Review of Korean registrars ThinkWare F770 and F50: when at the forefront is video quality
Hello! Today I will talk about two extremely curious registrars who have passed through my tenacious paws. "Passed", however, is still a question: after testing, the ThinkWare F770 and F50 have a keen desire to have one of these devices for personal use. Why, why - I will tell below. In the meantime, just firing up the intrigue: ThinkWare F50 is the only Korean recorder in Russia with a premium quality of shooting and at the same time with a price tag of the middle class, namely 9 thousand rubles. The second model, ThinkWare F770, is the flagship of the model range of this manufacturer with all the consequences - a lot of unusual and simply pleasant chips, an unexpected body design, but, alas, no longer such a democratic price tag - 22 thousand rubles. Which of these models should be chosen - read below, I will express my personal opinion. And at the same time, since I started with intrigues, I contrasted ThinkWare products with BlackVue models - these are also Korean recorders, moreover, more well-known and much more popular in Russia. But for starters ...
The company ThinkWare came to Russia in the middle of the current, that is, 2016, the year. However, it is by no means a newcomer to the recorder market: the first ThinkWare recorders saw the light back in the Mesozoic in the early 2000s. At first, they were sold only at the company's homeland, in South Korea, but then the sales area was “rooted” by the United States, the United Kingdom, some European Union countries, and Japan. This is important: the laws on certification of electronics in these countries are noticeably stricter than in Russia, and low-grade Chinese slag in the listed rich countries is not particularly partied. In contrast, again, from our country, where the shelves of most retail stores are inundated with overt Chinese slag. ThinkWare with certification in "civilized" countries had no problems.
It is also worth adding that the company ThinkWare is the leader of the Korean market of GPS-navigators, and it has been releasing them since 1997. In Korea, with satellite navigation, by the way, everything is also much stricter than in Russia. We have enough to bring from China cheap “rattle” with Navitel in memory, and put some Euroset on the shelf with a maximum price tag. Voila: "People hawala!" (C) B. Titomir. But in the south of the Korean Peninsula, according to local legislation, maps must be developed exclusively in the country. Plus there are a number of limitations. Therefore, the process of creating navigators involves deep "diving" in technology, as well as interaction with the developers of navigation software. Therefore, “to make a navigator for Korea” and “to make a navigator for Russia” are two big differences.
')
In South Korea, ThinkWare is today one of the three largest players in the car DVR market with a share of about 35%. Ahead is only the eternal rival - BlackVue, he has the first place. The “battle” of ThinkWare and BlackVue can be compared to the confrontation between Apple and Samsung: with one company, everything is more than sales and technology, and another. Sometimes the first manages to wipe the nose of the second, sometimes the second strains and gives change ... In general, something like that. However, there is a ThinkWare product and a number of features that the actual leader of the Korean market, BlackVue, does not. Here they are.
The word Think is probably magical. In the sense that there are ThinkPad laptops, many of which are particularly vehemently tested for strength before sales. The same can be said about the recorders with the word Think in the title. All (yes, just like this: everything!) Copies of each ThinkWare model pass 140-plus tests before entering the counters.
They test everything: they drive the devices on the vibrostand and squeeze (of course, so as not to scratch), and in the temperature chambers they marinate - both in the heat and in the cold. Usually, manufacturers of cheap Chinese recorders do not bother with such things - well, at most one copy from a batch of several hundred pieces will be checked on a shaker table to make sure that the product will not fall apart even during transportation to the warehouse. (Such a scheme - periodic random testing - was applied in due time,
for example, at AvtoVAZ. With known results in product quality ...)
So, thanks to all the above tests, the level of marriage at ThinkWare is a measly 0.2%. That is, a thousand pieces of problems arise with 2 (two!) Registrars. And in most cases, these same problems are provoked by the user and relate primarily to software. In the service center, the ThinkWare recorder reflash and make the user a polite suggestion about the unwritten rules for operating electronics, after which the black box is returned to the happy owner's car. Just so that you understand the magnitude of the problem: more or less self-respecting Russian brands of registrars chase the Chinese in factories. For such brands, the marriage does not exceed 10%. Well, those who do not chase, and these are the majority, have up to 15-20% of marriage. Compare with 0.2% for ThinkWare and think about production culture in different parts of the world. (By the way, BlackVue is silent about the level of marriage - and it would be great to boast, they would have boasted!)
Another feature of ThinkWare recorders, which is responsible just for reliability, is the presence of a special temperature sensor inside the case. In practice, this means the following: if you go for a long time under the scorching sun, then in case of overheating, the ThinkWare recorder is trivial ... turns off. And save the filling from breakage. While other recorders in which there is no temperature sensor, will plow to the last. Until they burn. For example, a battery may bulge and fail - as is often the case with Mio recorders.
