Quality without "frills" or how I chose the DVR
In 2013, 204 thousand road accidents occurred in Russia - only 0.2% more than a year earlier. On the other hand, sales of registrars in the country grew by 30% over the same period, and in 2012, by 80% in general, people understand that with the same accident, the presence / absence of a black box can drastically change the assessment of the incident by the competent authorities. Until recently, I occasionally watched videos from registrars on YouTube, because sometimes the Hollywood blockbusters do the plot and the game of the actors. And recently I myself got into an accident in which the reluctance to acquire a registrar and the controversial circumstances of the incident deprived me of an impressive amount of money, time and nerves. It was necessary to postpone reading interesting posts on Geektimes and to undertake attentive studying of the corresponding subject. In what it resulted - read on.
Upon closer examination, it turned out that choosing a registrar was a very difficult matter. I tried to deal with a similar issue exactly a year ago and at that time did not experience any particular confusion about the basic and additional features of the models. By and large, it all came down to the amount of trust in a particular brand. But the fact is that there are virtually no well-known brands of DVRs on the Russian market: there are either highly specialized, but unknown, or umbrella-based (which, apart from recorders, do everything from smartphones to multi-cookers) - such confidence doesn’t cause confidence.
Now I even wonder how ordinary home video cameras managed to avoid the fate of recorders and remain devices that, in addition to shooting movies, do not know anything much. On the contrary, the current registrars for the year seriously added in diversity, starting with the design features and ending with very non-secondary functions. Devices are trying to turn almost into a comprehensive security tool, which significantly affects the price. I tried to highlight the most remarkable innovations in terms of design, types and features of recorders, in order to figure out - do I need all this “super modern happiness”? Or is it worth staying on the most banal model for a couple of thousand rubles?
')
Multichannel FullHD (and higher) recorders. In the first quarter of this year, a FineVu recorder with two FullHD cameras for a fabulous 20,000 rubles appeared in Russia, the price has not been reduced so far (taking into account the dollar exchange rate, the imported gadget will soon become even more expensive). By the end of the year, there were a lot of analogues with a much more humane, but still high price tag of about 10,000 rubles, with a good bundle, like the Ambarella A7L70D processor with the OmniVision OV2710 matrix. In November, Bluesonic released a four-camera model at all, where each module shoots at a resolution of 2304 by 1296 pixels and has 32 GB of internal memory. The price of the question - sit down, if you are standing in order not to fall - about 30,000 rubles. In addition, setting up and installing all of these cameras to an ordinary user will definitely confuse - you will not be able to understand the instructions without a thoughtful, repeated reading.
What comes first to my mind? Constant advice that when leaving the car, you certainly need to remove the device from the glass, ideally with a bracket. Because it is problematic to vouch for the honesty of all citizens, and the recorder hanging on the glass attracts better than any radio tape recorder. So, in about 99% of cases, the rear camera is hung on 3M tape and makes the construction generally non-removable, because the sticker is disposable. Will a quick-witted thief understand only by the back camera, that there is obviously an expensive gadget in the cabin? And if there are already four “eyes” along the perimeter?
LDWS (Lane Departure Warning System). The technology of tracking the current lane, as soon as the exit starts in either direction - an audible warning follows. Absolutely useless feature in the city, intended only for long journeys with the risk of falling asleep at the wheel and waking up in a ditch. The year before last, the system was not offered at all in registrars, only as an option in expensive cars. In theory, LDWS looks like an extremely useful technology, but in reality everything is pretty sad.
The problem lies in the note with which LDWS is supplied regardless of where the technology is installed: at the registrar for 7,000 rubles or as an embedded option in the car for three four million rubles. The note looks like this: "It works effectively on clean, smooth, well-lit roads with clear road markings." Even if the quality of Russian roads and their markings are not affected, are there many sunny days in Russia? Especially in the autumn-winter time, when it gets dark early, and the sky overcast with clouds is still trying to peer how LDWS does it without normal lighting.
GPS Speed ​​Control Warning. An ambiguous feature that, on the one hand, at least for one day is able to fully recoup the entire cost of the registrar in the account of not received "letters of happiness" with fines.
