What video settings are you using on your LK-7900?

vitali_vg

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Location
Ottawa
Country
Canada
Dash Cam
DOD LS430W
Hi,

I'm not happy with my LK-7900 dashcam... It is supposed to be a "black box", which should provide the possibility to read license plates at least.
Now, I tried different settings, tried to use CPL filter, tried without it, but still I can read the number only if I'm standing still exactly behind the car on the stop sign or traffic light. If the car in front of me starts moving, I hardly can guess what is on the plate.
And in all other cases it is just white spot on the car without signs of symbols on it :(

Now I'm not sure if I have bad unit or I just cannot find the right settings.

So, what setting do you have?

And I have latest firmware AC23...

Regards
 
vitali_vg said:
Hi,

I'm not happy with my LK-7900 dashcam... It is supposed to be a "black box", which should provide the possibility to read license plates at least.
Now, I tried different settings, tried to use CPL filter, tried without it, but still I can read the number only if I'm standing still exactly behind the car on the stop sign or traffic light. If the car in front of me starts moving, I hardly can guess what is on the plate.
And in all other cases it is just white spot on the car without signs of symbols on it :(

Now I'm not sure if I have bad unit or I just cannot find the right settings.

So, what setting do you have?

And I have latest firmware AC23...

Regards

What will have the greatest effect on your video quality is your monitor. The better it is the clearer the image. What are you viewing your clips on?
 
Al Drake said:
What will have the greatest effect on your video quality is your monitor. The better it is the clearer the image. What are you viewing your clips on?

24" Asus LCD monitor... I didn't attach to TV. But the problem is that when I'm looking at videos, even from youtube on the same monitor I can see that video is much much better and plates are readable. Even on those videos that are NOT made by Lukas... :)

BTW, what H.264 encode should I use?
 

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Don't think monitor will make a huge difference..

Are you having trouble reading plates during good light? I find my Lukas is pretty good at reading plates during the day but as with most cams, struggles in low light.

Video settings all on default, 11mbps bitrate and full hd resolution 1080
 
jamesbcd said:
Don't think monitor will make a huge difference..

Are you having trouble reading plates during good light? I find my Lukas is pretty good at reading plates during the day but as with most cams, struggles in low light.

Video settings all on default, 11mbps bitrate and full hd resolution 1080

What is interesting is that it reads better not when there is sunlight, but in overcast... Even when it is rainy.
The screen shot is with the same settings you posted
 
vitali_vg said:
jamesbcd said:
Don't think monitor will make a huge difference..

Are you having trouble reading plates during good light? I find my Lukas is pretty good at reading plates during the day but as with most cams, struggles in low light.

Video settings all on default, 11mbps bitrate and full hd resolution 1080

What is interesting is that it reads better not when there is sunlight, but in overcast... Even when it is rainy.
The screen shot is with the same settings you posted

Better in the rain?? Strange one that.

Mine is capable of reading oncoming car plates at ~30mph (not tried faster) in good lit conditions with the default settings. Though I do live in the UK where the plate digits are a bit bigger..
 
jamesbcd said:
Better in the rain?? Strange one that.

Mine is capable of reading oncoming car plates at ~30mph (not tried faster) in good lit conditions with the default settings. Though I do live in the UK where the plate digits are a bit bigger..

Looks like I got the faulty device... I cannot read any oncoming car plates - just light spots instead. But you maybe right this is related to license plates design. But I checked russian plates and they are not much diffrerent from ours, but on videos I can see the numbers on cars in the nearby lines... :(
 
I use default settings on max video quality (updated to AC23) and it doesn't look as clear/detailed as the sample video that is posted on Lukas 7900 description page on their website. I, too, can only read license plates only when the car is stopped in front of me. Beyond 10 yards, it's hard to make out. To make matters worse, 10-20 minutes into driving (in 95+ F degrees), the video becomes blurry that I can't even make out the license plate regardless of how close (no luck in using CPL filter or swapping out to a different high speed SD card).

There's really not much parameters to adjust in the settings so either I've got a faulty device or it hates the Texas heat. I'm gonna observe a little more and if problem persists, I'll contact Lukas.

Where did you purchase your device from? I got it from green-sum (ebay) when it was on sale (for $189)
 
Same her in Florida, Cannot read plates of oncoming cars or even the car in front if moving. Bought it from green-sum 189 too. AC23 with a NXT CPL and uv filter filter adjusted to provide clean view, distance focus is crap as in everything becomes blurry over 10 feet away. The only sharpness detail is at default sharpness or artifact lvl, brightness is at 3, increasing the sharpness or artifact only make it more distorted.

