Automotive

[Merged] The Official BlackVue DR400G-HD Owners Thread

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Oct 11, 2009
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i get glare from my windshield in all my videos how can i get rid of that ?

kay188 wrote: Same here. I feel that the 2MP sensor in this camera is really lacking. Comparing it to other dashcams, other cameras retain the darkness of the night, the colours and the noise of the sensor working in low light. In return you can read the licence plate at night.

Unlike the Blackvue, you can't see the plates because of the brightness that car headlights have blown out the reflective plates. However it's smoother in overall image quality, and brighter than other cameras at night but night colours and definition in detail is lacking compared to other 1080p cameras.
Compare the below videos to your Blackvue.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDYNyuyjUvU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJT8LjRzo2Y

However, the camera size is 3x bigger than the Blackvue, and the part where the lens and sensor is a bigger housing, so more room for clearer lens elements and technology.
We basically paid $196 for the size of the unit as it's compact and sleek and full of features without that stupid suction mount that many other units require.
The MSRP on this thing is $400 anyways... so might as well splurge as we got 50% off. :razz:

I don't understand why our video quality doesn't look like this??!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1s3UTmPJY0

I hope I'm not the only one who feels this way!?

Being a photography inclined person, maybe if I buy tiny graduated filters, tape it on the windshield in front of the lens in a way that it darkens out the bottom part of the video where the plates are leaving everything above still night and bright...
HMMMMMMM.
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Oct 11, 2009
1128 posts
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how about this ?

[IMG]http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e88/axela1/112.png[/IMG]

kay188 wrote: You want to move the up and down slider (1st slider) to full insensitivity. I've noticed that even the smallest potholes set off event recording on a 2012 Nissan Sentra.
The other 2 sliders are for the other axis'. Side to side, and forward/backward G forces usually doesn't pass 0.5 G on the camera if you drive civilized.
You may set them off if you go through a corner hard, accelerate off the line, or break real hard.

Nevertheless, an impact with your car usually will be strong enough to pass the threshold of the sensors anyways. Unless it's the slightest tap.


Same. I removed mine, and it works, but isn't the original sticky tape strength.

I removed mine carefully, I even heated it up to make it easier to come off. It did, but It deformed it a bit. Not as much as yours which turned into a ball. Sticky tape has a tendency to do that once you start stretching it.
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Feb 2, 2007
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username333 wrote: i get glare from my windshield in all my videos how can i get rid of that ?


You need to put a polarizer in front of the lens. A polarizer is used in photography to remove reflections off cars, windows, water etc. as well as make the sky more blue.

I googled polarizer film, and they make such things. A camera lens polarizer would be too big, so I figured film would do the same thing.

http://www.3dlens.com/shop/polarizer.php

GROUP BUY?

I think you might want to leave the 2nd and 3rd slider at default. The first sensor is up and down, which senses the car moving on a vertical axis.
The other 2 is side to side, and fowards and backwards. Having it set so low, you need to corner very hard, slide, have a huge amount of torque off the line to set them off.

If you were hit lightly, such as a rear end, or some idiot pulling a Ragu the camera might not pick it up as an "event", rather just normal road conditions.
So I would raise the other 2 sliders to default or middle, and lower the 1st one.

Being hit hard... is well... being hit hard. It would probably pass the threshold of all 3 sensors. :razz:

Parking needs to be sensitive, as you're not moving so that's a given.'

View your videos after a day of driving. Click the Advanced Setting tab, and view the video of events that was triggered driving over potholes, hard corners, etc.
The G Sensors will graph real time on the threshold graph in which you can see how much G is going on when you turn, stop, go over potholes, and adjust to your liking.
My sensors are set at 100/80/80.
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Oct 11, 2009
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i still dont get the point in event mode
if im driving and i get hit its still records in normal mode
why do we need event ?

and im down for some film if you order it
or can we maybe use tint ?
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Feb 2, 2007
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username333 wrote: i still dont get the point in event mode
if im driving and i get hit its still records in normal mode
why do we need event ?

and im down for some film if you order it
or can we maybe use tint ?

Event mode is just a label that the camera puts on the files. It makes it easier for you to quickly select the events on the PC to see what happened, rather than looking through all the normal recordings.
The Blackvue website says EVENT recordings won't be over written as much as normal recordings normally would.

You can also set EVENT recording to say 3 mins, opposed to 1 minute of normal recording.
The shorter amount of time, the less gap there is in between recording as the camera needs time to save the whole length of the file. I have my normal set at 2, and event at 2. I wanted 3 minutes, but each event would be 3 minutes every time I go over a pot hole. Too long.

Maybe photography stores have polarizing film? That I'm not sure. Maybe those CRT monitor polarized film works too... It should be the same thing.

