Vantrue N5 - 4CH Dash Camera Test & Review - RCG

[rcg530]

I received a firmware update for the N5 4-channel dash camera that actually downgraded the firmware a bit but it included a fix for the daytime front interior camera having a purplish color. I'm following up on a statement in the email with the firmware update that this firmware was for the N5 "sample dashcams". I had updated the N5 with the firmware updates that the Vantrue app notified me were available. I'm not sure if there's some technical reason the N5 sample units cannot use the publicly available firmware updates for the N5.



Here's an animated GIF showing the transition from nighttime mode to daytime mode as I back my car out of the garage.

 

[LateralNW]

I received a firmware update for the N5 4-channel dash camera that actually downgraded the firmware

That is interesting.

So its working correctly now?

 

[rcg530]

So its working correctly now?

Yes. I've emailed my Vantrue contact to see why a downgraded firmware version (maybe with a patch applied) was required to fix this issue in my review sample version of the N5. I hope the N5 review sample dash cameras won't require different firmware than the production versions.

Here's a screenshot from before the firmware change (my shirt color is black).



Here's a screenshot from the same location after the firmware change (my shirt color is red). The rear seat belts, headliner and rear window trim pieces no longer have a purplish/red color. The clarity of the view of what's taking place behind the car has also improved.

 

[LateralNW]

Yes. I've emailed my Vantrue contact to see why a downgraded firmware version (maybe with a patch applied) was required to fix this issue in my review sample version of the N5. I hope the N5 review sample dash cameras won't require different firmware than the production versions.

Here's a screenshot from before the firmware change (my shirt color is black).

View attachment 65445

Here's a screenshot from the same location after the firmware change (my shirt color is red). The rear seat belts, headliner and rear window trim pieces no longer have a purplish/red color. The clarity of the view of what's taking place behind the car has also improved.

View attachment 65446

That is a great change. Everything looks sharper too. That might just me though

I liked your heat maps of the devices you test it really helps identify where possible issues could be. The TOPDON TC004 is a tool I could really use if I could fit it in my budget

 

[Jeff_Vantrue]

Very nice.
I love rear interior POV.
That’s what I use the Viofo A229 “rear” camera for.
But it doesn’t have IR emitters so it’s useless at night unless I turn on the dome light.
I wish Viofo offered an A229 Duo IR, just like the old A129 Duo IR.
Most likely won’t because it might take away sales from the A139 & T130 series.
I’m looking forward to rear interior views of your PPV test mule. Lol
-Chuck
View attachment 65100
View attachment 65101
View attachment 65102

Vantrue Nexus 5 comes with dual interior cameras which both equipped with Infrared Light. One in the front and another in the back. If you're interested in it, we would love to invite you to have a try of our 4-channel N5 dashcam.

 

[rcg530]

Yes. I've emailed my Vantrue contact to see why a downgraded firmware version (maybe with a patch applied) was required to fix this issue in my review sample version of the N5. I hope the N5 review sample dash cameras won't require different firmware than the production versions.

I received a response from Vantrue and it appears that the pre-production (sample) N5 dash cameras and the production units are almost identical. The difference being the pre-production N5 dash cameras have their IR lens filters operating in reverse of the production units. If the pre-production units are updated with the production firmware the purplish/red color will be seen during daylight hours.

 

[LateralNW]

I received a response from Vantrue and it appears that the pre-production (sample) N5 dash cameras and the production units are almost identical. The difference being the pre-production N5 dash cameras have their IR lens filters operating in reverse of the production units. If the pre-production units are updated with the production firmware the purplish/red color will be seen during daylight hours.

Perhaps a hack could be to reverse the polarity of the motor/solenoid/s
Or hack a production firmware

 

[rcg530]

Yesterday, I drove my car on my weekly shopping trip route. When I reviewed the footage from the N5, I found that it just stopped recording in 1080p 15fps low bitrate parking mode at stop number three on this trip. The outdoor temp was in the low to mid 70s F. I drove the car to the next stop on the route and when I parked the car, the N5 started recording low bitrate parking mode videos. The end of the previous parking mode and the entire "normal" driving mode videos were never recorded.

The file group with sequence number 513 were the files recording in low bitrate parking mode when it just stopped recording at 11:17:11. The end of file group 513 videos shows me outside of the car returning the shopping chart to its collection area in the parking lot. File group 514 is when I parked at the next stop along the route. There's a 14 minute 18 second gap in the recording.

I reviewed the video and audio from the other dash cameras in the car and I didn't hear the "Ding" sound from the N5 when it powers down, so I believe it to be powered during this time period (battery pack providing power).

I've sent my findings to Vantrue.

 

[rcg530]

On Friday, I drove my car on my weekly shopping trip route. The N5 stopped recording video while parked at the last stop on the route. I had just returned to my car. I opened/closed the front passenger side door which caused the N5 to exit parking mode (1080 15FPS Low Bitrate) and it returned to normal mode recording mode. I opened/closed doors and the trunk of the car which kept it in normal recording mode. At 11:46:21 AM, the N5 just stopped recording.

I listened to the low bitrate audio from the other dash cameras in the car to see if the N5 powered down (listing for the "Ding" it makes when it powers down) and no "Ding" was heard.

When I arrived home, I powered down the N5 and I then heard the "Ding" sound. The events between 11:46:22 AM and 12:23:00 PM were not recorded by the N5. This makes twice now that the N5 has just stopped recording without any outside indication of the issue. I've reported my findings to Vantrue.