Well, one more thing, also related to reliability. ThinkWare recorders use the proprietary Format Free Technology technology, which implies the use of the TAT (Time Allocation Table) file system for storing the video - instead of the traditional FAT (File Allocation Table) in devices from almost all other manufacturers. Thanks to TAT, a memory card can never be formatted at all - and it will work like a Swiss watch. FAT, in turn, implies the need to format the flash drive by the user at least once a month - otherwise there may be failures in its work.
As you might guess, BlackVue does not have temperature sensors or the TAT file system. It would seem, trifles, but from them the general perception of a product also consists.
I will not argue: the cylindrical form factor for recorders was invented by Koreans from BlackVue, and other Koreans from ThinkWare politely borrowed it. But! In BlackVue, they continue to stamp 12-centimeter “cylinders”, while at ThinkWare they are still thinking about compactness. And the same junior in the ThinkWare F50 product line is only 8 cm long. The difference is one-third! Does it matter in practice? Perhaps there is no car on the glass: the extra 4 cm will not make any special weather (Although, of course, the smaller the recorder is, the more invisible it is.) But it’s very much in your pocket. 4 cm is more than the difference in length between 5- and 5.5-inch smartphones, for a minute. ThinkWare F50 can easily be placed in a jeans pocket designed for a lighter, but BlackVue models will peek out from there.
As for the design of the flagship model ThinkWare F770, it’s still more interesting. This form factor - I do not know how to describe it: a parallelepiped with a lens on a hinge, or what? - came up with just ThinkWare. For the first time a similar case was used in the model ThinkWare F750, the predecessor of the F770. The essence of the design is that due to the large contact area with glass and the fastening on the adhesive tape, the 3M recorder is almost guaranteed not to come off during the accident. (If, of course, we are not talking about a terrible traffic accident with crushing half of the car, including the driver's windshield.) And then we know, as happens with the “Chinese,” after the accident you can find the recorder under the seat, and even in the trunk, like shoes in the children's book "Deniskins stories" by V. Dragunsky.
Also note that even ThinkWare F750 received a lot of awards in the field of industrial design. Including the RedDot Award 2014 and the IF Product Design Award 2014. And these comrades do not give anyone their “figurines” - they need to be earned by deed and serious work.
With ThinkWare prices, everything is also much nicer than with the hyperpremium BlackVue. Do not wait for dumping, this is not a Chinese deshman. ThinkWare loggers for a couple of thousand do not buy - they still cost money. And nevertheless: if the cheapest model BlackVue costs 11,500 rubles, then the ThinkWare F50 can be taken already for 8,900 rubles. The difference is one third, and this is despite the fact that the devices are very similar in functionality and video quality. Moreover, top Chinese regs can cost both 12 and 15 kilorubles - while offering a bunch of whistles (such as recordings with a frequency of 60 fps, which, like the Pythagorean theorem, nobody has evenbothered to nafig ) but at the same time giving way to ThinkWare in video quality at times.
Top ThinkWare F770, of course, much more expensive. He is estimated at 22,000 rubles. But there is a real overpay for that: here you have quite a good implemented support for Wi-Fi, and a built-in GPS receiver, and a lane departure warning system, and even a warning system about reducing the distance between your car and the car ahead - a rare function even for flagship Chinese. In the top BlackVue models, prices for which also start from about 21-22 thousand rubles, there are no last two options. Moreover, they do not exist at all in BlackVue recorders - even in the most expensive ones with a price tag of “thirty”.
It is important to note that such pleasant by the standards of Korean price collectors was achieved, including through direct sales - that is, via the Internet, bypassing retail networks with their horse wraps (already up to 40%). If ThinkWare models were sold in retail, they would have been noticeably more expensive - 15 thousand for ThinkWare F50 and 30 thousand for ThinkWare F770. In the case of the ThinkWare F50 with its unexpected 9,000 rubles, the price was also reduced due to “throwing out” all the excess: the model has almost no additional options, but she writes video with quality at the level of the flagship models that ThinkWare, that BlackVue. The quality of the video - and this is the main thing in the recorder - did not save. And, I think they did the right thing.
Well, let's take a quick look at the individual features of the ThinkWare F770 and ThinkWare F50, but for a start, a comparative table of characteristics. In it, I also added a pair of BlackVue models - to confirm all of the above. Once again: BlackVue can be called a leader in sales in South Korea, moreover, it is a fact. But in terms of technology ... But in terms of technology, ThinkWare is still driving. And in terms of prices - too.