On the other hand, it is rather a priority for those who still use the Nokia 3310 or another push-button phone. I also have a smartphone - and in my time I didn’t regret buying the Antiradar Strelka program on Google Play, which to this day successfully warns not only about the “ARROW-ST” complex, but also a new-fashioned control of the average speed “ Autodoria.
Wi-Fi support. The options are a little over a year old, but it hasn’t received wide distribution, there are only 54 models on Yandex.Market, 33 of which still have a screen. Remote access to settings and video viewing is clearly not the benefits that I need from the device at a distance of half an arm. Theoretically, the presence of Wi-Fi allows you to get rid of the screen and minimize the case. In fact, with all the desire, manufacturers can not make the case more compact versions with at least 1.5-inch displays. And if so, the intermediary in the face of the smartphone all the more seems to me a dubious advantage.
Shooting in the resolution of Super Full HD (2304x1296). Perhaps the most controversial item with its weighty pros and cons. In short - the most effective use of Super FullHD I noticed in recorders with a viewing angle of 170 degrees diagonally. After all, the wider the angle - the worse the clarity, decreases the maximum distance of readability of numbers. Just high resolution compensates for this moment in full - clarity is comparable to 1080p models at 120 degrees. And, accordingly, it is better to FullHD at 170 degrees. Minus - I did not manage to find “intelligible” models in which, in addition to Super FullHD, I did not try to give half a dozen special features that I did not really need. Either it was not very burdened with dopfunctions of the device very suspicious brands.
As a result, my choice fell on a rather classic recorder with FullHD shooting and a couple of additional options - AdvoCam-FD Black-GPS. I will try to refrain from the format of the classic review, which usually describes the already obvious things - I will tell you about the points on which I eventually chose the device and came to a particular model.
Screen. A large 2.7-inch screen on which I calmly watch the video, rather than squinting into very tiny displays less than two inches. Not that I was a fan of large screens - otherwise I would have chosen some 3-inch version.
But in AdvoCam-FD Black-GPS, I liked a very narrow frame - as a result, the “digital window” is rather big, but at the same time, the size of the case does not lose to the same 1.5-inch devices. Only could have done more lines in the settings, four points on the screen - this is somehow not enough. Well at least the options are divided into two tabs, it is not necessary to choose from a long continuous list.
Accelerometer, aka G-sensor. This sensor monitors the position of the machine in three axes. Accelerated sharply, slowed down or ran into a large bump - get an emergency mark of the file. The video is removed from the loop recording - it will not be overwritten by subsequent video files. In my opinion, it is still necessary to have a G-sensor at hand. A typical situation is an accident, after which the “disassembly” can last from half an hour or more, not counting the inspector’s expectations. During this time, in a stressful situation, it is more than real to forget that the recording is going on, and at some point the video with the accident may be erased by new videos.
For your information, the 4 GB card in AdvoCam-FD Black-GPS is just enough for only 40 minutes - the cost of a high bit rate (11.9 Mbit / s). At first I was afraid for the sensitivity of the sensor, but apparently I’m lucky to ride mostly on normal roads without large “holes”. Therefore, I practically had no false positives.
GPS Until recently, the need for a GPS module seemed to me an extremely dubious point. See the route done on the map - is it really that important? Especially if the track record can already be included in navigation programs.
My opinion changed when I learned about the synchronization of satellites date and time. For a moment - in all tips on using recorders one of the first points is strongly recommended to set and check the date and time. Because the wrong information is a very high probability of the court chisels, up to and including the refusal to attach the record to the case. It is clear that the examination and some other tricks will help in the end to decide in your favor (the decision to attach the material to the case in general, and not the outcome of the entire trial, of course). But - why waste your time and nerves?
Control. Four things of the six buttons perform other tasks during recording - the up / down keys allow you to turn on / off the microphone or screen with one touch, take a photo and manually put an emergency mark on the file, that is, move the recording fragment to an indelible area. Especially I didn’t study memorizing assignments - I immediately had an instant photo in my memory (shooting a “freeze-frame”), the rest was postponed as needed. It turns out very conveniently against the background of models, where you have to wander around the menu behind all the “good” mentioned.
