Boardsie reviews a dash camera

C.D.

Introduction

For those of you who have not followed this thread or this thread with earnest, several of us boardsies have become quite interested in dash cameras. These are small video cameras that record the road ahead while you are driving. At the entry level, you’ll find cheap Chinese cameras with few features and with optimistic claims of video quality. At the high end of the spectrum, you’ll find HD cameras with in built GPS, g-sensors, wide angle lenses and most importantly a good software interface. These features are what differentiates them from sports cameras which tend to be record only. Being entirely honest, the market is filled with rubbish and finding a good product is difficult, hence why I hope to help out my fellow boardsies with this mini-review. Before we start it should be noted that the quality of footage captured by in car cameras in not on par with conventional/professional cameras or video recorders. These units tend to be quite small and pack a whole of other electronics into the package.

I originally purchased a Roadhawk RH-1 two years ago, which was a good product, but there have been some great leaps and strides since then. At the time my sole motivation was to prove liability in the case of a collision (or insurance fraud). This camera recorded in VGA at 15FPS, so it was just about adequate for proving liability and nothing else. Since then, I have wanted to be able to post some of the things I see and encounter on a daily basis- hence my upgrading. I have also owned a DoD GS600 and have friends with some entry level models (<€50) from Ebay.



After much research I found the BlackVue DR400-G HD and a very kind and generous CD got this as a present for himself for his birthday. The BlackVue would sit at the high end of the consumer market for in car cameras.

Specs

• Camera : 2,073,600pixels CMOS sensor,
• Megapixel IR lens
• Angle of View : 120˚(diagonal), 98˚(horizontal), 55˚(vertical)
• Resolution : 1080p at 30fps
• Compression : Video : H.264, Audio : AAC LC
• G-sensor : Built in
• GPS : Built in
• Microphone : Built in
• Speaker : Built in
• LED : Recording status, GPS, Button
• Memory : 16GB Micro SD card (support up to 32GB)
• Battery : Internal Battery 130mA
• Temperature : -20˚C ~ 70˚C
• Input Voltage : 12V ~ 24V DC
• Power Consumption : Max 3W
• Video Out : Composite (NTSC/PAL)
• Color, Size, Weight : Dark Silver, 102.8×32.0 (DxΦmm), 86g
• Certification : KC, FCC, CE

There will be two aspects of the product I will focus on- the camera itself and the PC software you use to view your video and associated information.

I bought the BlackVue off ebay seller =price11 for €220. It took 1 week to arrive in Ireland and sat in customs for 3 days before being delivered, incurring an additional charge of €23. Total cost was €243. The review is after two weeks of ownership.

Be warned that a lot of Korean sellers are “dumping” local stock on Ebay. The MRSP for Europe is ~€350 as on this site. The manufacturer is taking steps to enforce this so I am not sure how long these prices will last. There were two cheaper sellers on Ebay (one had an all in price of €185), but both had lead times of several weeks.


First impressions:

My first impressions were very positive- the packaging is of higher quality than anticipated.



The camera itself comes with a plethora of the usual accessories:

• Power cable for your car (12V cigarette adaptor)
• AV cable to allow you to hook the camera up to a screen (or tablet) to show live feed
• 16GB Samsung Class 6 Micro SDHC
• Micro SD to SD card adaptor
• USB SD card reader
• Cable routing clips
• Spare sticky pad for the camera mount (great addition)
• Instruction manual (in Korean, English one available [url=]here[/url]

I have to say that the cylindrical design is by far the best design I have encountered for this class of product. Aside from the aesthetics, it allows 360 degree rotation about the mount giving you greater flexibility on where you want to mount it. The positioning of all of the input/output ports on one end keeps the design sleek, but the stand out feature is how the camera disconnects from the mount.



My initial powering up of the camera was met with a palpable sense of dismay- a very nice Korean lady was babbling Korean! Having anticipated some teething issues, I had brought my laptop out to my car. Like all good in car cameras, the settings are stored on the SD card so I proceeded to plug the SD card into my laptop in the hope of being able to change some language settings. To my further dismay, all the BlackVue software was riddled with funny Korean symbols aka Wingdings.

