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Dashcams Going High-Def, High-Tech
An anonymous reader writes "The next time a bear hits a car on a Russian highway, the video might be in high definition. A new wave of dashcams, on show at this week's Computex expo in Taipei, feature multiple enhancements on first-generation models that will probably be welcomed by law enforcement, insurance companies and the millions of people who browse YouTube looking at some of the amazing scenes captured from the front of a car. One of the current popular videos is of a May 2013 collision between a bear and a car (video). The accident, reportedly in Russia, sees the bear hit the front of the car and bounce off the car's windscreen before rolling several times to the side of the road. The video, and thousands of others like it, are typically shot in 480-line 'standard resolution,' but most of the new dashcams on show in Taipei this week offer 720 and 1080-line high definition."
It's also becoming more common to repurpose old smartphones as dashcams using software like DailyRoads Voyager. If you've done so, what's your setup?
The reason why we see so many dash-cam videos of Russia isn't because the Russians like recording their drives because they are so eventful, but rather insurance fraud is such a rampant problem that most insurance companies require them. So until the insurance companies start requiring HD dashcams, we might not see them since the demand for them nearly anywhere else is naturally going to be weak.
Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
I mounted the camera in front of the rear view mirror. The pi was in the overhead console with a 12 volt to USB converter supplying power from the overhead light. 64GB SD card allows for a lot of video to be stored. Cost less than $100. I'm sure there are cheaper ways, but this is what I had available.
I hope this caused some synapses to fire.
Are there any good GPS Nav systems with dashcam functionality? I think Garmin used to make one but can't find it.
It's such an obvious idea, not sure why we aren't seeing more of such models.
This space for rent.
One of the big problems with these devices is no encryption. I don't want to be compelled to bury myself depending on what legal situation one may become involved with.
I've been looking at homebrewing my own solution for awhile but haven't gotten around to it yet.
Has anyone solved this problem ?
..don't panic
Will there be a "Lose this video" mode?
get hit by a car, destroy its radiator, walk away like a boss.
If it was a EU bear it would be flopping on the ground like a soccer player.
I think the car got the worst of it.
"Where do these guys get their licenses"
I would guess Russia. Home of vodka, the AK-47, the Crazy Ivan and, if EA is to be believed, parachuting attack bears.
I was under the impression that HD dashcams are actually nothing new, they just tend to cost a bit more (the cheap ones tend to be 640x480 that upscale to 720p and crop the edges off). The really nice ones also include GPS and G-force data (which you can replay in proprietary software), and the really really nice ones either have 2 cameras or a slave camera port so you can film e.g. the inside (think taxis) or the rear view (typically mounted near the license plate).
Small 1080p dash cameras have been in use for years... one of the more popular models with some of performance car community:
BlackVue
Indeed. I have had a 1080p 30fps dash cam with wide-angle lens, sound, GPS, accelerometers, etc. with sophisticated recording management for nearly 18 months.
In the last 12 months, cameras with wifi, android/ios apps, to view and manage video/records/configuration while the camera is still operating (e.g. following a collision, the video of teh incident can be shown to an attending police officer, without the need to switch off the camera and install the memory card in a reader) are now standard fayre - available off the shelf.
The most important feature is "parking mode". The camera goes into low power mode when the car is stopped and turned off, but starts recording again if there is any motion. That way if anyone hits your parked car and drives off the event is captured. Battery life only needs to be a few hours while you are shopping, and you can have CCTV at home.
Hopefully prices and sizes will come down to the point where you can have front, rear and side cameras to cover all impacts. Some bint hit my parked car a few months ago from the side but luckily I was in it at the time and took some photos. Her insurance is refusing to pay because she didn't own the car and thus wasn't insured on it, so mine is now suing her... If I hadn't been there video evidence would be all I had.
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
720p+ car cameras have been available for a while see http://www.chinavasion.com/china/wholesale/Car_Video/Mirror_Monitors/Car_Rear_View_Mirror_with_Dashcam_and_Wireless_Parking_Camera_-_5_Inch_Screen_GPS_Speed_Radar_Detector_Bluetooth/ or http://www.chinavasion.com/china/wholesale/Car_Video/
720p dashcams that cost $40.00 have been all over ebay for well over a year now. News for Nerds, from 2 years ago....
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
What the dashcam world needs is this:
I envision a dash cam system that has two modes:
Normal operation is "record to disk" and then you can recover the video later off the disk.
Panic operation is "Dump recorded data to an 'offsite' server over high speed cellular data as well as start streaming current video to same server".
That means you've got your day to day stuff recorded, but in the event you get pulled over by an asshole cop who decided to swipe the memory card out of your dash cam after he pulls you out of your car and tasers you for resisting arrest.
Or, was there a flurry of honking that was ignored? Sound does contain a lot of useful information.
Wake me up when they have 4k ones.
This website has nicely laid out specs and reviews of a wide range of dash cams
http://dashcamtalk.com/dash-cam-comparison/
It is by the juice of the coffee bean that thoughts acquire speed, the teeth acquire stains. The stains become a warning
I use this 720p Dash Cam id $70. I prefer dedicated hardware because there isn't much of a secondary market for them like there is for [stolen] cellphones. I've used other, cheaper versions of "high def" cams and they aren't or they frequently require resetting. This one only needed 1 reset in weeks of 24/7 use.
Slashdot's rate-of-post filter: Preventing you from posting too many great ideas at once.
sometimes I can watch this stuff for (a very long time).
hey, where's the "In Soviet Russia..." jokes?
mfwright@batnet.com
I have a 1080p 30 fps dashcam with good low light (not great) that records to SD card. It even has an hdmi out (and came with the mini-hdmi to hdmi cable, which surprised me. And the cable for composite out). It can even be switched to still picture w/flash or video with (somewhat weak) light. It's not an instrumented cam (meaning gps, speed, light indicators) but it was 100$
bear hits YOU!!!
If you are already using your smartphone as a dash-mounted GPS navigator, why not get a cheap wide-angle lens kit and use its rear-facing camera as a dashcam?
There must be apps for that.
Or am I missing something here?
www.techmoan.com - the guy has done a lot of very good video reviews of cheap dashcams. Well worth a look if you want to see the real quality (downloads of straight-from-the-camera clips) of dashcams before you throw your hard earned money at a Chinese seller.
To do something right, you often have to roll up your sleeves and get busy.
The camera board is a pre-order and not available yet.
Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
I think that DailyRoads app has the ability to do so. Besides, it's a smartphone mounted on a windscreen mount with recording going on in the background and a navigation app in the foreground. Few will suspect ongoing recording.