Mount. Registrars with the power connection to the body, I immediately denied - with them more fuss when I have to remove / install the device. Considering that I always “dismantle” the camera when leaving the car, only models with a bracket with built-in miniUSB port were taken into account. For example, as in my chosen AdvoCam-FD Black-GPS.
The next plus is that the sucker works with a slight turn of the handle (it’s also a built-in GPS), and not after a significant force is applied as in the options on the elastic latch. Third - with an eye to the future, if damaged, find a new holder is not difficult. This is practically a standardized mounting model, now very popular in recorders. Therefore, even without contacting the service center, you will be able to find it without any problems. The last one is the hinge, with which I somehow turned and adjusted the position of the registrar to a personal ideal. With conventional screws do not compare - in AdvoCam-FD Black-GPS mounting on the glass is much more accurate and convenient.
Video - viewing angles, matrix and all-all-all. The final chord after filtering the recorders by the parameters that are significant to me was watching the video, and at the same time screening out specific models by characteristics. With my not very high requirements, a significant part of applicants for the wallet dropped out after studying the reviews on them and examples of video: the cheapest models used clearly plastic lenses, giving a characteristic "blurring" in poor light. Yellowing or even cracking lenses with time due to temperature fluctuations - in principle, not my choice. In addition, glass lenses transmit light better, which means they shoot better in poor light. With matrices of special "throwing" I did not have. The “ancient” 5 megapixels, most of which went to the registrars by inheritance from cell phones, did not attract, and the modern 3 megapixel version of Aptina now has almost every first registrar more than three thousand rubles.
The final battle unfolded in the camp of processors. Initially, Ambarella A2, which is very fond of pairing with plastic lenses, received a not too outstanding failure. There went the Ambarella A7, whose performance is not very appropriate with the usual FullHD - this processor is fully disclosed either with Super FullHD, or with dual-channel FullHD-recording. And both options, as I said earlier, do not attract me. In terms of price / relevance / quality, there was a battle between the Ambarella A5 and Novatek 96650, which was decided in conjunction with the “trust credibility” of the brand and other characteristics of the recorders.
Last but not least, even though it is an extremely subjective and controversial moment, the “popular opinion” played in favor of AdvoCam-FD Black-GPS. In Yandex.Market, each section has a TOP-5 rating “Most Desired”, which includes the most frequently added models to the shopping list. The rating is dynamic, if I noticed correctly - it is updated almost weekly. And in this list, AdvoCam registrars regularly take two or even three places at once. At the time of my last hesitation, the picture looked as follows (on the right is the alignment at the time of the publication of the review):
Let me explain - there is another version of AdvoCam FD Black, it costs about a thousand rubles cheaper, but without the GPS and accelerometer. Above, I pointed out aspects that were important to me, in the end I considered that an overpayment of 1000 rubles for the options costs “blocking” situations that can be reached in the absence of these features. As for the brand itself - according to my observations and the information available on the Web, the Russian brands that are actually creating their own registrars can be counted on the fingers of one hand. And AdvoCam is among such organizations. I agree, AdvoCam-FD Black-GPS analogs can be searched for and cheaper, which I did. Only he invariably fell on very dubious brands, which he did not want to give to his blood banknotes - there is a very great risk of running into a fake.
Doubts caused a wide viewing angle, the notorious 170 degrees can not the best way to influence the detail of the picture, but in reality the clarity was very high. At night, I am a little saddened by the “scatterings” from headlights and lanterns, but there is no particular “noise”, the image is quite clear without excessive exposure.