As I said, one of the features of ThinkWare F770 is the form factor - the model is something like a parallelepiped with a camera that is mounted on a hinge. Thanks to the latter, the module with the lens can be directed higher / lower by adjusting the angle to aim the recorder on the road.
Layfkhak: adjustment is carried out using a special groove in which you can insert a nail or a coin; so when the groove is horizontal, the cameras look exactly on the road. Conveniently! However, in some cases - for example, if you have some kind of Lamborghini, where the glass has a completely different than the more familiar machines, the angle of inclination - this method does not work. In this case, you should turn to Wi-Fi - ThinkWare F770 supports broadcasting the image from the camera to a smartphone or tablet (with iOS or Android) in real time.
However, the application still needs to be addressed - even if you don’t have a Lamborghini or a Ferrari. Because from the smartphone, you can configure the recorder. There are a lot of points, I will not list them all with the text, but I’ll just propose to see the screenshots. In short, a lot of parameters can be adjusted - from the accelerometer sensitivity to the volume of voice notifications (about the start of recording, end, mode change, etc.).
The second option is to change the settings - from the computer. Insert the USB flash drive into the card reader (by the way, it is included in the package of delivery - a nice bonus), after which the program is launched with approximately the same set of settings. Is that in the PC version there is also a video editor. The program, by the way, is available not only for Windows, but also for MacOS. It is quite logical: the audience of Korean registrars, by virtue of its increased solvency, includes quite a few users of Apple computers. Well, it is worth noting that MacOS support in general speaks about the seriousness of the manufacturer - the Chinese won about this OS in 2016 "do not know" at all.
Of the unusual for registrars, in principle, I would like to mention the built-in 512 MB memory module, which allows the owner of ThinkWare F770 to make a “copy of the video for the protocol” before transferring the flash drive to the inspector. (Who knows where it goes? We are in Russia!) Yes, such modules are also found in a separate Chinese avtoreg, although it is extremely rare. But! Chinese developers most often think, um, on what they are sitting on. As a result, the memory usually has a capacity of 128 MB. If the settings are set to write fragments by the minute, then it will fit into this array, but if, say, fragments of 5 minutes each is unlikely. China - he is such a China! In the meantime, the ThinkWare F770 records videos in one-minute intervals (no more is needed), and such a file is guaranteed to fit into 512 MB of space. And not even one.
Going further: LDWS, that is, the option of sound notification of the exit from the lane, which can save the driver who has fallen asleep or distracted from an accident. It works perfectly, but - only if there is a clean road with neatly applied marking. Roughly speaking, in the summer and on federal highways (most of them) everything is fine with LDWS, but in the fall and in the provinces, when there are no roads, but there are directions, they no longer exist.
What is the matter FCWS (warning about reducing the distance before the car ahead): this option always works well. More precisely, almost always: according to my observations, it works in 90% of cases. The "Chinese" with a similar function, the percentage of positives is much lower - somewhere at level 50.
There were no warnings about speed cameras, so once again you will not have to pay a fine. The base of cameras is updated monthly, you can download it from here .
From an unusual for Korean recorders, I note the presence of a wide set of keys on the case - usually the developers are limited to one button and “hang” the car of options on it, which are activated by different numbers of clicks. Which still need to remember! So: in ThinkWare F770 there are separate keys to start recording video, turning on a microphone, activating Wi-Fi, formatting a memory card (I remember, I remember that it is not necessary to do this, but suddenly you want to delete all videos for personal reasons - for example, before selling the recorder) and turning on the device. All for the convenience of the user!
There is no battery in ThinkWare F770, there is only a supercapacitor for correct completion of the recording during a traffic accident, when the recorder has already “fallen off” from the car’s on-board network due to its damage. On the one hand, the absence of a battery is a minus, characteristic, however, of the entire Korean registrar. On the other hand, the supercapacitor allows you to start recording in a cold car even at minus 20 without any problems. Chinese recorders with batteries do not know how to do this: serve them a warm salonand more melted milk with foam . Even if on their boxes something is written “we work like animals, even with absolute zero”.
Well, go to the main thing - tram-pam-pam! - video quality. At once I will say that ThinkWare F770 costs 22 thousand rubles - and in terms of the quality of the recording, it works out every ruble. And considering that the majority of BlackVue are more expensive and write about the same quality, the ThinkWare model even “forgives” some of the rubles. The video part of the ThinkWare F770 is represented by the Japanese 2.19-megapixel Sony Exmor matrix, a lens made of glass with anti-reflective coating and the Ambarella A7LA85 video processor. The latter is particularly noteworthy, since this is the top solution in the A7 lineup and with other models in fact not found. (Such a ThinkWare F770 is unique!)