Wonder if the firmware is needing an update again.


grrr
 
vitali_vg said:
Al Drake said:
What will have the greatest effect on your video quality is your monitor. The better it is the clearer the image. What are you viewing your clips on?

24" Asus LCD monitor... I didn't attach to TV. But the problem is that when I'm looking at videos, even from youtube on the same monitor I can see that video is much much better and plates are readable. Even on those videos that are NOT made by Lukas... :)
What input do you use? If you connect to HDMI then you get the best possible image. If not then you might get a poorer video. I haven't tried anything but HDMI myself but it was worth asking.
 
Today's update: 100 degrees here in Dallas...Went grocery shopping and again observed how the device would perform under hot, sunny day. The initial video quality is fine (but not as good as advertised on their website) but ~20 minutes into driving, the device seems to suffer another heat stroke and the image becomes blurry and the license plate becomes unreadable no matter how close. After I come back from shopping (the device has been under the sun for about an hour total), I start the engine but the device doesn't turn on--I'm guessing the temperature safety mode is activated... :evil:
 
neoP said:
Today's update: 100 degrees here in Dallas...Went grocery shopping and again observed how the device would perform under hot, sunny day. The initial video quality is fine (but not as good as advertised on their website) but ~20 minutes into driving, the device seems to suffer another heat stroke and the image becomes blurry and the license plate becomes unreadable no matter how close. After I come back from shopping (the device has been under the sun for about an hour total), I start the engine but the device doesn't turn on--I'm guessing the temperature safety mode is activated... :evil:

When you think about it that seems about right if you consider how many devices would function under such extreme heat. Things made of black plastic could actually melt. I would remove anything from those conditions and not expect anything good. I would be surprised if any dash cam would hold up without some cooling. Air flow would help but how much is unknown. The heat here has been 90+ for the past several days with no ill effects so far.
 
Al Drake said:
Things made of black plastic could actually melt. I would remove anything from those conditions and not expect anything good. I would be surprised if any dash cam would hold up without some cooling. Air flow would help but how much is unknown. The heat here has been 90+ for the past several days with no ill effects so far.

I must agree here. I read a lot of reports that even when it is about 30-40C (sorry, no idea what are the numbers in Fahrenheit) , some cams stop working and cheap plastic lens just don't do the job...
Coming to the question, that I have no clue what lens Lukas is using... :)
 
vitali_vg said:
I must agree here. I read a lot of reports that even when it is about 30-40C (sorry, no idea what are the numbers in Fahrenheit) , some cams stop working and cheap plastic lens just don't do the job...
Coming to the question, that I have no clue what lens Lukas is using... :)

Good point. Perhaps (what appears to be a cheap) Lukas [UV] lens that is causing the blurring effect during high temperature.


Al Drake said:
When you think about it that seems about right if you consider how many devices would function under such extreme heat. Things made of black plastic could actually melt. I would remove anything from those conditions and not expect anything good. I would be surprised if any dash cam would hold up without some cooling. Air flow would help but how much is unknown. The heat here has been 90+ for the past several days with no ill effects so far.

I only use the device while driving so it's tucked away in glovebox or inside center console when not in use or parked outside. I emailed Lukas which they responded promptly and they requested sample videos via Dropbox, which I will do. Luckily, I will be leaving Texas in a few months (still have the endure the worst of summer) and moving to Chicago--there we'll see how it performs under extreme cold :twisted:

Al Drake, you're using a high-end aftermarket filter, right? Perhaps that lens is more "heat tolerant" whereas the stock (UV) Lukas filter is causing the deterioration... :?:
 
neoP said:
Good point. Perhaps (what appears to be a cheap) Lukas [UV] lens that is causing the blurring effect during high temperature.