My AdvoCam-FD Black-GPS is used on the “set and forget” principle - periodic checks revealed that the model does not knock down the date / time, and the hangs have not yet been detected. In the end, of course, the model seemed to me to be a good option when I don’t need “super-functions”, but I don’t like frank unreliable “consumer goods” either. AdvoCam specially adapts its models to Russian conditions, including strong shaking and frost. I will actively check the first one under the spring at the approaches to the dacha, but I’m testing the second from November-December “here and now”. While it turns out fine, the registrar does not require increased attention to his person. Pah-pah, I count on a similar "report" in February. Finally, about the price - the model costs an average of 4,600 rubles, which in modern times is very humane.
Choose - brand or characteristics?
Upon closer examination, it turned out that choosing a registrar was a very difficult matter. I tried to deal with a similar issue exactly a year ago and at that time did not experience any particular confusion about the basic and additional features of the models. By and large, it all came down to the amount of trust in a particular brand. But the fact is that there are virtually no well-known brands of DVRs on the Russian market: there are either highly specialized, but unknown, or umbrella-based (which, apart from recorders, do everything from smartphones to multi-cookers) - such confidence doesn’t cause confidence.
Now I even wonder how ordinary home video cameras managed to avoid the fate of recorders and remain devices that, in addition to shooting movies, do not know anything much. On the contrary, the current registrars for the year seriously added in diversity, starting with the design features and ending with very non-secondary functions. Devices are trying to turn almost into a comprehensive security tool, which significantly affects the price. I tried to highlight the most remarkable innovations in terms of design, types and features of recorders, in order to figure out - do I need all this “super modern happiness”? Or is it worth staying on the most banal model for a couple of thousand rubles?
')
Multichannel FullHD (and higher) recorders. In the first quarter of this year, a FineVu recorder with two FullHD cameras for a fabulous 20,000 rubles appeared in Russia, the price has not been reduced so far (taking into account the dollar exchange rate, the imported gadget will soon become even more expensive). By the end of the year, there were a lot of analogues with a much more humane, but still high price tag of about 10,000 rubles, with a good bundle, like the Ambarella A7L70D processor with the OmniVision OV2710 matrix. In November, Bluesonic released a four-camera model at all, where each module shoots at a resolution of 2304 by 1296 pixels and has 32 GB of internal memory. The price of the question - sit down, if you are standing in order not to fall - about 30,000 rubles. In addition, setting up and installing all of these cameras to an ordinary user will definitely confuse - you will not be able to understand the instructions without a thoughtful, repeated reading.
What comes first to my mind? Constant advice that when leaving the car, you certainly need to remove the device from the glass, ideally with a bracket. Because it is problematic to vouch for the honesty of all citizens, and the recorder hanging on the glass attracts better than any radio tape recorder. So, in about 99% of cases, the rear camera is hung on 3M tape and makes the construction generally non-removable, because the sticker is disposable. Will a quick-witted thief understand only by the back camera, that there is obviously an expensive gadget in the cabin? And if there are already four “eyes” along the perimeter?
LDWS (Lane Departure Warning System). The technology of tracking the current lane, as soon as the exit starts in either direction - an audible warning follows. Absolutely useless feature in the city, intended only for long journeys with the risk of falling asleep at the wheel and waking up in a ditch. The year before last, the system was not offered at all in registrars, only as an option in expensive cars. In theory, LDWS looks like an extremely useful technology, but in reality everything is pretty sad.
The problem lies in the note with which LDWS is supplied regardless of where the technology is installed: at the registrar for 7,000 rubles or as an embedded option in the car for three four million rubles. The note looks like this: "It works effectively on clean, smooth, well-lit roads with clear road markings." Even if the quality of Russian roads and their markings are not affected, are there many sunny days in Russia? Especially in the autumn-winter time, when it gets dark early, and the sky overcast with clouds is still trying to peer how LDWS does it without normal lighting.
GPS Speed ​​Control Warning. An ambiguous feature that, on the one hand, at least for one day is able to fully recoup the entire cost of the registrar in the account of not received "letters of happiness" with fines.
On the other hand, it is rather a priority for those who still use the Nokia 3310 or another push-button phone. I also have a smartphone - and in my time I didn’t regret buying the Antiradar Strelka program on Google Play, which to this day successfully warns not only about the “ARROW-ST” complex, but also a new-fashioned control of the average speed “ Autodoria.
