Zenfox T3 Triple channel dash cams free test invitation, limited quantity

[kuoh]

You will not want to leave it in the hot car for long, as I've noticed significant accuracy changes in some models between when the sensor itself is hot or cold. I'm not talking about just +/- 5 degrees, but 40F or more depending on the differential between the sensor and object being measured. Ofcourse these are just my personal observations from using some cheap $20-$40 USD IR thermometers, not high end calibrated laboratory grade devices.

KuoH

I will try to borrow my friends temperature gun, but i will probably forget it

 

[Nigel]

suffers from less visibility at night due to the smaller pixel size allow in less light.

Seems fine when driving at night, it is only when you switch the headlights off near midnight that there is a difference.

I think it could use a slightly faster shutter speed at night, seems to have more motion blur than the A119 V3 which uses the same sensor, although the images are maybe a little cleaner because of it.

 

[Nigel]

You will not want to leave it in the hot car for long,...

Yes, an IR thermometer should be kept at around 20 degrees C for an accurate measurement, they have to compensate for variations in thermometer temperature and that is often not accurate. Also make sure you don't measure reflective surfaces or you will be measuring your own temperature!

 

[kuoh]

Perhaps I'm misunderstanding your use of the word cleaner, but more motion blur does not normally result in a clearer or sharper image. Also higher shutter speeds will result in an even darker image.

KuoH

Seems fine when driving at night, it is only when you switch the headlights off near midnight that there is a difference.

I think it could use a slightly faster shutter speed at night, seems to have more motion blur than the A119 V3 which uses the same sensor, although the images are maybe a little cleaner because of it.

 

[kamkar]

I think his temp gun are not a higher end one, but we got it back in the day as racing RC cars with nitro motors and gasoline too, and just air cooling, you want to get the temperature right for best performance.
Not least in the super high RPM 3.5 CCM motors is this true, you can do +40.000 RPM the hot way, or the slightly cooler right way.

The temperature dident really matter as much if it was bang on, but if it went up or down in response to mixture changes ASO and of course the lap times and throttle feel of the driver ( i was mechanic )
If both have a good understanding of what go on and what is needed it work fine, so if throttle response was lagging a bit and temperature was a tad low i could make a adjustment on the needle and off my buddy went.

 

[Nigel]

Perhaps I'm misunderstanding your use of the word cleaner, but more motion blur does not normally result in a clearer or sharper image. Also higher shutter speeds will result in an even darker image.

KuoH

If you use a higher shutter speed then you compensate by turning the ISO up, and that creates more noise. By "cleaner" I mean less noise.

 

[EGS]

Maybe @kuoh or @EGS own an infrared thermometer. I have no way to measure the camera's actual temperature. I am deferring these tests to others. As I said I noticed this on a 31C day that all cameras shut off after the car sat outside a few hours. I even swapped out to the 2nd camera I received. No Idea the humidity. Only the Viofo kept recording.

For exact scientific data on Humidity, car temperature, temperature of dash camera, this requires investing in further equipment. So maybe @kuoh or @EGS have the proper tools. As mentioned, Ive invested the equivalent of 80 pounds on this test by buying a 256GB + 128GB High Endurance for each camera + hardwire kit. I've got other priorities with my money this moment instead of investing in equipment that'll be only once on this test.

While not scientific, I was first to bring to @Zenfox_Official attention the overheating problem (Cameras Dropping). Plus, the dark night images and 2 hour time jump. I've definitely given feedback for others to build upon.

And showing the cameras temperature is helpful. While not taking into account humidity, having a baseline temperature at which each camera is shutting down would give @Zenfox_Official data to build upon. He could code this into the firmware to overlay each camera's video.

I think it requires more than an infrared thermometer. Who wants to sit in a hot car with the ac off pointing with a gun waiting for it to start cascading down when it starts overheating? I think multiple temperature proves are needed. Perhaps a digital similar like the one in the picture to monitor where you can attach one sensor in the camera body, another to monitor the cab temperature and other to monitor the outdoor temperature, then putting those displays together labeling each one with their respective location and setting those on top of your hood where the camera can see them and record the whole process. When each camera shuts off, you can see at what temperature it failed and compare the readings. That is just an idea that came in mind days ago but unfortunately I lack the time to do so at the moment. Also I believe there is no way we can get accurate readings since there are many variables such the color of the car in which will have an effect on how fast the interior temperature starts rising.