Need to clarify here...
UV filter is not the lens I was talking about :) The need of UV filter is just to eliminate deterioration of lens (optical system). I'm not a specialist here and cannot explain the effect, but accepted this as axioma.
Lens are what is behind this filter. Also be careful with CPL filter. It may eliminate the reflection from windshield, but add additional artifacts
 
neoP said:
I emailed Lukas which they responded promptly and they requested sample videos via Dropbox, which I will do. Luckily, I will be leaving Texas in a few months (still have the endure the worst of summer) and moving to Chicago--there we'll see how it performs under extreme cold

I also mailed them and considering there is 12 or 13 hours time difference I got the response instantly... They also want to see my video files. I uploaded a few with different settings. If somebody is interested and have enough spare time for download and watching them:
All files are fillHD, 11Mbps, UV Filter=ON
1. Brightness=3, Sharpness=3, Noise Filter=3
https://www.dropbox.com/s/nmdkuvr7lkl2u ... 174438.avi
2. Brightness=2, Sharpness=3, Noise Filter=2 (Default settings). Sometimes sunshine
https://www.dropbox.com/s/9i3fzpq9j7rgk ... 104252.avi
3. Brightness=2, Sharpness=3, Noise Filter=2 (Default settings). Overcast
https://www.dropbox.com/s/0yiu8ui3od44h ... 110052.avi
4. Brightness=2, Sharpness=4, Noise Filter=1
https://www.dropbox.com/s/z5t32dwbk5nsv ... 173017.avi

Made few videos with <Brightness=2, Sharpness=3, Noise Filter=3> and <Brightness=2, Sharpness=3, Noise Filter=4>, but didn't upload yet and they are also not very impressive.

Regards
Vitali
 
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Vitali,

Thanks for the clarification. And also for the dropbox links. I downloaded the second link (one with the most sunshine) and I think it looks better than mine! :( I would download all videos if my internet was faster... :oops: Here's my dropbox shared link:

*stock Lukas UV filter, default settings, full HD @ 11mbps (AC23)
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ksyvstbd6fdk9gm/bdF54gv46U#/

The first video (on the left ) was taken towards the beginning of my driving and the second video (on the right) is about one hour later. You can notice on the second video the quality becoming distorted (it was less than 90 degrees outside [32 Celcius]). The distortion actually gets worse when it's 100+ degrees.
 
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neoP said:
vitali_vg said:
I must agree here. I read a lot of reports that even when it is about 30-40C (sorry, no idea what are the numbers in Fahrenheit) , some cams stop working and cheap plastic lens just don't do the job...
Coming to the question, that I have no clue what lens Lukas is using... :)

Good point. Perhaps (what appears to be a cheap) Lukas [UV] lens that is causing the blurring effect during high temperature.


Al Drake said:
When you think about it that seems about right if you consider how many devices would function under such extreme heat. Things made of black plastic could actually melt. I would remove anything from those conditions and not expect anything good. I would be surprised if any dash cam would hold up without some cooling. Air flow would help but how much is unknown. The heat here has been 90+ for the past several days with no ill effects so far.

I only use the device while driving so it's tucked away in glovebox or inside center console when not in use or parked outside. I emailed Lukas which they responded promptly and they requested sample videos via Dropbox, which I will do. Luckily, I will be leaving Texas in a few months (still have the endure the worst of summer) and moving to Chicago--there we'll see how it performs under extreme cold :twisted:

Al Drake, you're using a high-end aftermarket filter, right? Perhaps that lens is more "heat tolerant" whereas the stock (UV) Lukas filter is causing the deterioration... :?:

Well, I'd be leaving Texas too. Congratulations. :lol:

I wouldn't even consider using such a cheap filter. You may have a point.
 
Posted link to video in different thread:
viewtopic.php?f=23&t=1634&p=18287#p18287

Actually I expected something like this. Yes it was taken in April and not in Texas, so looking at people around I may say it was a little bit cold outside

neoP. I wathed your videos. I understand you... Basically we are not talking about plates in the second video, but question should be "can you see a car?" ... Few dozen feet away and it is just some colorful spot

Regards
Vitali
 
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Hi

I did a test run today on my reborn LK-7900 and am a bit disappointed with the results

It has AC23 firmware and all settings are at default. Windscreen cleaned both inside and out

I have saved a frame from this test. (below).

You will notice the warning sign for old people on the left. In real life that sign is in good condition and quite clear to read, in the video it is bad.

I cannot explain what is going on but it looks like it has been "sharpened" too much by the camera.

Also the detail of the leaves on the hedges on both sides of the road are very blurred. It appears to worsen as the camera looks through more oblique angles away from the centre line of the camera. My car has a very sloping windscreen so even straight ahead on the axis of the camera it is looking through a big oblique wedge of glass, laminated with glue layers.

cheers

P

[attachment=0]test5b.jpg[/attachment
 

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