A quick search online and it turns out I needed to update the Firmware to an English version which was, surprisingly, painless. Download the firmware to the SD card, pop the card back into the camera. Second time lucky and the camera boots and I’m greeted with an American girl who doesn’t sound half as nice. Initially I thought the voice messages (“Camera on”, “Firmware updating” etc.) were a bit tacky. However, I am now a convert. If I am doing something such as updating the Firmware, I know exactly what it is doing and at what stage. If something is not working (missing SD card) it will tell me. No more trying to figure out if the LED is blue or purple or counting how many times it flashes while looking at an indecipherable table in a manual. If a back seat passenger unplugs the camera, I get told. You can choose to turn all voice messages off- the software is by far the best I have encountered (this will be a recurring theme!).

I mounted the camera by my rear view mirror. It is relatively inconspicuous, but I would still take it with me depending on where I park. The power cable is wired down the A pillar, across the underside of the driver’s dash, tucked along the centre console and plugged into the back seat passenger’s 12V accessory socket. Very neat, no dangling wires.


Testing… 123.. Testing..

I wanted to test the camera with the car stationary before doing a road test. To my further dismay, when I then went to view the video.. it was upside down! I was a bit peeved off as I’m pretty sure nothing in the manual mentioned anything about the camera orientation. I was right, the manual doesn’t. As the software allows for this and has a button to “flip” the video while watching depending on how you have mounted it. This is why my timestamps are upside down.

Having eventually gotten everything ready, it was time for a road test! The quality of the camera is good, but not extraordinary. Certainly not as good as conventional cameras but better than the majority of car cameras I have seen The colours are vibrant and the recorded footage is smooth. Very little vibration is transmitted to the unit- something that really ruins the video footage of cheaper units. The picture is a little fuzzy for my liking, though it is sharp enough to read numberplates on both sides of the road in slow moving traffic. I expect this is more to do with the compression algorithm than the camera. This footage is 1080p at 30FPS.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z152OQw-5Ck

I have not bothered to include video of the other quality settings as I figure this is what everyone wants to see and I’m lazy  Here is a comparison video from a DOD GS600 taken at the same time as the BlackVue video to allow you to do a side by side comparison. If I had a third 12V socket I would have included Roadhawk footage of the same trip. I bought the GS600 prior to purchasing the BlackVue and it’s only been used a handful of times. The video quality on the DoD is unquestionably superior (pause it and you have no problem reading number plates) but I found 2-3 second gaps between the DoD files. Losing 3-5% of my video is a dealbreaker for me. Additionally the low light performance is sub par on the DoD GS600. I’d be willing to let this go very cheap at a 50% discount to a fellow boardsie. It was bought in January for €180 (excl SD card).

Here are some stills to compare picture quality. Notice the difference in colours, sharpness and low light performance:

Traffic Lights 1, DoD
Traffic Lights 1, BlackVue

Traffic Lights 2, DoD
Traffic Lights 2, BlackVue


Software- PC Playback

The BlackVue PC software can be downloaded online and it is also written onto the card by the device itself (handy if you are away from home). It really is head and shoulders above anything else I’ve seen and I could talk about it for hours. For those of you new to in car cameras, this is a screenshot of the interface:




Aside from the video footage, you have:

• Audio (can turn off in options)
• Timestamp and speed (can turn off in options, speed is a little slow to update)
• Google maps of position
• G sensor readings
• Timeline- the bars below video. Very useful when analysing a day’s worth of driving.

There are two stand out features on this screen which I have not encountered before on similar products:

• Route displayer- shows your route.
• Continuous play across files. So simple, yet this is the first product I’ve found that allows me to sit back and just watch.

Software- Options

I’ll keep this brief, mostly as bullet points.