Wi-Fi support. The options are a little over a year old, but it hasn’t received wide distribution, there are only 54 models on Yandex.Market, 33 of which still have a screen. Remote access to settings and video viewing is clearly not the benefits that I need from the device at a distance of half an arm. Theoretically, the presence of Wi-Fi allows you to get rid of the screen and minimize the case. In fact, with all the desire, manufacturers can not make the case more compact versions with at least 1.5-inch displays. And if so, the intermediary in the face of the smartphone all the more seems to me a dubious advantage.
Shooting in the resolution of Super Full HD (2304x1296). Perhaps the most controversial item with its weighty pros and cons. In short - the most effective use of Super FullHD I noticed in recorders with a viewing angle of 170 degrees diagonally. After all, the wider the angle - the worse the clarity, decreases the maximum distance of readability of numbers. Just high resolution compensates for this moment in full - clarity is comparable to 1080p models at 120 degrees. And, accordingly, it is better to FullHD at 170 degrees. Minus - I did not manage to find “intelligible” models in which, in addition to Super FullHD, I did not try to give half a dozen special features that I did not really need. Either it was not very burdened with dopfunctions of the device very suspicious brands.
Inspection with passion
As a result, my choice fell on a rather classic recorder with FullHD shooting and a couple of additional options - AdvoCam-FD Black-GPS. I will try to refrain from the format of the classic review, which usually describes the already obvious things - I will tell you about the points on which I eventually chose the device and came to a particular model.
Screen. A large 2.7-inch screen on which I calmly watch the video, rather than squinting into very tiny displays less than two inches. Not that I was a fan of large screens - otherwise I would have chosen some 3-inch version.
But in AdvoCam-FD Black-GPS, I liked a very narrow frame - as a result, the “digital window” is rather big, but at the same time, the size of the case does not lose to the same 1.5-inch devices. Only could have done more lines in the settings, four points on the screen - this is somehow not enough. Well at least the options are divided into two tabs, it is not necessary to choose from a long continuous list.
Accelerometer, aka G-sensor. This sensor monitors the position of the machine in three axes. Accelerated sharply, slowed down or ran into a large bump - get an emergency mark of the file. The video is removed from the loop recording - it will not be overwritten by subsequent video files. In my opinion, it is still necessary to have a G-sensor at hand. A typical situation is an accident, after which the “disassembly” can last from half an hour or more, not counting the inspector’s expectations. During this time, in a stressful situation, it is more than real to forget that the recording is going on, and at some point the video with the accident may be erased by new videos.
For your information, the 4 GB card in AdvoCam-FD Black-GPS is just enough for only 40 minutes - the cost of a high bit rate (11.9 Mbit / s). At first I was afraid for the sensitivity of the sensor, but apparently I’m lucky to ride mostly on normal roads without large “holes”. Therefore, I practically had no false positives.
GPS Until recently, the need for a GPS module seemed to me an extremely dubious point. See the route done on the map - is it really that important? Especially if the track record can already be included in navigation programs.
My opinion changed when I learned about the synchronization of satellites date and time. For a moment - in all tips on using recorders one of the first points is strongly recommended to set and check the date and time. Because the wrong information is a very high probability of the court chisels, up to and including the refusal to attach the record to the case. It is clear that the examination and some other tricks will help in the end to decide in your favor (the decision to attach the material to the case in general, and not the outcome of the entire trial, of course). But - why waste your time and nerves?
Control. Four things of the six buttons perform other tasks during recording - the up / down keys allow you to turn on / off the microphone or screen with one touch, take a photo and manually put an emergency mark on the file, that is, move the recording fragment to an indelible area. Especially I didn’t study memorizing assignments - I immediately had an instant photo in my memory (shooting a “freeze-frame”), the rest was postponed as needed. It turns out very conveniently against the background of models, where you have to wander around the menu behind all the “good” mentioned.
Mount. Registrars with the power connection to the body, I immediately denied - with them more fuss when I have to remove / install the device. Considering that I always “dismantle” the camera when leaving the car, only models with a bracket with built-in miniUSB port were taken into account. For example, as in my chosen AdvoCam-FD Black-GPS.
