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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.
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.
My solution: If I screw up, I have the guts to admit it.
He wants to hide the evidence if he was at fault in an accident.
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