 

[kamkar]

I have to, there is no AC in my car though when it is hot, i panic and open the doors / roll down windows ASAP.
But yeah for parking mode you can sit there frying in a car in the sun, at least i would not ask that of anyone.

I still dont quite get why people focus so much energy on parking mode, at this time i think there are more important stuff to do with the T3, and when that is done we can focus on parking guard.

I put my sandisk high endurance in the T3 today, it too can not handle 3 cameras, but of course it also are not a A1 branded card.

 

[HonestReview]

I think it requires more than an infrared thermometer. Who wants to sit in a hot car with the ac off pointing with a gun waiting for it to start cascading down when it starts overheating? I think multiple temperature proves are needed. Perhaps a digital similar like the one in the picture to monitor where you can attach one sensor in the camera body, another to monitor the cab temperature and other to monitor the outdoor temperature, then putting those displays together labeling each one with their respective location and setting those on top of your hood where the camera can see them and record the whole process. When each camera shuts off, you can see at what temperature it failed and compare the readings. That is just an idea that came in mind days ago but unfortunately I lack the time to do so at the moment. Also I believe there is no way we can get accurate readings since there are many variables such the color of the car in which will have an effect on how fast the interior temperature starts rising.

Overlay the temperature onto each camera's video for beta purposes. I'll run with that otherwise I'm not spending the money or time to track down exact numbers. Like you, I've got far enough to show a problem. Others can jump onboard to add to our science.

 

[HonestReview]

I would disagree with that statement. The CPU/system temperature is the absolute value based on which shutdown occurs, so it would be useful to know when it is being approached and exceeded. While knowing the exterior, interior temperatures and the area immediately surrounding the camera is also useful, it does not tell us when shutdown would occur as my dark colored SUV in the sun could differ substantially from a light colored small car with dark tinted window parked under a tree. Mounting positions also play a large role as the top of the windshield can get much hotter than the middle or lower portion. In fact, others have already observed seemingly unexpected shutdown events during normal driving, but were unable to ascertain whether it was caused by heat, power, memory card performance or some other factor due to the lack of information. Having the sensor value displayed in the videos would at least allow confirmation of whether overtemp was reached as well as for each of us to establish our own baselines and calculate trends based on our vehicle dynamics.

KuoH

I find it hilarious when you suggest it everyone's on board. When I suggested it earlier it's not useful LOL. No thumbs up on my post!

 

[HonestReview]

Seems fine when driving at night, it is only when you switch the headlights off near midnight that there is a difference.

I think it could use a slightly faster shutter speed at night, seems to have more motion blur than the A119 V3 which uses the same sensor, although the images are maybe a little cleaner because of it.

The image on page 26 clearly shows its darker. As do other videos. The T3 picks up far less light than the Viofo A129. Although, the T3 does allow for better readability of license plates.

 

[Nigel]

I find it hilarious when you suggest it everyone's on board. When I suggested it earlier it's not useful LOL. No thumbs up on my post!

Well he does give a good reason why it would be useful, in that if the camera doesn't shutdown, you can still see how close you got to it doing so. Still need to know the air temperature though, to be able to judge how much of a problem it is; maybe it has been tested for 60 degrees C in the oven but it is actually shutting down at 30, which suggests that yours has a manufacturing fault, or maybe your car is getting to 80 degrees C, in which case it is unrealistic to think that the issue can be solved. Currently I don't think we know which it is.

 

[Nigel]

The image on page 26 clearly shows its darker. As do other videos. The T3 picks up far less light than the Viofo A129. Although, the T3 does allow for better readability of license plates.

Yes, at midnight with no headlights it is darker.

In my test last night at 10PM with headlights off and using the latest firmware, compared to a Viofo A129 IR (another taxicam), the T3 has 2x the pixels, more colour saturation and 29% more motion blur. The difference in brightness is tiny, for me the biggest issue is the motion blur, not the brightness.

