Some suggestions for A129

[Crusader2010]

Hello,

I recently bought an A129 for my car and noticed some annoyances with it that I would like to mention here, in the hopes that future versions will improve on that.

1. The beeping sound when it is not recording. I would like an option in the menu to turn that off.

You might say that I have the possibility to turn off the cam, but it's easier to short press the REC button versus long pressing the menu button AND waiting for the cam to load up again.

I would like to not hear any warning when it stops recording. Please also add an option to only beep when the screensaver is on and not recording.

2. Computer USB connection in normal operation mode. I would like to be able to use the camera normally when connected to an USB port from a PC/laptop/etc.

For example, I want to test the recordings for the different bit rates, the sensor during low light, etc, without having to go to my car each time (and wait for appropriate times of the day), come back to the PC, plug it in again, etc.

When the "Mass storage" screen appears it could instead be a menu with two checkboxes: "mass storage" (default) and "recording"/"testing mode"/etc. In the latter, the cam's SD card should not be accessible from the PC's file explorers.

3. I would like a quicker way to disable or enable the WDR, without going into the menu (for example long pressing the "lock recording"/"ok" button).

4. The angle of the cam's mount. I had some problems finding a good spot to place the cam because of the fact that it is firmly fixed on the mount and its angle to the car mirror's support element would've been to steep. I ended up placing it on the windshield even though it's not something I wanted.

Basically, I'm suggesting a new accessory, that can fit firmly in the cam's mount (and linking the cam to it), allowing better angles between the cam and the car's elements.

In my case I would've liked front-back shifting of the cam after mounting (on the "depth axis", as opposed to up-down or left-right). Minor rotations (left/right) would also be nice, so something more or less spherical could be the way to go.

5. Allow shifting the cam (including the image shown on the screen) by 180 degrees on the vertical axis.

Let me try to explain it better. Right now the cam's lens is always at the bottom in relation to the mount, and this is the only way to appropriately mount it. I would like to have the possibility of mounting the cam such that the lens ends up on top of the mount. The screen should also flip the image on the vertical axis (so it doesn't show upside down).

The image flipping could be a menu option (so no need to catch sensor data for it), while the hardware changes basically entail being able to flip the cam's back panel (the rectangle where the connector to the mount is located) by 180 degrees on the horizontal axis (not sure if this is already possible by simply rotating the mount that sticks to the windshield and I can't test it anymore since it's glued in in a tight spot, but the image flipping doesn't happen for sure).

Together with number 4. from above, this will allow mounting the cam in many more places inside the car.

Thank you.

 

[Bart]

Hi Crusader 2010,

1. IF the alarm beep only sounds when recording is turned off AND screensaver is on...
then there would be no need for an extra option, right ? Hopefully in the next firmware.
No need for beeping when you are in the settings menu.

2. So you want to give the Viofo power via the USB cable, like connecting it to a mobile phone charging device, for indoor testing ?
Is that an option for you ?

3. In what situation would you like to turn on and off WDR ?
I haven't tested what works best yet, but I'm allready thinking of keeping it allways turned on.

4. Not sure what you mean here, but I'll try to help.
Maybe you could carve something out of wood with the right angle, paint black, double tape to your mirror support and then tape the viofo on ?
Or maybe you could alter a small cheap smartphone holder to fit it on ?
Picture: https://content.jdmagicbox.com/quickquotes/images_main/cygnett_dashview_mini_universal_car_mount_smartphone_holder_cy0338acdas__10918734_0.jpg

5. In my settings I can select turning upside down any camera (front or rear).
Never yet tried it, but I guess only the recorded image is going to turn, not the on screen settings.
The image is for sure going to be OK if you turn the Viofo upside down, except for the icons and on screen settings.
You could also just connect the Viofo wirelessly to your phone and not worry about the on screen settings ?

Hope you enjoy your Viofo for a long time and never really need it,
Kind regards,
Bart.

 

[Crusader2010]

Hello Bart,

1. Right now it beeps whenever the recording is stopped. Also, the screensaver can be turned on or off from the menu. So,
- Screensaver is either set to OFF from the settings OR it is set to ON but not currently active + I press the "REC" button while recording => new default option in the settings to hear the beeping or not;
- Screensaver is set to ON from the settings AND it is currently running + I press the "REC" button while recording => an additional checkbox in the settings to allow it to beep in this case;

2. I want to record while not being in the car. For example, it's impossible to test the differences for the two bit rate values without going to the car, or how many GBytes a 10minute recording takes in both cases etc. Connecting it to a phone (for power) and recording stuff should be possible right now but I haven't tested it because I don't have the right cable adapters. Plugging it in the PC's USB is much easier though, yet it only allows file I/O operations.

3. In any situation I may deem necessary. For example I start driving during the night and right before dawn I want to disable the WDR because it darkens the recording too much. Right now I'm forced to stop the car somewhere (which is not always possible) and go through the menu options.