You cannot use tint because it's not the same thing as a polarizer. It's like polarzed sunglasses, and tinted ones. There's a big difference when it comes to photography, and other imaging devices, to remove reflections and enhance colour.
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well if you find the film please let me know im down to get some
i have 12 cams set up in my cars so i would need 12 filters maybe some for spares

kay188 wrote: Event mode is just a label that the camera puts on the files. It makes it easier for you to quickly select the events on the PC to see what happened, rather than looking through all the normal recordings.
The Blackvue website says EVENT recordings won't be over written as much as normal recordings normally would.

You can also set EVENT recording to say 3 mins, opposed to 1 minute of normal recording.
The shorter amount of time, the less gap there is in between recording as the camera needs time to save the whole length of the file. I have my normal set at 2, and event at 2. I wanted 3 minutes, but each event would be 3 minutes every time I go over a pot hole. Too long.

Maybe photography stores have polarizing film? That I'm not sure. Maybe those CRT monitor polarized film works too... It should be the same thing.

You cannot use tint because it's not the same thing as a polarizer. It's like polarzed sunglasses, and tinted ones. There's a big difference when it comes to photography, and other imaging devices, to remove reflections and enhance colour.
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username333 wrote: well if you find the film please let me know im down to get some
i have 12 cams set up in my car so i would need 12 filters maybe some for spares

12 camera's in your car??? I WANT A PICTURE OF THIS!!!

Probably buy a few sheets of film, and cut a fair sized, and just wrap the film on the device. It's easier than cutting to size and fitting it over the lens.
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kay188 wrote: 12 camera's in your car??? I WANT A PICTURE OF THIS!!!

Probably buy a few sheets of film, and cut a fair sized, and just wrap the film on the device. It's easier than cutting to size and fitting it over the lens.

1. Front windshield
2. Rear window
3. Front Passenger window
4. Driver window
5. Rear Passenger window
6. Rear Passenger window
7. Interior front view (3rd person view)??
8. ???
9. ??
10. ??
11. ??
12. ??
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kay188 wrote: You need to put a polarizer in front of the lens. A polarizer is used in photography to remove reflections off cars, windows, water etc. as well as make the sky more blue.

I googled polarizer film, and they make such things. A camera lens polarizer would be too big, so I figured film would do the same thing.

http://www.3dlens.com/shop/polarizer.php

GROUP BUY?

Buy buy buy!

I dunno but is anyone experiencing vignetting?
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And I thought you were cool for putting 12 cameras in your car, username. :razz:

6 cars. What a ballerrrrrrr.
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There are people asking about hardwiring, so I will post what I plan to do (I havent done it yet because Im still waiting to get it shipped).

Get this: http://www.amazon.com/Pico-0956pt-Mini- ... 074&sr=1-3
- Search Ebay for "add a circuit". You can probably find it for $5-$10 shipped. I also saw it at Crappy Tire for $15+tx.

You can then cut up the cigarette adapter wire from the Blackvue. Crimp the positive (probably red?) wire to the add-a-circuit. The black wire goes to a ground (find a ground bolt in your fuse box).
Find a fuse in your fuse box. If you want parking mode, find a fuse that provides constant power. If you dont, you can use the radio fuse or 12v cigarette socket fuse. Put the original fuse into the add-a-circuit (I believe the bottom one, but I wont be sure until I get mine), and add another small fuse for the Blackvue (blue_lammer says Blackvue is .12A so find the smallest fuse you can), and plug the add-a-circuit into your fuse box.

Alternatively, if you dont want to cut up the Blackvue power wire, get something like this: http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/browse/4 ... ?locale=en ($15 at Crappy, but I found it for $10 at Walmart). Same idea: Red wire to add-a-circuit, ground the black wire.
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Hamilton
Boys......where are those install pictures.
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just got a good tip from a buddy of mine
cheap ass 3D glasses have the film on them
and its a good thing my mom took my kid to the movies this weekend i just scored 2 pairs :D
now to cut them up and filter

Matrixvibe wrote: Buy buy buy!

I dunno but is anyone experiencing vignetting?
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Hamilton
are you gonna cover up the camera ?
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username333 wrote: just got a good tip from a buddy of mine
cheap ass 3D glasses have the film on them
and its a good thing my mom took my kid to the movies this weekend i just scored 2 pairs :D
now to cut them up and filter

Try it!! You don't need to cut it up. Just put the filter over the lens, and wrap tape on top and bottom of the lens around the filter to the body of the unit. It'll hold with the pressure the tape is putting against the unit.

If it removes glare, it'll remove it right away, and you'll notice a much clearer picture as there will no longer be the windshield in the way.
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Hamilton
hey guys, how to view the camera in door without a cig socket?
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one more question about formatting the SD
after i format and install new firmware do i need to do all my setting again ?
or are they saved in the cam

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