Neither did a great job of the moon, they both got the shape clearly, but I prefer the colour on the T3 (left):

 

[SawMaster]

Any accurate data is better than guesses, so any temp measurements will be useful But probably best would be air temp very near the cam, as that will also include some of any radiant heat it picks up from the sun, yet still reflect reality closely without that. And that will also be the kind of measurement which most folks could do themselves with little more than a thermometer of some sort which reads up to 50C/122F. Probably won't need anything that high for beta testing based on what people here say

Phil

 

[EGS]

Overlay the temperature onto each camera's video for beta purposes.

Yes, I agree. That would be very useful to have available for us to see and it can be made optional to turn it on/off as needed.

 

[HonestReview]

Any accurate data is better than guesses, so any temp measurements will be useful But probably best would be air temp very near the cam, as that will also include some of any radiant heat it picks up from the sun, yet still reflect reality closely without that. And that will also be the kind of measurement which most folks could do themselves with little more than a thermometer of some sort which reads up to 50C/122F. Probably won't need anything that high for beta testing based on what people here say

Phil

I think two data points will be useful here to get a rather accurate assessment of what's going on:

1. Overlay temperature of cameras onto each video.
2. Ambient air in an enclosed car

I'm more than willing to buy a thermometer and check out the car's enclosed temperature if @Zenfox_Official will overlay camera temperatures for us. I believe these two data points should be sufficient in giving him enough information to make corrections.

 

[HonestReview]

Yes, at midnight with no headlights it is darker.

In my test last night at 10PM with headlights off and using the latest firmware, compared to a Viofo A129 IR (another taxicam), the T3 has 2x the pixels, more colour saturation and 29% more motion blur. The difference in brightness is tiny, for me the biggest issue is the motion blur, not the brightness.

Neither did a great job of the moon, they both got the shape clearly, but I prefer the colour on the T3 (left):
View attachment 52405

I can try another test with headlights. Not a big deal.

 

[HonestReview]

Well he does give a good reason why it would be useful, in that if the camera doesn't shutdown, you can still see how close you got to it doing so. Still need to know the air temperature though, to be able to judge how much of a problem it is; maybe it has been tested for 60 degrees C in the oven but it is actually shutting down at 30, which suggests that yours has a manufacturing fault, or maybe your car is getting to 80 degrees C, in which case it is unrealistic to think that the issue can be solved. Currently I don't think we know which it is.

I gave good reasons too. The exact one's he gave! To see at what temperature the cameras are shutting down. I can get a thermometer to measure the interior temperature, too. But having a temperature overlaid onto each video will give us a precise measurement when each camera turns off. I can then have a thermometer measuring heat inside the vehicle. I'm willing to get a thermometer if @Zenfox_Official takes the appropriate steps to allow for more precise measurements.

Just cause I drive and bought a nice ass car, doesn't mean I'm rich. Far from it. So I'm not wanting to piss away money on a fruitless quest if the end results get me nowhere.

 

[Nigel]

2. Ambient air in an enclosed car

Need to measure it near the top of the car, not in the footwells, there is a big difference.
Any old thermometer will do, doesn't need to be digital or IR.
If you are getting a digital one then it would be best to go for one with a probe, as was suggested above, otherwise the LCD tends to turn black and be unreadable if you leave it near the camera.

But having a temperature overlaid onto each video will give us a precise measurement when each camera turns off.

Zenfox already knows the exact precise temperature reading when it shuts cameras off, he/she has the software. Might have a good idea of the air temperature too, although it would help to know if you are at sea level in a damp swampy area or at high altitude in very dry air, and there is always a possibility of a manufacturing issue, maybe it's not performing as it should.

 

[EGS]

More news.
Today is been a fairly warm day at 92F with 75% humidity level which is not terribly bad. Went out driving and as usual I always geep my AC running. After about 30 minutes I heard a set of beep beep and I immediately put flag marker location in my mind so I could check the footage for what is what triggered the error at that moment at that location. After reviewing the footage I have found out that the rear camera footage stopped working, few minutes later the interior did stop as well. The front camera did not stop working but I few minutes later I have noticed a drop in bitrate (noticeable image degradation) suggesting that the whole system was affected by the temperature and almost ready to fail completely. If I recall correctly, I had a similar issue a couple of weeks ago while driving and it is very likely it will continue to do the same or worse as we move in to the hottest months of the season. So this issue is definitely not only tied to the parking mode.