Resolution:

• 1080p at 30 or 15 FPS
• 720p at 30 or 15 FPS

A 32GB card can hold 10-12 hours of video at the highest setting (it ships with a 16GB).

File length ranges from 1-5 mins though be warned, larger files lead to gaps between files due to write times on other products, I don’t know if this is the case with the BlackVue (untested). At 1 min there are no gaps.

There are two options for overwriting files: oldest first or by file type. The BlackVue classes files into 3 categories:

Neutral: Normal driving
Event: When the G sensor detect a shock over a user defined threshold
Parking: Parking Events (see parking mode)

When the overwrite method is set to file type, a portion of the card is reserved for each file type (eg. N 40%, E 40%, P 20%) and files are overwritten based on type, oldest first.

• Can change from Kph to Mph (or no speed)
• Can configure LED colours for different states (or turn off)
• Can configure G sensor sensitivity using graphs from previous videos (very useful)
• Can turn voice messages on/off individually
• Export files as avi
• Save screenshot

Software- Android:

There is also a BlackVue Android app on the market. Your phone/tablet will need an SD card slot and unless you have a spare slot it is going to be cumbersome to use the app. It allows you to change (most) of the camera settings and view video. It does not have Google Maps/G sensor information. Unfortunately my phone (Desire Z) could not playback the 1080p video smoothly and as such the app has no real purpose for me. I don’t own a tablet.


Parking Mode:

This is a unique feature that I have not seen on other products. It does however require the purchase of additional equipment (BlackVue PowerMagic) to work effectively. Essentially, the camera stops recording and uses a motion sensing algorithm when the car is parked and the ignition is off. When it detects motion, it will record the file. This is in case somebody hits you while you are parked. Could be useful especially as numberplates are legible. When I factored in the additional cost to get the PowerMagic installed I felt it wasn’t worth it.


Conclusion:

I’m an extremely satisfied customer. My overall impression is that this is a well engineered and thought out product- as evidenced by the high build quality of the unit itself and the excellent software. The device itself is above average in terms of video quality, but the supplied software is what brings this product from “above average” to fantastic. It comes as no surprise to find out that this is a second generation product and builds upon BlackVue’s previous experience with the the DR300G. Now I just have to wait till I see something worth putting on Youtube!

Pros:
Great quality camera, but there are better (e.g. DOD GS600 or 1000GS)
Excellent software for playback
Unprecedented customisation of options
Unique software features (e.g. route viewer)
Well designed and aesthetically pleasing

Cons:
Average audio
Video is fuzzy
G sensor is too sensitive, even at its lowest setting
Micro SD card can be fiddly to retrieve- why not use full sized card
On the expensive side

PS: I’m never doing this again, took fooking ages ^^

Harcrid

Very good review there. Do you have any pictures of the unit mounted in the car?

C.D.

Celtxx wrote: »

Very good review there. Do you have any pictures of the unit mounted in the car?

Thanks, went out and took one, just for you!



I have a new found appreciation of product reviews, I never realised what an enormous amount of time and effort goes into making them!

MugMugs

I must say OP, I'm blown away by that. Kudos!

TheBazman

Great review - a lot of effort put in there

Bohrio

I have been using this dash cam for over a month now and I havent experienced that loss of data between clips. In fact is normally the other way around between clips there are a second of "share" video..

Only downside is that the clips duration cannot be set to anything higher than 3 minutes but that's about it!

I have noticed that the picture becomes more flurry after a few uses. A 32 GB card is highly recommended, scandisk type 6 seems to be the best choice are there are some issues with other even the one included (samsung).

I am not so happy with the sound, is fair at best.

Yesterday I went for a drive and encountered a bit of harsh weather... I couldnt see much of the outside world from my car seat and I thought the Blackvue would have had difficulties recording it but I think It did a great job considering the circunstances...

You gotta love the irish weather!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7juNGlD0mU

Harcrid

Thats nice and discreet. It has me thinking now.....

C.D.

