Great. That sounds straightforward.
Thanks again, Realist.
I don’t know if this will be relevant to your camera JBR but mine suggests a video resolution of 2304x1296 for use during the day and 1920x1080 for use at night.
I’m afraid that mine doesn’t feature 2304x1296. 1920x1080 is the highest resolution it has. Nevertheless, the images produced seem to be good enough to read car number plates at a reasonable distance, which is the important thing.
Not sure how resolution will impact the video in different light conditions. 1920x1080 is full HD which is more than adequate for footage and number plate identification. Higher resolutions mean larger file sizes which in turn means less hours recorded before the camera starts looping.
I have read on a different site that lowering the Frame Rate will help in low light situations. The theory being that a lower frame rate means more time for light to enter the lens.
I’m going to give that a go and experiment as the Mobius allows frame rates of 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 50 and 60 fps.
Maybe because the higher resolution if used at night won’t be of any benefit because of limited contrast and light levels? Haven’t tried this myself yet because of the lower video transfer rate on my old memory card which restricted my resolution choice. When been out and about using my new MC I’ll let you know the results.
Don’t know if this has been posted elsewhere on the thread but of late I’ve started using this program to watch my playbacks.
http://www.registratorviewer.com/download_en.html
Better than the effort supplied with my dashcam and if your camera has GPS it displays a map of your route too.
I just use VLC Player. Pretty much a standard free download tool used by everyone
This Mobius camera can play back its recordings perfectly well on the included Windows video viewing software.
As for my RoadHawk dashcam, I’m afraid its recordings are in ub1 format (whatever that might be). I find it inconvenient because, although they will play back using the downloaded RoadHawk software, I can find no way of converting the videos to common formats like mpg or avi, which an insurance company would prefer.
Having compared the two, I have to say that the Mobius videos are far superior in clarity and detail compared to those of the RoadHawk although, admittedly, mine is quite old now and has been superseded by more recent and presumably higher quality cameras by the same manufacturer.
Although the Mobius camera doesn’t include GPS, as does the RoadHawk, I have decided to get a Mobius camera for my car as well on the grounds that the image quality provides much clearer detail for the purpose of identification, especially number plate details.
Realist
I tried out the Mobius dash cam in my car today.
The pictures are excellent; far superior detail quality than my old RoadHawk camera. Number plates are easily read, which is the most important thing.
The only thing I found slightly worrying was that the heat sinks became very hot - too hot to touch, really, although it was a hot day today. This was for a journey of less than one hour overall, with four breaks. (We were looking at kitchen places.)
I expected to find very hot heat sinks if using the battery, but was led to believe that with capacitors there would be much less heat output. That’s what the online information says, anyway.
Still, if that’s accounted for in the design and the thing doesn’t burst into flame on a protracted journey, that’s OK I suppose!
I was wondering if you’d noticed the high temperature, Realist.
Yep it’s quality footage and that’s because it is HD quality.
Yes they do get hot in usage but the heat sinks should effectively dissipate the heat. I had thought like yourself, that use of capacitors might lower he heat but I guess not.
With batteries, using the device as a dashcam would have reduced their life.
Originally the möbius were made for outdoor use, such as helmet cams and model cams. So being in the open air, it had that for cooling. My one did not even get very warm.
Thanks for your response. I can live with this, of course, as long as the camera continues to perform and doesn’t stop working/melt/burst into flames soon after the year’s warranty is up!
Yes, by the way, I checked and it does state they come with a 12 month warranty.
I just find it a little strange that my old RoadHawk camera doesn’t become at all hot (and no heat sinks), although admittedly it is certainly not HD.
Yes, I can understand that. In the online instruction manual it does mention that they should not be used as a dash cam on a hot day without some sort of external cooling system (air conditioning perhaps?), but this is after explaining the preference of changing the battery with capacitors to reduce heating.
Motorists using dash cams to inform on dodgy drivers
A pilot scheme which has seen action taken against dangerous drivers is being expanded across Wales.
Click the video to watch some frightening footage, including the crash at the end … :shock:
I think its a good idea, its frightening to think of these idiots on the road, but people must remember not to post their videos on line or it can’t be used as evidence
I’m all in favour of it. I wouldn’t hesitate to offer my dashcam footage to help with the conviction of an idiot or arrogant driver.
Having said that, I’d resist handing over my dashcam to the police, and would prefer to send them a copy of the recording. I’d worry that they might ‘lose’ my camera. If they insisted, I suppose I’d give them the memory card and hope that I don’t need it until I get home.
I’d be interested to know whether the police insist on taking the card or camera there and then.
I feel sure that a copy of the video could be sent to them. Or if they wanted the card, then you could always carry a spare.
Also some cameras over write previous recording after a certain time, as in a ‘loop’ system.
This would depend on the size of the card.
If you recorded an incident, you should change the card to save it being over written.
Yes, that would be the ideal. I should really get one.
I forgot how much space recording eats up. I checked my card recently, weeks after my drive to/from Lowestoft, and saw the card was full. Looking at the footage I realised that most of the outward journey had been written over, so deleting my little excited dance (or mostly the audio part of me squealing happily!!) in my seat as the Red Arrows went over! All that footage of the places going past before them, as I made my way down the straight A406! I was gutted.
Should have realised and got a spare card.
BTW, the recording quality was excellent.
I think that there should be a warning that tells you when the card is full. Also maybe an option for not letting it being overwritten.
But saying all that, I suppose the object of the exercise is for it to record any event that might happen on the journey.