Plus - and this is extremely important! - ThinkWare has its own proprietary practices in the field of image processing, which are used in the same registrars. Why is it important? I will give an illustrative example from a slightly different opera. You might be surprised, but in a good half of Chinese smartphones, Sony cameras are used. But the software has its own, Chinese, which includes its own (Chinese) algorithms for working with a raw video stream. As a result, they remove such smartphones mediocre. The same with registrars. It's not enough to buy cameras from Sony. It is also necessary to write software for video stream processing normally - and just in ThinkWare we coped with this task 100%.
On an autumn day (which is more like twilight), the video is almost perfect at all - this also applies to clarity, and the absence of distortion and overexposure, and the distance of readability of numbers in a straight line. It reaches 25 meters, that is, approximately two times more than the average or top-class “Chinese”. Actually, if it were not for the absence of a battery (and therefore the ability to use the recorder outside the car), then the ThinkWare F770 could well have become an instrument of some top-end video blogger.
And here is what we get directly at dusk.
The night is also impressive: the video image is much clearer than in real life. There are practically no reflections from headlights and lanterns, the distance of readability of numbers, which is expected, falls. But - only up to 18 meters, as in the same BlackVue, and not up to 10-12, as in the “Chinese”.
Why is "even shorter"? Yes, because the possibilities of this model is noticeably less than that of the flagship. Judge for yourself: LDWS and FCWS are not, GPS-receiver too (but you can buy an external for 2 570 rubles), and there is no Wi-Fi. And the management is represented by the very one button on which several functions are hung, activated by different number of clicks.
You can adjust and view video recorded on ThinkWare F50 only from a program on a computer, only the options in it are noticeably smaller - which is logical, given the narrower functionality. Well, from a smartphone, of course, you can also watch the video - if this smartphone itself has a slot for MicroSD (which means iPhone, Galaxy S6, etc., disappear).
ThinkWare F50 is also mounted on 3M scotch tape, but the design is somewhat different due to the cylindrical shape of the case. Registrar should be adjusted blindly, since there is no Wi-Fi or screen in it. However, directing him to the road, using his eyes and hands, is not difficult. In the extreme case, you can record a video, and if, after viewing on a smartphone or PC, it turns out that the recorder was not looking there, reconfigure.
It's nice that the developers still left in ThinkWare F50 additional options for the recorder - accelerometer and motion sensor. True, in order for the latter to work, it will be necessary in full to purchase the accessory Power Magic Pro for 3,000 rubles. It will allow the recorder to work in the parking mode even when the engine is muted (there are no batteries in the ThinkWare F50, only a supercapacitor, as in the “big brother”!). By the way, to work in the parking mode, Power Magic Pro will be needed in the case of the ThinkWare F770.
And also ThinkWare F50 can be taught to report on speed cameras — if you add the model to an external GPS receiver for 2,570 rubles. I admit honestly: I did not test the option, as there was no corresponding accessory on my hands. But it's great that such an opportunity (camera alerts) is there, it is not peculiar to “Koreans”.
Well, the main thing - about the quality of the video. During the day, the ThinkWare F50 writes in much the same way as the ThinkWare F770. No, you think about it: the model for 9 thousand rubles is comparable to the top Korean registrars for 20+ thousand! Not to mention the fellow class, the Chinese, which ThinkWare F50 surpasses the head. For the sake of this - to preserve the quality of the recording - and they sacrificed both wi-fay, jeepies, and eldevees ...
At night, everything, of course, a little worse. At night, ThinkWare F50 gives a picture at the level of top "Chinese" at the price of 12-15 thousand rubles, being, I recall, much cheaper. Yes, the distance of readability of numbers falls to 12-13 meters, but this, as they say, is not a vice. And quite normal things, considering the price of ThinkWare F50. By the way, the Sony matrix is ​​also used in this model - though it is less sophisticated than that of the ThinkWare F770.
Sometimes it happens that the leader in a particular area flirts and stops noticing the less famous, but more agile and gained experience of competitors - just like in the fable of the hare and turtles competitions, which, as we know, won the latter. So in the confrontation between BlackVue and ThinkWare, that's the way it is. The only difference is that ThinkWare is more likely not a turtle, but simply a less famous hare. Who is doing everything possible to hook up his better-known opponent. As I said above, in terms of technology ThinkWare is already a little ahead, in terms of amenity prices - too.
The same ThinkWare F50 seems to me to be the only alternative if you need maximum video quality, and in your pocket a little less than 10 thousand rubles. If the budget is not limited by anything, then you can and should look at the ThinkWare F770 for 22 thousand - with the video there is still better, and there are many more options. And in both cases, you will receive increased reliability, Korean build quality and the very feeling of a cool quality product that the Chinese will never provide. It will provide only BlackVue, but - for a little other money. Slightly big. And while not providing a number of pleasant "plop" that ThinkWare has.
