WISHLIST for Panorama X2 ( vote, debate, comment )

[niko]

NB!
This thread is NOT for reporting "bugs" or issues with beta- or "latest" available firmware !
For "bugs" report please use appropriate tread of certain firmware.

- This thread is for WISHLIST of what you would like to change, or add into Panorama X2 firmware, like any special option of settings or GUI ( graphic user interface ).
- Also you can add your wishes of some minor hardware changes, like bracket, cables etc.

All firmware ( settings, GUI etc ) related wishes must be within limits of existing Panorama X2 hardware and SDK. No silly fantasies please !

After each "wish" is presented, - other readers please comment / debate and vote.

It doesn't mean every wish will be realised straight away, or in near future. Not all wishes might be even possible to implemented into existing solutions, but I do believe those which are not hard to implement, they might be implemented soon ( or in some stage ), it's all depends on amount of requests / votes per particular "wish".
The more you vote for particular "wish", - the more likely it will be implemented.

My first wish

"Removing" a navigation bar in playback menu.
At the moment about 25% of bottom of the screen is covered by navigation bar, which covers quite a lot of bottom area of video footage. Yes, I agree that in many cars that bottom part is dash or bonnet, but this all depends on the vehicle type, how long is bonnet and is there bonnet at all.
Some vehicles, like bus, track, minivans, etc. which does not have bonnet at all or its too short, - that playback navigation menu bar will be hiding 1/4 of the useful footage, which might provide a vital information when want to playback on the go. Yes, at home you can view video footage on full screen without navigation bar, but in situations when you want to playback video footage on the go ( for example to policeman ), then this might be a problem.

I propose for playback menu to appear on the screen same way like main menu icons appear: when taping on the screen, the playback menu bar with icons will appear for 5 sec., after that they will disappear, simple

 

[niko]

My second wish.

L-shape ( 90 degree ) video cable plug / connector for rear camera.
At the moment microusb plug is straight and even if you "bend" it during installation, it still adds about 3-4cm to overall length of the rear camera making its almost twice longer in overall shape, there for making it more visible.

Having rear camera video cable L-shape, it will add only about 5mm to overall rear camera size, which makes it more discrete.

Of coruse there are L-shape microusb adapters out there, which can be used for this setup, but many of them are with OTG function which will nto work on Panorama X2 and ALL of them are not "bent" into the correct direction ( they all facing forward, not backward ), or facing up or down.
Best if manufacturer could make a proper / correct L-shape video cable to avoid test'n'tried from customers side.

Please vote if you support this idea.

Picture below is from Panorama X1 camera set-up facing forward, which is exactly the same as used on Panorama X2.

 

[mcaf123]

I agree with both above suggestions.
My additions, as suggested in another thread would be:
1) add fast forward and rewind buttons to the playback screen on the camera

 

[mcaf123]

2) when the camera changes from parking to recording mode, change the parking mode icon to a red recording dot so we know it's changed mode. Especially useful when the camera is hidden behind the rear view mirror and only one side of it is slightly visible.

As a small addition.... Allow a toggle for left and right hand drive cars (as this will probably determine which side of the mirror you will have mounted your camera) to have that red recording dot showing in either the top left or top right corner

 

[NZDashcam]

The ability to toggle WDR on or off. By this I mean the wide angle of view

 

[NZDashcam]

HDMI out as a hardware option

 

[NZDashcam]

Allow a toggle for left and right hand drive cars (as this will probably determine which side of the mirror you will have mounted your camera) to have that red recording dot showing in either the top left or top right corner

I'd want that in the bottom right, so all 4 corners please.

 

[NZDashcam]

The cover on the cards peels back to the rear. As I assume most people access the cards from the rear of the camera, it would be better peeling forward so that it doesn't obstruct what you are doing. Either that or come up with a quick video transfer method (perhaps to android and iphone) that doesn't require removing the cards.

 

[NZDashcam]

The unit is hardwired. A manual off/restart button, rather than having to pull the power would be useful. The unit will turn on with ignition, so it doesn't need to be physical, a screen one would suffice.

Ideal for card removal/garaged vehicle/privacy or long stay.

 

[mcaf123]

The cover on the cards peels back to the rear. As I assume most people access the cards from the rear of the camera, it would be better peeling forward so that it doesn't obstruct what you are doing. Either that or come up with a quick video transfer method (perhaps to android and iphone) that doesn't require removing the cards.

I would like to see the card slots at the bottom in a future iteration.... Would make much more sense for quick removal without the faff of trying to move the mirror out of the way and then reposition it again. Plus mine is very close to the mirror mount and its a right bugger to try and pull those tiny cards out

 

[country_hick]

Looking at the pictures of the dash cam it seems the "made in china" label could be far less reflective. A flat or matte finish would make it more stealthy. I would also think using a darker grey color instead of white letters would hide it better. Maybe just laser etch the cam instead of using an actual label?

 

[Hombré]

Good thread/ideas........ Cards on the bottom would be ideal for click and go.

 

[mcaf123]

I would like some sort of basic log to be visible in the settings menu. For example at 10:30am camera switched to parking mode. At 10:45am camera switched off due to low battery voltage. I think it would allow users to see exactly what is going on and diagnose potential issues easier and quicker. This could be a power user setting, but a great one nonetheless

 

[country_hick]

The view screen should have a fast shut off option.

0 seconds. The screen never turns on. This is as stealth as it can get. No one will notice the screen lighting up because it never lights up. Certain button presses can bring the screen to life to override this setting.