4. The idea is to not be forced into a "do-it-myself" alternative to a proper factory-made (and properly researched) camera support Yes, I can do it, but I bet the camera's not going to be very stable (especially on bumpy roads).

5. I haven't found that setting yet. Will definitely look for it when I have the chance. Right now I really need to move the support from the windshield since on every recording I get reflections from different things from the dashboard or wipers or the inner filaments of the windshield used for heating it.

Thanks for the kind words and same to you!

 

[Bart]

Hi Crusader,

1. For me it would be just ok to not hear beeping when in settings mode.

2. U could also use a powerbank.

4 and 5. Maybe I just don't understand what you are trying to do. I just placed the Viofo behind the rearview mirror on the windshield, like in the manual page 9. I don't see the Viofo at all, just use my smartphone to go into settings.
The only way to get a real clean view is, I think, if the Viofo would be on the outside to avoid reflections.
Or maybe with the special lens adaptor. It does,t really bother me.

5. Here you find the manual: http://support.viofo.com/support/solutions/19000013057 at the bottom of page 21 "image rotation" .
Didn't have the time to test it to see what it does though.
Only installed it since yesterday.

 

[Crusader2010]

Hello,

I've attached a picture to better show what I'm talking about (sorry, it's the best I could find). That is the mirror's support from my car. Right now I have the cam fixed in the red position. I would love to have it in the blue position (or even on the right side of the mirror's support), with the circle being the lens. Due to the thickness of the mirror's support, it's going to be further away from the windshield (in the blue position), which will most likely reduce/cancel the reflections and the blurriness from the windshield's heating filaments.

The only problem with all of this is that the cam would be in a very steep angle, making it almost impossible to operate in any way while driving (I would barely even see the buttons). It also becomes very cumbersome to remove the cam from the support when I'm not driving, since the position is very awkward. Nonetheless I'm going to try it somehow. Hopefully the glue comes off easily from the windscreen without leaving anything behind

Thanks!

 

[Bart]

Hi,
That seems a really big mirror support.
Honestly I don't think the blue position is going to be any better than the red one regarding the reflections and the heating filaments.
I can see the reflections from the driver position and that's a lot further away from the windshield.
Hope you find a satisfying solution.
Here is what my mirror looks like, the Viofo is behind the SW marking making it invisible while driving:

 

[viofo]

1. In new firmware, we disable the beep while Wi-Fi connected and in playback mode, we will also disable the beep while in setting mode on APP.
2. We will disable the beep sound totally if the user choose beep option to off.
3. We can add an option to let user to power on the camera or enter to the mass storage mode while connected with computer.

 

[Bart]

Hi Viofo admin,

That would be awesomme !
If I may, I would like to add a suggestion too.
I think it would be really helpful, when pressing the "lock file" button, the current file as well as the previous file are saved from overwriting.
Or maybe even the next file too.

When there was an event the other day, I pushed the "lock file" button to save the file from being overwritten.
Once home I wanted to review the file and I noticed that the actual event was not saved, only the next clip.
Note: I was using the 3min clip option and F+R camera.

Now the "lock file" only seems helpfull for reference of where the event happened, in the hopes that the previous file is not overwritten yet.

Thank you verry much.

 

[Crusader2010]

@viofo: thank you very much

@Bart: yep, the mirror support is really big in Volvos unfortunately. And I realized the picture I posted is not totally accurate... further up from the blue square, towards the mirror, there is a round bump that makes it almost impossible to glue the cam to it. So I was forced to fix it on the grating to the right and I'm really not happy about the way it lays on it.

New questions/ideas:

1) About the lock option from Bart's request, there is always a chance that a new recording starts right after you pressed the lock button and lose the previous one (the chance grows higher the lower the recording time you choose for one).

In other words, I totally agree that something must be done about it and I would like to suggest something a bit different, especially for the 5/10 minute recordings (because I suppose that locking two 10 minute recordings, several times, would quickly lead to an inability to overwrite anything on the SD card):

- IF (at least 1 minute passed from the current recording) => (lock the current recording) + (lock the last 2 minutes from the previous one);​

- Give the user an option to choose how much length from the previous recording to lock => OFF/1minute/2minutes/3minutes (if the general recording length is set to less than this, it will be locked fully).​

I'm not sure if this is technically possible or not (basically to copy the last X minutes from a recording, in a different folder, and name it appropriately so that we know to what locked file it is linked to - e.g. for when you record 5 events during a trip, you would want to quickly see which are the consecutive locked recordings), but it could save a lot of space, especially for smaller SD cards.

2) What happens when all the recordings are locked and the cam has nothing to overwrite while recording? I'm a bit wary about testing it myself.

3) Does anyone know how to safely and properly remove the glue from the cam's support from the windshield? Some people are suggesting warm water, different cleaning sprays, ice, etc. Is it something that actually works without risking to graze the glass with a razor or such?

Thanks!