... a few words about ThinkWare
The company ThinkWare came to Russia in the middle of the current, that is, 2016, the year. However, it is by no means a newcomer to the recorder market: the first ThinkWare recorders saw the light back in the Mesozoic in the early 2000s. At first, they were sold only at the company's homeland, in South Korea, but then the sales area was “rooted” by the United States, the United Kingdom, some European Union countries, and Japan. This is important: the laws on certification of electronics in these countries are noticeably stricter than in Russia, and low-grade Chinese slag in the listed rich countries is not particularly partied. In contrast, again, from our country, where the shelves of most retail stores are inundated with overt Chinese slag. ThinkWare with certification in "civilized" countries had no problems.
It is also worth adding that the company ThinkWare is the leader of the Korean market of GPS-navigators, and it has been releasing them since 1997. In Korea, with satellite navigation, by the way, everything is also much stricter than in Russia. We have enough to bring from China cheap “rattle” with Navitel in memory, and put some Euroset on the shelf with a maximum price tag. Voila: "People hawala!" (C) B. Titomir. But in the south of the Korean Peninsula, according to local legislation, maps must be developed exclusively in the country. Plus there are a number of limitations. Therefore, the process of creating navigators involves deep "diving" in technology, as well as interaction with the developers of navigation software. Therefore, “to make a navigator for Korea” and “to make a navigator for Russia” are two big differences.
')
Thinkware iNavi NP500 - one of the company's GPS-navigators
In South Korea, ThinkWare is today one of the three largest players in the car DVR market with a share of about 35%. Ahead is only the eternal rival - BlackVue, he has the first place. The “battle” of ThinkWare and BlackVue can be compared to the confrontation between Apple and Samsung: with one company, everything is more than sales and technology, and another. Sometimes the first manages to wipe the nose of the second, sometimes the second strains and gives change ... In general, something like that. However, there is a ThinkWare product and a number of features that the actual leader of the Korean market, BlackVue, does not. Here they are.
Increased reliability
The word Think is probably magical. In the sense that there are ThinkPad laptops, many of which are particularly vehemently tested for strength before sales. The same can be said about the recorders with the word Think in the title. All (yes, just like this: everything!) Copies of each ThinkWare model pass 140-plus tests before entering the counters.
They test everything: they drive the devices on the vibrostand and squeeze (of course, so as not to scratch), and in the temperature chambers they marinate - both in the heat and in the cold. Usually, manufacturers of cheap Chinese recorders do not bother with such things - well, at most one copy from a batch of several hundred pieces will be checked on a shaker table to make sure that the product will not fall apart even during transportation to the warehouse. (Such a scheme - periodic random testing - was applied in due time,
for example, at AvtoVAZ. With known results in product quality ...)
So, thanks to all the above tests, the level of marriage at ThinkWare is a measly 0.2%. That is, a thousand pieces of problems arise with 2 (two!) Registrars. And in most cases, these same problems are provoked by the user and relate primarily to software. In the service center, the ThinkWare recorder reflash and make the user a polite suggestion about the unwritten rules for operating electronics, after which the black box is returned to the happy owner's car. Just so that you understand the magnitude of the problem: more or less self-respecting Russian brands of registrars chase the Chinese in factories. For such brands, the marriage does not exceed 10%. Well, those who do not chase, and these are the majority, have up to 15-20% of marriage. Compare with 0.2% for ThinkWare and think about production culture in different parts of the world. (By the way, BlackVue is silent about the level of marriage - and it would be great to boast, they would have boasted!)
Another feature of ThinkWare recorders, which is responsible just for reliability, is the presence of a special temperature sensor inside the case. In practice, this means the following: if you go for a long time under the scorching sun, then in case of overheating, the ThinkWare recorder is trivial ... turns off. And save the filling from breakage. While other recorders in which there is no temperature sensor, will plow to the last. Until they burn. For example, a battery may bulge and fail - as is often the case with Mio recorders.
Well, one more thing, also related to reliability. ThinkWare recorders use the proprietary Format Free Technology technology, which implies the use of the TAT (Time Allocation Table) file system for storing the video - instead of the traditional FAT (File Allocation Table) in devices from almost all other manufacturers. Thanks to TAT, a memory card can never be formatted at all - and it will work like a Swiss watch. FAT, in turn, implies the need to format the flash drive by the user at least once a month - otherwise there may be failures in its work.
As you might guess, BlackVue does not have temperature sensors or the TAT file system. It would seem, trifles, but from them the general perception of a product also consists.