The next plus is that the sucker works with a slight turn of the handle (it’s also a built-in GPS), and not after a significant force is applied as in the options on the elastic latch. Third - with an eye to the future, if damaged, find a new holder is not difficult. This is practically a standardized mounting model, now very popular in recorders. Therefore, even without contacting the service center, you will be able to find it without any problems. The last one is the hinge, with which I somehow turned and adjusted the position of the registrar to a personal ideal. With conventional screws do not compare - in AdvoCam-FD Black-GPS mounting on the glass is much more accurate and convenient.
Video - viewing angles, matrix and all-all-all. The final chord after filtering the recorders by the parameters that are significant to me was watching the video, and at the same time screening out specific models by characteristics. With my not very high requirements, a significant part of applicants for the wallet dropped out after studying the reviews on them and examples of video: the cheapest models used clearly plastic lenses, giving a characteristic "blurring" in poor light. Yellowing or even cracking lenses with time due to temperature fluctuations - in principle, not my choice. In addition, glass lenses transmit light better, which means they shoot better in poor light. With matrices of special "throwing" I did not have. The “ancient” 5 megapixels, most of which went to the registrars by inheritance from cell phones, did not attract, and the modern 3 megapixel version of Aptina now has almost every first registrar more than three thousand rubles.
The final battle unfolded in the camp of processors. Initially, Ambarella A2, which is very fond of pairing with plastic lenses, received a not too outstanding failure. There went the Ambarella A7, whose performance is not very appropriate with the usual FullHD - this processor is fully disclosed either with Super FullHD, or with dual-channel FullHD-recording. And both options, as I said earlier, do not attract me. In terms of price / relevance / quality, there was a battle between the Ambarella A5 and Novatek 96650, which was decided in conjunction with the “trust credibility” of the brand and other characteristics of the recorders.
Last but not least, even though it is an extremely subjective and controversial moment, the “popular opinion” played in favor of AdvoCam-FD Black-GPS. In Yandex.Market, each section has a TOP-5 rating “Most Desired”, which includes the most frequently added models to the shopping list. The rating is dynamic, if I noticed correctly - it is updated almost weekly. And in this list, AdvoCam registrars regularly take two or even three places at once. At the time of my last hesitation, the picture looked as follows (on the right is the alignment at the time of the publication of the review):
Let me explain - there is another version of AdvoCam FD Black, it costs about a thousand rubles cheaper, but without the GPS and accelerometer. Above, I pointed out aspects that were important to me, in the end I considered that an overpayment of 1000 rubles for the options costs “blocking” situations that can be reached in the absence of these features. As for the brand itself - according to my observations and the information available on the Web, the Russian brands that are actually creating their own registrars can be counted on the fingers of one hand. And AdvoCam is among such organizations. I agree, AdvoCam-FD Black-GPS analogs can be searched for and cheaper, which I did. Only he invariably fell on very dubious brands, which he did not want to give to his blood banknotes - there is a very great risk of running into a fake.
Doubts caused a wide viewing angle, the notorious 170 degrees can not the best way to influence the detail of the picture, but in reality the clarity was very high. At night, I am a little saddened by the “scatterings” from headlights and lanterns, but there is no particular “noise”, the image is quite clear without excessive exposure.
Conclusion
My AdvoCam-FD Black-GPS is used on the “set and forget” principle - periodic checks revealed that the model does not knock down the date / time, and the hangs have not yet been detected. In the end, of course, the model seemed to me to be a good option when I don’t need “super-functions”, but I don’t like frank unreliable “consumer goods” either. AdvoCam specially adapts its models to Russian conditions, including strong shaking and frost. I will actively check the first one under the spring at the approaches to the dacha, but I’m testing the second from November-December “here and now”. While it turns out fine, the registrar does not require increased attention to his person. Pah-pah, I count on a similar "report" in February. Finally, about the price - the model costs an average of 4,600 rubles, which in modern times is very humane.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/364307/
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