Bohrio wrote: »

I have been using this dash cam for over a month now and I havent experienced that loss of data between clips. In fact is normally the other way around between clips there are a second of "share" video..

Only downside is that the clips duration cannot be set to anything higher than 3 minutes but that's about it!

I have noticed that the picture becomes more flurry after a few uses. A 32 GB card is highly recommended, scandisk type 6 seems to be the best choice are there are some issues with other even the one included (samsung).

I am not so happy with the sound, is fair at best.

Yesterday I went for a drive and encountered a bit of harsh weather... I couldnt see much of the outside world from my car seat and I thought the Blackvue would have had difficulties recording it but I think It did a great job considering the circunstances...

You gotta love the irish weather!

Wow that's some change.. and it was only yesterday! My BlackVue has no gaps- it's the DoD which has gaps. The audio is average at best considering what is it. I have a 32GB Class 10 Sandisk in myself. I wonder how long the cards will last what with the continuous read/write cycles.

Bohrio

C.D. wrote: »

Wow that's some change.. and it was only yesterday! My BlackVue has no gaps- it's the DoD which has gaps. The audio is average at best considering what is it. I have a 32GB Class 10 Sandisk in myself. I wonder how long the cards will last what with the continuous read/write cycles.

Yeah... that makes sense... est thing to do is format them weekly... I dont use the car much but so far so good!

CrowdedHouse

Has anyone in Ireland successfully used the recordings as evidence ?

quietsailor

C.D. --- I just wanted to say thanks that you took the time to write that review, 99% of people don't bother. Your the 1% :eek:

D_murph

Can you keep a second SD card handy so that if something happens when you might be far from home, you can swap it out to prevent it from being over written?

P.S. Great review also, thanks .

r3nu4l

A query about file length. Does this mean that you can't record a 45. Inite journey as one file?

If you cant then if you are recording files at one minute duration, will the software allow you to group a load of one minute files together to create a video of your desired length or can you use movie editing software to group files together?

Bohrio

You can swap cards anytime you'd like but the slot is not of easy access, still not something annoying to do

Clips can be of 1, 2 and 3 minutes duration. I dont know how the software will work in putting them together I use Sony Vegas

floatwinner

Just bought one of these thanks to OP's excellent review, paid e303 including expedited shipping, still worth it imo;)

C.D.

CrowdedHouse wrote: »

Has anyone in Ireland successfully used the recordings as evidence ?

I would be curious to know this too. Having talked to a solicitor friend (specialises in contract law though) she cannot see why it would not be treated like any other form of video evidence captured in the public domain.. i.e. as real evidence. I would mention it to any guards attending the scene and show them the footage if possible. I would under no circumstances tell the third party. They may get aggressive and try destroy the evidence.

quietsailor wrote: »

C.D. --- I just wanted to say thanks that you took the time to write that review, 99% of people don't bother. Your the 1% :eek:

Ah shucks, thanks I'm the 1% who cares! Figure I spend enough time reading everything on this forum I might aswell contribute something original.

D_murph wrote: »

Can you keep a second SD card handy so that if something happens when you might be far from home, you can swap it out to prevent it from being over written?

P.S. Great review also, thanks .

I do, but it's a little fiddly. I figure that with 10-12 hours of space I should be OK! Plus if the accident is bad you'll probably be towed away anyway..

C.D.

r3nu4l wrote: »

A query about file length. Does this mean that you can't record a 45. Inite journey as one file?

If you cant then if you are recording files at one minute duration, will the software allow you to group a load of one minute files together to create a video of your desired length or can you use movie editing software to group files together?

As Bohrio said- the files are recorded in single mp4 segments. The software plays them seamlessly so you can sit back and watch. I used 3rd party software to string them together. As you can see from my YT video, you don't really notice any gaps between them.

Cicero

Nice one OP...I'm not really an eBay buyer...are these type of cameras available on any retail website - like Amazon etc ..or is it that their prices are prohibitive? Just wouldn't like to take the risk buying on eBay- as you say, theres a lot of fakes etc out there..