15 and 30 seconds. You see it is working. Then when you put the car in gear it shuts off. No distractions this way.

3-5 minutes for shutoff and always on for those who want the screen on.

To me this should be the set up every single dash cam with a screen uses.

 

[mcaf123]

The view screen should have a fast shut off option.

0 seconds. The screen never turns on. This is as stealth as it can get. No one will notice the screen lighting up because it never lights up. Certain button presses can bring the screen to life to override this setting.

15 and 30 seconds. You see it is working. Then when you put the car in gear it shuts off. No distractions this way.

3-5 minutes for shutoff and always on for those who want the screen on.

To me this should be the set up every single dash cam with a screen works.

I would certainly like to see some sort of one touch valet setting which mutes/turns off everything that could alert the person to the fact there is a camera in the car. Great for when you take your car to the garage for a service etc.

 

[reverend]

Right then, I'm copying some of these over from the old list as they still apply but here's a brain dump

1. Allow the camera to record in 18 and 21Mbps options (maybe change low / high in menu to 12 / 15 / 18 / 21?)
2. Add VBR (variable bitrate) & CBR (constant bitrate) toggle.
3. Improve the WDR / AE / gain to improve numberplate capture in daytime. Something is too high unless it's a beautiful sunny day so capture of things like numberplates isn't great at all in the UK winter weather.
4. Change the low / medium / high brightness setting to affect daytime video too so that the user can pick their choice between a bright image which struggles with numberplate reading or a darker, sharper image due to faster exposure. Best of both worlds then.
5. Add a 12.2V power cut off setting in the power control.
6. Ability to display live voltage that the camera is reading from the car (for fault finding and debugging issues)
   
7. Add a power off option within the menus.
8. Add a restart option within the menus so that in the event of any issues it will do a hard reboot - maybe something like holding the screen for ten seconds could force the camera to turn off or reboot.
9. Add a higher brightness setting to deal with dark factory privacy glass
10. Is it possible to add some debug / logging options while the firmware is still in beta phase to speed up what is causing some of the problems?
11. Add a zoom in / out function and pan button (maybe a subscreen via the menus) so that the camera can be focussed easily?
12. Add the purple haze night time video from old Panorama firmwares (Niko has mentioned this one quite a few times and if possible could be a great option to add.) There's maybe too much noise reduction in place right now.
13. Different metering modes, ie spot, centre, average to see if any advantages can be seen over the factory auto
14. Ability to move file from playback screen into Event folder.
15. Seperate record indicators for front and rear (to ensure both are working in say for example card filesystem issues)
16. Ability to hide GPS / speed stamp from the video
17. Suction mount with rotation ability. Current 3m mount can be too restrictive as there is no left / right movement and if you didn't get it right first time around you're stuck.
18. Develop a mount that gets the X2 closer to the glass - my windscreen is peppered with stone chips and these are really obvious day and night - if the camera is closer to the glass they will be out of focus and less obvious.
19. Factory CPL option.
20. Make the front of the camera matte black and lose the Panorama X2 logo on the front, same with the silver trim to make it less obvious from the outside.
21. Make the front camera decoration smaller and lose the text for the Western markets.
    
22. Produce a cover for the front LED if you're not using it to make the camera stealthier
23. I know it's a size issue but the ability to take a standard full size SD card - microSD cards are very fiddly to get in and out of the X2 when it's hidden behind the rear view mirror.
24. Tune the camera to work better with privacy glass (tinted windows) - there are some strange effects with the rear camera currently
25. Picture in picture capability to show both channels on screen at the same time.

I'm not sure what the availability of the higher end COACH CPUs is like now they're drying up but maybe higher resolutions (would need a higher resolution sensor) and higher frame rates could be in products down the line.

 

[reverend]

I would like to see the card slots at the bottom in a future iteration.... Would make much more sense for quick removal without the faff of trying to move the mirror out of the way and then reposition it again. Plus mine is very close to the mirror mount and its a right bugger to try and pull those tiny cards out

Cards do tend to drop like a stone if you move your finger ever so slightly out of the way - I tried dropping the card out of a Mini 0806 when it was in situ and it dropped straight out and it took me ten minutes to fish it out of the nook it was in - alternatively maybe they could be hidden away horizontally in the facia facing the inside of the car, so they don't drop easily and they should be quite easy to get in and out?

Something like how they're situation in this head unit along the bottom of the screen:

 

[HouseApe]

Add microphone gain control.
With mounting behind the mirror its hard to get to or even see the lock icon. In driving mode If screen is off, Dabble tap screen to lock file.
Add a sound or beep so we would know if and when it stops recoding in driving mode and the screen is off.

 

[mcaf123]

Add microphone gain control.
With mounting behind the mirror its hard to get to or even see the lock icon. In driving mode If screen is off, Dabble tap screen to lock file.
Add a sound or beep so we would know if and when it stops recoding in driving mode and the screen is off.

Yes, I'd also like some sort of shutdown noise so we know it's turned off while we're driving for whatever reason

 

[mcaf123]

Another suggestion from a software usability point of view.... When you're playing a video and press the back button on the play toolbar, it takes you back to the front/rear card selection. I think it makes much more sense to take you back to the previous screen (ie the list of videos in the folder you were viewing), because if you have 200 parking videos and you're trying to find a certain one, you could be a few pages of files out so you'd rather be able to scroll through the list than press next or last on the playback screen