Nontrivial design
I will not argue: the cylindrical form factor for recorders was invented by Koreans from BlackVue, and other Koreans from ThinkWare politely borrowed it. But! In BlackVue, they continue to stamp 12-centimeter “cylinders”, while at ThinkWare they are still thinking about compactness. And the same junior in the ThinkWare F50 product line is only 8 cm long. The difference is one-third! Does it matter in practice? Perhaps there is no car on the glass: the extra 4 cm will not make any special weather (Although, of course, the smaller the recorder is, the more invisible it is.) But it’s very much in your pocket. 4 cm is more than the difference in length between 5- and 5.5-inch smartphones, for a minute. ThinkWare F50 can easily be placed in a jeans pocket designed for a lighter, but BlackVue models will peek out from there.
As for the design of the flagship model ThinkWare F770, it’s still more interesting. This form factor - I do not know how to describe it: a parallelepiped with a lens on a hinge, or what? - came up with just ThinkWare. For the first time a similar case was used in the model ThinkWare F750, the predecessor of the F770. The essence of the design is that due to the large contact area with glass and the fastening on the adhesive tape, the 3M recorder is almost guaranteed not to come off during the accident. (If, of course, we are not talking about a terrible traffic accident with crushing half of the car, including the driver's windshield.) And then we know, as happens with the “Chinese,” after the accident you can find the recorder under the seat, and even in the trunk, like shoes in the children's book "Deniskins stories" by V. Dragunsky.
Also note that even ThinkWare F750 received a lot of awards in the field of industrial design. Including the RedDot Award 2014 and the IF Product Design Award 2014. And these comrades do not give anyone their “figurines” - they need to be earned by deed and serious work.
Prices are not low, but nice
With ThinkWare prices, everything is also much nicer than with the hyperpremium BlackVue. Do not wait for dumping, this is not a Chinese deshman. ThinkWare loggers for a couple of thousand do not buy - they still cost money. And nevertheless: if the cheapest model BlackVue costs 11,500 rubles, then the ThinkWare F50 can be taken already for 8,900 rubles. The difference is one third, and this is despite the fact that the devices are very similar in functionality and video quality. Moreover, top Chinese regs can cost both 12 and 15 kilorubles - while offering a bunch of whistles (such as recordings with a frequency of 60 fps, which, like the Pythagorean theorem, nobody has even
Top ThinkWare F770, of course, much more expensive. He is estimated at 22,000 rubles. But there is a real overpay for that: here you have quite a good implemented support for Wi-Fi, and a built-in GPS receiver, and a lane departure warning system, and even a warning system about reducing the distance between your car and the car ahead - a rare function even for flagship Chinese. In the top BlackVue models, prices for which also start from about 21-22 thousand rubles, there are no last two options. Moreover, they do not exist at all in BlackVue recorders - even in the most expensive ones with a price tag of “thirty”.
It is important to note that such pleasant by the standards of Korean price collectors was achieved, including through direct sales - that is, via the Internet, bypassing retail networks with their horse wraps (already up to 40%). If ThinkWare models were sold in retail, they would have been noticeably more expensive - 15 thousand for ThinkWare F50 and 30 thousand for ThinkWare F770. In the case of the ThinkWare F50 with its unexpected 9,000 rubles, the price was also reduced due to “throwing out” all the excess: the model has almost no additional options, but she writes video with quality at the level of the flagship models that ThinkWare, that BlackVue. The quality of the video - and this is the main thing in the recorder - did not save. And, I think they did the right thing.
Well, let's take a quick look at the individual features of the ThinkWare F770 and ThinkWare F50, but for a start, a comparative table of characteristics. In it, I also added a pair of BlackVue models - to confirm all of the above. Once again: BlackVue can be called a leader in sales in South Korea, moreover, it is a fact. But in terms of technology ... But in terms of technology, ThinkWare is still driving. And in terms of prices - too.
Briefly about the features of ThinkWare F770
As I said, one of the features of ThinkWare F770 is the form factor - the model is something like a parallelepiped with a camera that is mounted on a hinge. Thanks to the latter, the module with the lens can be directed higher / lower by adjusting the angle to aim the recorder on the road.
Layfkhak: adjustment is carried out using a special groove in which you can insert a nail or a coin; so when the groove is horizontal, the cameras look exactly on the road. Conveniently! However, in some cases - for example, if you have some kind of Lamborghini, where the glass has a completely different than the more familiar machines, the angle of inclination - this method does not work. In this case, you should turn to Wi-Fi - ThinkWare F770 supports broadcasting the image from the camera to a smartphone or tablet (with iOS or Android) in real time.
