rear camera used as the interior camera..

[aksotar]

I’m new to dash cams but I was wondering..
would it be possible to use the Starvis 2 rear camera as the interior camera ?? plugged into the rear camera input but mounted up front… my understanding is that the rear camera has a Starvis 2 sensor so it has better pic quality in difficult lighting conditions as well as a slightly wider FOV..
would this also affect the bitrate and thus pic quality ?

 

[Panzer Platform]

would it be possible to use the Starvis 2 rear camera as the interior camera ?

You can use any camera mounted in any location you want, feel free to experiment.
Keep in mind using the rear camera as an interior camera, you will NOT be able to see anything at night.
Here is an example of what that would look like during the day;

as well as a slightly wider FOV

The actual measured horizontal FOV of the A229 Pro 3-CH is;
112° FOV Front
110° FOV Rear
122° FOV Interior
84° FOV Interior LED’s On

VIOFO Horizontal FOV Database

The purpose of this thread is to document the measured FOV of all future Viofo Dash Cams I receive for test & review, (and previous models). Shoutout to these gentlemen for helping me revise my testing jig, and measurement procedure. @rcg530 @Vortex Radar @Nigel @DT MI @Karagandinez @gse @Dex_...

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Here’s what the FOV difference looks like between the Rear & IR Interior mounted in the same exact location;

Here’s what the Rear looks like at night;

would this also affect the bitrate

The Front camera’s Bitrate is approximately 60Mbps in 1-CH, 2-CH REAR configuration.
However, when you connect the IR Interior camera it cuts the Front Camera’s Bitrate in “half” to approximately 36Mbps.
Oh yeah, welcome to the club.
-Chuck

 

[kamkar]

Only downside would be the rear camera do not have any IR light aid for operation at night, but mind you modern cameras can still see some with the ambient light of a town, but of course the interior being flooded with IR light would be much better.

 

[brightsky]

that's an interesting idea to use the rear cam as an interior cam. @kamkar makes a good point about low light performance though without IR. The interior cam IR lights do seem to make a big difference. Still, the rear cam might work okay during the day. Might be worth a test run if you don't mind potentially weaker night footage.

 

[kamkar]

I have used single cameras as interior cameras, and in the daytime it is of course fine, also later in the day, but really at night, and especially if you are not driving around in a major town, then there will be issues.
And mind you some towns at night have higher ambient light at night, than Denmark see during the day on many winter days.
Of course newer sensors in cameras today will fare a lot better than my experiments years ago.

Americans though, as they often have 1 plate on the car and it is in the back, your only chance for a identifying shot on a oncoming car, is when it have passed and come in range of a rear camera.
So i personally advocate for Americans to get the best possible rear camera too, which now is the 2 K starvis 2 cameras, but really when we get dual 4K systems, PPL in the US might consider that with their hard to read little plates.
In EU ville, 2K handle our big readable plates just fine, hell even 1080p will do that, and we get 2 chances of a plate capture as all countries have plates front and rear.

 

[haiou_f]

I don't think it means much, the internal camera is clear enough in the daytime。

 

[Nigel]

Keep in mind using the rear camera as an interior camera, you will NOT be able to see anything at night.

You can add an IR lamp to your vehicle, or swap one of the standard interior lamp bulbs for an IR bulb, and get better lighting than you would get from the interior camera, especially if you convert a lamp in the rear seat area to IR.

Using a rear camera mounted near the rear view mirror is a good idea if you are going for a 2 channel system. With the 2K resolution you can still have a reasonable view out of the rear window, and from the rearview mirror area you should get a reasonable rear view, or at least a view similar to what the driver saw, which itself can be an advantage for insurance claims.

110° FOV Rear
122° FOV Interior

This is the only real disadvantage other than having to install an IR bulb for night time use, You will probably not get a good view of the front door windows unless your vehicle has the windshield unusually far forward, the interior camera is designed to record the front door windows when mounted in most cars.

 

[Pierce007]

In EU ville, 2K handle our big readable plates just fine, hell even 1080p will do that, and we get 2 chances of a plate capture as all countries have plates front and rear.

Living in Norway, means any cams would work well in reading license plates..practically?

 

[Pierce007]

In EU ville, 2K handle our big readable plates just fine, hell even 1080p will do that, and we get 2 chances of a plate capture as all countries have plates front and rear.

And which cam would you prefer in EU then in order to read plates day and night?

 

[kamkar]

Night is still a problem in regard to plate capture, but for the best chance there the new starvis 2 cameras supporting HDR is a must have.

 

[Karagandinez]

And which cam would you prefer in EU then in order to read plates day and night?

From my personal experience, Viofo Mini 2 does the best job for these purposes among single-channel models.

VIOFO A119 Mini 2 Video and Screenshots

Some comparison screenshots of A119 Mini 2 and A119V3_Day. I wanted to put another A119 Mini next to it and compare 3 models at once, but there is no way, plus one CPL filter is missing. Mini 2_V1.0_0516 V3_V2.6T_20211203 The settings are the same on both models. Resolution: 2560x1080 Bitrate =...

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From multi-channel models: Viofo A229 Pro.

VIOFO A229 Pro / Video and Screenshots

Screenshots from the front camera of A229 Pro and Mini 2 of the second revision. A229 Pro V1.0_231009 3840х2160 30fps CPL=on EV=-0.3 Mini_2: V1.0_20230912 2560x1080 30fps CPL=on EV=-0.3

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