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Salmon
35
Sep 17, 2014
Seems kind of silly to only start recording when it detects a collision. Why not hold the last 5 minutes, press button/collision to put that + keep recording into a video? The important stuff happens just before a collision, not after it. For a $400 camera I'd expect smarter design.d
I'd also like to see these things offer some smarter settings, like 4fps recording all the time (super small files but still gets important details you might not have realized to record), ability to connect to wifi when parked at home for backing up files (would let you record constantly), and higher quality microphones to properly catch audio after/during an incident.
gyuhang.cho
31
Sep 18, 2014
SalmonSalmon, It doesn't start recording when it detects a collision.
While driving, it records continuously as 'DRIVING RECORDING'. When it detects collision, it records few minutes before/after the collision as 'EVENT RECORDING' to let you find the accident scene easily.
If you install uninterrupted power cable with this kind of car dash camera, after few seconds ~ 5 minutes, the camera goes into parking surveillance mode. Normally, there are two surveillance modes, shock-detection, and movement detection+shock detection.
The shock-detection mode is reliable, but only records after the camera detects sudden movement. For example, after park the car, first detection is usually when you close the door or trunk door. It doesn't use much electricity from the battery, so it usually lasts more than 2~3 days in ideal condition.
The movement+shock detection mode is little bit more complicated. The camera lens stays on even after going into parking surveillance mode, if it detects sudden change of scene(view from camera), it records few minutes before/after the situation. Because it uses much electric power, it is not recommended to use this mode if you are not driving everyday. It is ideal when you park the car facing a driveway or a road which has very little traffic. It is quite useful, but personally I think it is not reliable during nighttime if there is no streetlight nearby.
I am not sure about this specific model, but some dash cam has option to records 10 or 15fps instead of 30fps. However, I don't recommend you to do that, because it is really hard to recognise license plate with 15fps. Always better quality video helps better detection.
There are some Wifi-enabled dash cam are available in Korea, you can connect with your iPhone or any other smartphones. Also, there are many dash cams with LCD display.
Based on my experience, you don't want to store driving records if there was no accident, because it is useless.
Modern dash cams erases older files when the cards is full, so it doesn't max out, and when it erases the older records, it doesn't erases 'EVENT RECORDINGS', it only erases 'DRIVING RECORDINGS.'
However, it is highly recommended to backup, and format the SD card for time to time. For example, once a week if you drive everyday, or once a month if you drive not frequently.
Most dash cams offers card formatting function, so you don't really need to format it with your PC. Some brand-new dash cam models say they don't need to be formatted at all, but I think it is always better to backup and format regularly to check the cam and SD card is properly working.
Because the dash cams writes excessively to SD card, SD card lasts quite short. Some low-quality SD card lasts even less than a month. So, if you are planning to use a car dash cam, you MUST buy good quality MLC-type SD card with longer warranty, and large capacity.