However, the application still needs to be addressed - even if you don’t have a Lamborghini or a Ferrari. Because from the smartphone, you can configure the recorder. There are a lot of points, I will not list them all with the text, but I’ll just propose to see the screenshots. In short, a lot of parameters can be adjusted - from the accelerometer sensitivity to the volume of voice notifications (about the start of recording, end, mode change, etc.).
The second option is to change the settings - from the computer. Insert the USB flash drive into the card reader (by the way, it is included in the package of delivery - a nice bonus), after which the program is launched with approximately the same set of settings. Is that in the PC version there is also a video editor. The program, by the way, is available not only for Windows, but also for MacOS. It is quite logical: the audience of Korean registrars, by virtue of its increased solvency, includes quite a few users of Apple computers. Well, it is worth noting that MacOS support in general speaks about the seriousness of the manufacturer - the Chinese won about this OS in 2016 "do not know" at all.
Of the unusual for registrars, in principle, I would like to mention the built-in 512 MB memory module, which allows the owner of ThinkWare F770 to make a “copy of the video for the protocol” before transferring the flash drive to the inspector. (Who knows where it goes? We are in Russia!) Yes, such modules are also found in a separate Chinese avtoreg, although it is extremely rare. But! Chinese developers most often think, um, on what they are sitting on. As a result, the memory usually has a capacity of 128 MB. If the settings are set to write fragments by the minute, then it will fit into this array, but if, say, fragments of 5 minutes each is unlikely. China - he is such a China! In the meantime, the ThinkWare F770 records videos in one-minute intervals (no more is needed), and such a file is guaranteed to fit into 512 MB of space. And not even one.
Going further: LDWS, that is, the option of sound notification of the exit from the lane, which can save the driver who has fallen asleep or distracted from an accident. It works perfectly, but - only if there is a clean road with neatly applied marking. Roughly speaking, in the summer and on federal highways (most of them) everything is fine with LDWS, but in the fall and in the provinces, when there are no roads, but there are directions, they no longer exist.
What is the matter FCWS (warning about reducing the distance before the car ahead): this option always works well. More precisely, almost always: according to my observations, it works in 90% of cases. The "Chinese" with a similar function, the percentage of positives is much lower - somewhere at level 50.
There were no warnings about speed cameras, so once again you will not have to pay a fine. The base of cameras is updated monthly, you can download it from here .
From an unusual for Korean recorders, I note the presence of a wide set of keys on the case - usually the developers are limited to one button and “hang” the car of options on it, which are activated by different numbers of clicks. Which still need to remember! So: in ThinkWare F770 there are separate keys to start recording video, turning on a microphone, activating Wi-Fi, formatting a memory card (I remember, I remember that it is not necessary to do this, but suddenly you want to delete all videos for personal reasons - for example, before selling the recorder) and turning on the device. All for the convenience of the user!
There is no battery in ThinkWare F770, there is only a supercapacitor for correct completion of the recording during a traffic accident, when the recorder has already “fallen off” from the car’s on-board network due to its damage. On the one hand, the absence of a battery is a minus, characteristic, however, of the entire Korean registrar. On the other hand, the supercapacitor allows you to start recording in a cold car even at minus 20 without any problems. Chinese recorders with batteries do not know how to do this: serve them a warm salon
Well, go to the main thing - tram-pam-pam! - video quality. At once I will say that ThinkWare F770 costs 22 thousand rubles - and in terms of the quality of the recording, it works out every ruble. And considering that the majority of BlackVue are more expensive and write about the same quality, the ThinkWare model even “forgives” some of the rubles. The video part of the ThinkWare F770 is represented by the Japanese 2.19-megapixel Sony Exmor matrix, a lens made of glass with anti-reflective coating and the Ambarella A7LA85 video processor. The latter is particularly noteworthy, since this is the top solution in the A7 lineup and with other models in fact not found. (Such a ThinkWare F770 is unique!)
Plus - and this is extremely important! - ThinkWare has its own proprietary practices in the field of image processing, which are used in the same registrars. Why is it important? I will give an illustrative example from a slightly different opera. You might be surprised, but in a good half of Chinese smartphones, Sony cameras are used. But the software has its own, Chinese, which includes its own (Chinese) algorithms for working with a raw video stream. As a result, they remove such smartphones mediocre. The same with registrars. It's not enough to buy cameras from Sony. It is also necessary to write software for video stream processing normally - and just in ThinkWare we coped with this task 100%.
On an autumn day (which is more like twilight), the video is almost perfect at all - this also applies to clarity, and the absence of distortion and overexposure, and the distance of readability of numbers in a straight line. It reaches 25 meters, that is, approximately two times more than the average or top-class “Chinese”. Actually, if it were not for the absence of a battery (and therefore the ability to use the recorder outside the car), then the ThinkWare F770 could well have become an instrument of some top-end video blogger.
