low bitrate is not available in that dash camera.

 

[Panzer Platform]

Low Bitrate: Most reliable / predictable performance & power consumption.
Time Lapse: No audio.
AED: #1 cause of DCT new membership to report malfunctions, and tech support inquiry.

 

[Jamers99]

What does AED stand for? Wouldn't time-lapse be better because it using less power? I don't really see the benefit of recording audio if you are using low-bit rate recording. I have mine set to time-lapse 3 frames per second.

 

[Nigel]

I don't really see the benefit of recording audio if you are using low-bit rate recording.

Audio records what can't be seen, such as someone knocking off your side mirror.
They will appear on the front camera a second later, and their license plate will be recorded, but without the audio there is no way of knowing that it was them and not someone else ten minutes later.

Same goes for shopping trolley strikes; normally the hit is to the bodywork, out of sight even if there is a lens pointing in that direction, so you record the face of the shopping trolley driver as they hit your car, but have no proof that it was them that caused the dent/scratch, unless you have the audio.

 

[Panzer Platform]

What does AED stand for?

I don't really see the benefit of recording audio if you are using low-bit rate recording

I've seen users on this forum saying their parking mode footage did not capture someone keying their car because the perp was out of view of the front & rear cameras.
At least with audio you could hear when they keyed the car.
Or other important detail.
I consider audio 50% of "video evidence".

 

[GPak]

Three main reasons to have parking mode .... are:
1. To save space on SD card
2. To save power for prolong parking recording.
3. To keep dashcam from overheating.

I believe that the difference between the different parking modes (except perhaps the radar) is not so significant for all three reasons listed and is not so relevant nowadays because:

- The first reason is not that actual anymore because large capacity Micro SD’s are widely available and quite affordable (except for way overpriced re-branded by dash cam manufacturers SD cards, which I personally will never buy).
- For the second reason - look at power consumption in different parking modes for A229 Pro by @rcg530, excellent test/review by the way.
The difference is negligible!
https://dashcamtalk.com/forum/threads/viofo-a229-pro-testing-review-rcg.49777/post-613891
- For the overheating – unfortunately there is no test data on this forum to my knowledge, but my experience with Mini2 parked for 10 hours in direct sunlight on very hot summer days, is that the dash cam gets very hot to the touch either way with low bitrate parking ON or OFF, I saw no noticeable difference.

So why bother with less informative and unreliable parking modes compared to low bit-rate?
The low bit rate ensures reliable video/audio recording at all times, so you won't miss a thing.
I also believe that in some cases, events that happened before and after the parking accident can be very helpful.

Edited in red.
GPak

 

[mentadent]

I use low bitrate for the audio and so it captures everything.

 

[TykeWY]

I use low bit rate. I find the Motion detection is set so far away that it picks up so much it can be recording virtually all the time anyway. It would be better if Viofo set this to just a few feet so as to only activate when some movement is in the area you want to monitor.

 

[JardaB]

I use low bit rate. I find the Motion detection is set so far away that it picks up so much it can be recording virtually all the time anyway. It would be better if Viofo set this to just a few feet so as to only activate when some movement is in the area you want to monitor.

Viofo does not have a radar, it can indicate the degree of movement in the image without being able to determine its distance. It's useful in places where there is normally no movement

 

[Nigel]

Three main reasons to have parking mode vs all time normal recording are:
1. To save space on SD card
2. To save power for prolong parking recording.
3. To keep dashcam from overheating.

I believe that all three reasons are not so relevant nowadays.

1. I don't want my parking mode overwriting my last journey, so I think 1. is relevant. Possibly it could use a different area of memory card for the parking mode to solve that problem, but I think it is better as it is.

2. Our batteries are still too small, or our dashcams use too much power, so saving a little power can easily make the difference between missing an event early next morning or recording it, you don't need to save much to make a significant difference if you are often running out of battery before the next drive.

3. Again, saving only a little power can make the difference between not shutting down due to overheat, and exceeding the threshold by 1° resulting in a shutdown for a few hours over midday.

But why not use low bitrate for parking instead of normal bitrate?

There is no need for high bitrate while parked because there is so little movement in the image, the low bitrate image quality is almost identical to maximum bitrate, so even if you do think that those three reasons are irrelevant nowadays, low bitrate is still the correct choice, even if it is only to reduce the wear on the memory card, making the memory cards last longer.

Try using low bitrate while moving and the image quality becomes terrible, so if you happen to be parked on a boat with a good view of the scenery, then you would want to leave it in normal recording mode, but that doesn't happen often, normally the car deck of a ship has nothing visible moving while at sea, and even small ferries don't often have a good view from the cars.