C.D.

Cicero wrote: »

Nice one OP...I'm not really an eBay buyer...are these type of cameras available on any retail website - like Amazon etc ..or is it that their prices are prohibitive? Just wouldn't like to take the risk buying on eBay- as you say, theres a lot of fakes etc out there..

There is the UK distributor. Updated the OP to include this link. From £260. The big risk with Ebay is.. customs! Thankfully I wasn't stung that badly

Bohrio

I bought mine from http://novus-gps.co.uk/

It was 249 plus shipping (i think it was 14 pounds). Delivery took 3 days.

It also came with a second free mount. I think both sites are the same but for some reason one is 10 pounds cheaper than the other...

machat

r3nu4l wrote: »

A query about file length. Does this mean that you can't record a 45. Inite journey as one file?

If you cant then if you are recording files at one minute duration, will the software allow you to group a load of one minute files together to create a video of your desired length or can you use movie editing software to group files together?

I have the same question.
I would like to be able to record a session of driving for about 20 minutes (background footage) in one go.

Is there a "manual" recording option and a "automatic" option (that records continuously ?

I assume the software is for for Windows only ?

dukedalton

I have been involved in one incident and several near misses recently in which I was in no way to blame, so I have been thinking about getting one of these. Unfortunately, my knowledge of technology is fairly rudimentary. I have a couple of questions; perhaps someone more technically minded than myself can pull me out of my ignorance:

1. How long can footage be recorded? When memory space is full, does the recording stop (and then have to be manually deleted) or does it re-write footage recorded from the start?

2. What is the power source for dash cams? Is it battery, or can it be connected up to the socket in the car? If so, are trailing wires a problem?

Regards,

DD

nicol

dukedalton wrote: »

I have been involved in one incident and several near misses recently in which I was in no way to blame, so I have been thinking about getting one of these. Unfortunately, my knowledge of technology is fairly rudimentary. I have a couple of questions; perhaps someone more technically minded than myself can pull me out of my ignorance:

1. How long can footage be recorded? When memory space is full, does the recording stop (and then have to be manually deleted) or does it re-write footage recorded from the start?

2. What is the power source for dash cams? Is it battery, or can it be connected up to the socket in the car? If so, are trailing wires a problem?

Regards,

DD

@dukedalton
Read the first post, it explains how the overwriting of recordings works. The power is via the 12v socket. (Would quote from the original post but don't know how)

sogood

Thanks or taking the time and trouble to write an excellent review. I have been thinking of getting a dash cam and this certainly is food for thought. I assume the camera can be removed and mounted in another vehicle without too much hassle? I drive coaches and thought that being able to bring it along when working would be a definite plus.

Thanks again.

CreepingDeath

CrowdedHouse wrote: »

Has anyone in Ireland successfully used the recordings as evidence ?

A taxi cut me up badly on the quays last year and I reported them to the guards for dangerous driving. I had the whole thing recorded on dashcam.
They nearly crashed into the side of my car with my 9 months pregnant girlfriend in the passenger seat, so I took it kinda personally.

Haven't formally made a statement yet, it was tricky finding a time that suited the guard & I to make a statement so far.
But they were happy that I had footage and I offered to burn it to a DVD.
Actually the guard was more than happy to take the complaint as he gets cut up there a lot in his own private car.
( On the Dublin quays westbound before Guinnesses where a taxi lane turns into a left hand turn only lane and they have to merge into the middle lane in good time )

The taxi driver has already been formally cautioned and I've to make a formal statement.

I believe the next steps are that I make the statement, then they're going to show him the footage and I "think" he has the choice of accepting the penalty points there and then, or contest it in court.

I see absolutely no reason why a court wouldn't accept video footage.
Except maybe if you had heavily clipped it, eg. if it didn't show enough footage before and after the incident that may be relevant.
Eg. if two cars were playing cat & mouse on a motorway, and one only presented a heavily edited version of events.