And here is what we get directly at dusk.
The night is also impressive: the video image is much clearer than in real life. There are practically no reflections from headlights and lanterns, the distance of readability of numbers, which is expected, falls. But - only up to 18 meters, as in the same BlackVue, and not up to 10-12, as in the “Chinese”.
Even shorter about ThinkWare F50
Why is "even shorter"? Yes, because the possibilities of this model is noticeably less than that of the flagship. Judge for yourself: LDWS and FCWS are not, GPS-receiver too (but you can buy an external for 2 570 rubles), and there is no Wi-Fi. And the management is represented by the very one button on which several functions are hung, activated by different number of clicks.
You can adjust and view video recorded on ThinkWare F50 only from a program on a computer, only the options in it are noticeably smaller - which is logical, given the narrower functionality. Well, from a smartphone, of course, you can also watch the video - if this smartphone itself has a slot for MicroSD (which means iPhone, Galaxy S6, etc., disappear).
ThinkWare F50 is also mounted on 3M scotch tape, but the design is somewhat different due to the cylindrical shape of the case. Registrar should be adjusted blindly, since there is no Wi-Fi or screen in it. However, directing him to the road, using his eyes and hands, is not difficult. In the extreme case, you can record a video, and if, after viewing on a smartphone or PC, it turns out that the recorder was not looking there, reconfigure.
It's nice that the developers still left in ThinkWare F50 additional options for the recorder - accelerometer and motion sensor. True, in order for the latter to work, it will be necessary in full to purchase the accessory Power Magic Pro for 3,000 rubles. It will allow the recorder to work in the parking mode even when the engine is muted (there are no batteries in the ThinkWare F50, only a supercapacitor, as in the “big brother”!). By the way, to work in the parking mode, Power Magic Pro will be needed in the case of the ThinkWare F770.
And also ThinkWare F50 can be taught to report on speed cameras — if you add the model to an external GPS receiver for 2,570 rubles. I admit honestly: I did not test the option, as there was no corresponding accessory on my hands. But it's great that such an opportunity (camera alerts) is there, it is not peculiar to “Koreans”.
Well, the main thing - about the quality of the video. During the day, the ThinkWare F50 writes in much the same way as the ThinkWare F770. No, you think about it: the model for 9 thousand rubles is comparable to the top Korean registrars for 20+ thousand! Not to mention the fellow class, the Chinese, which ThinkWare F50 surpasses the head. For the sake of this - to preserve the quality of the recording - and they sacrificed both wi-fay, jeepies, and eldevees ...
Cloudy day, low light - the image remains clear throughout the frame, there are no white balance errors. Visible is the insignificant work of the “shumodava”, but in general this does not affect the details.
Cloudy day, low light. Similar to the previous frame, the recorder demonstrates high quality shooting.
Sunny day. The sun shines on the way to the car with a registrar, which can lead to exposure to the state of complete promiscuity. In the case of the ThinkWare F50, you can still distinguish and easily read the letters and numbers.
Sunny day, in a similar way, good readability of state numbers.
Night, the correct white balance is maintained without yellowness, no distorted colors or too “noisy” pictures. There is a high detail and clarity of the image.
At night, everything, of course, a little worse. At night, ThinkWare F50 gives a picture at the level of top "Chinese" at the price of 12-15 thousand rubles, being, I recall, much cheaper. Yes, the distance of readability of numbers falls to 12-13 meters, but this, as they say, is not a vice. And quite normal things, considering the price of ThinkWare F50. By the way, the Sony matrix is ​​also used in this model - though it is less sophisticated than that of the ThinkWare F770.
findings
Sometimes it happens that the leader in a particular area flirts and stops noticing the less famous, but more agile and gained experience of competitors - just like in the fable of the hare and turtles competitions, which, as we know, won the latter. So in the confrontation between BlackVue and ThinkWare, that's the way it is. The only difference is that ThinkWare is more likely not a turtle, but simply a less famous hare. Who is doing everything possible to hook up his better-known opponent. As I said above, in terms of technology ThinkWare is already a little ahead, in terms of amenity prices - too.
The same ThinkWare F50 seems to me to be the only alternative if you need maximum video quality, and in your pocket a little less than 10 thousand rubles. If the budget is not limited by anything, then you can and should look at the ThinkWare F770 for 22 thousand - with the video there is still better, and there are many more options. And in both cases, you will receive increased reliability, Korean build quality and the very feeling of a cool quality product that the Chinese will never provide. It will provide only BlackVue, but - for a little other money. Slightly big. And while not providing a number of pleasant "plop" that ThinkWare has.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/398983/
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