Event Timeline

• 11:08:49 – I parked my car
  • Parking mode (Low Bitrate 1080p 15fps) started
• 11:37:16 – While in parking mode
  • I opened and closed the front passenger door
  • This caused the N5 to exit parking mode and start recording “Normal” mode videos.
  • The last file group of this parking mode is noted with a “P1” in the file listing.
• 11:40:19 – Still in “Normal” mode with accessory power off
  • I gently closed the trunk lid – this should have been detected as an impact event
• 11:41:19 – Still in “Normal” mode with accessory power off
  • I opened and closed a rear passenger door
• 11:41:51 – Still in “Normal” mode with accessory power off
  • I opened and closed the front passenger door again
• 11:42:35 – Still in “Normal” mode with accessory power off
  • I returned to the store to purchase items I had forgotten to purchase
• 11:46:21 – Last timestamp in “Normal” mode video file with accessory power off
  • This is 4 minutes 30 seconds after the last impact event @ 11:41:51
  • The N5 did not record any more videos.
• 11:50:19 – Timestamp from VIOFO A119 Mini 2 dash camera
  • I returned to my car
• 11:51:00 – I started the car and restored accessory power to the dash cameras
• 11:53:41 – I backed out of my parking spot and drove home
• 12:23:00 – I arrived at home
  • When I powered down the N5, it displayed the orange Vantrue screen and I heard the “Ding” sound that a Vantrue camera makes when it powers down.

 

[kamkar]

What memory card are you using M8 ?

I just found out the first card i tried absolutely do not work, which is fine, but what is not fine the camera did not sound any alarms.
And i have logged +2 hours of driving today but i only have like 15 minutes on the memory card, and only two 3 minute " sets" are there, the rest are tiny 50 MB files.

 

[rcg530]

What memory card are you using M8 ?

I just found out the first card i tried absolutely do not work, which is fine, but what is not fine the camera did not sound any alarms.
And i have logged +2 hours of driving today but i only have like 15 minutes on the memory card, and only two 3 minute " sets" are there, the rest are tiny 50 MB files.

I'm using a VANTrue 128GB microSD card. Just today, I retested both of the VANTrue 128GB cards that I have to make sure they still pass a verification test with h2testw and both passed without error.

 

[rcg530]

Production N5 4-Channel Received
Yesterday, I received a new/production N5 4-channel dash camera. I pulled it out from the box and set it up to run on my test mounting rig to check the focus of the four cameras.

This production unit arrived with the following firmware versions installed:



This N5 did not do well in my focus check. The front camera has an acceptable level of clarity/sharpness, but the other three cameras had varying levels of focus clarity/sharpness. I tested the focus of the four cameras in two test configurations. The first test was with Front WDR On / Rear HDR On and the second test was with Front WDR Off and Rear HDR Off. Those settings did not change the focus issue at all, but it did make the rear interior go from somewhat overexposed (HDR On) to extremely overexposed (leaving all other settings at their defaults).

I've submitted my focus test findings to VANTrue to see what their response is to this issue with a brand new production unit.

Front Exterior - Front WDR On / Front WDR Off


Front Interior - Front WDR On / Front WDR Off


Rear Interior - Rear HDR On / Rear HDR Off


Rear Exterior - Rear HDR On / Rear HDR Off

 

[LateralNW]

Production N5 4-Channel Received
Yesterday, I received a new/production N5 4-channel dash camera. I pulled it out from the box and set it up to run on my test mounting rig to check the focus of the four cameras.

This production unit arrived with the following firmware versions installed:

View attachment 66257

This N5 did not do well in my focus check. The front camera has an acceptable level of clarity/sharpness, but the other three cameras had varying levels of focus clarity/sharpness. I tested the focus of the four cameras in two test configurations. The first test was with Front WDR On / Rear HDR On and the second test was with Front WDR Off and Rear HDR Off. Those settings did not change the focus issue at all, but it did make the rear interior go from somewhat overexposed (HDR On) to extremely overexposed (leaving all other settings at their defaults).

I've submitted my focus test findings to VANTrue to see what their response is to this issue with a brand new production unit.

Front Exterior - Front WDR On / Front WDR Off
View attachment 66259 View attachment 66258

Front Interior - Front WDR On / Front WDR Off
View attachment 66261 View attachment 66262

Rear Interior - Rear HDR On / Rear HDR Off
View attachment 66264 View attachment 66263

Rear Exterior - Rear HDR On / Rear HDR Off
View attachment 66266 View attachment 66265

Interesting results. As always nice work.
I couldn't see any bad focus even zooming in but I am on my phone an iphone 8.

The thing I found interesting is the hdr changing the colour perhaps it needs a little firmware mod?

I'm expecting a production unit shortly so it will be interesting to see the comparison.

Just a thought with your test of the inside cameras, do you think they could have been tuned for car interiors and consequently not perform as expected in your test?

Cheers

 

[rcg530]

Just a thought with your test of the inside cameras, do you think they could have been tuned for car interiors and consequently not perform as expected in your test?

When I had the pre-production N5 cameras in my car, the front interior and rear interior cameras never had a crisp focus. It wasn't the worst I've seen, but it wasn't as good as others I've tested.

I've included frame grabs from the pre-production N5 front interior and rear interior cameras while installed in my car. The rear interior is definitely out of focus. The front interior is somewhat out of focus. I've also included a VIOFO T130 front interior frame grab. The T130's front interior camera has a clear/sharp enough image that you can see the scratches in the seating surface of the rear seat.

The one thing I did find improved with the production N5 was the front camera's windshield mount was about 30% tighter than either of the pre-production front camera mounts. The pre-production mounts would allow the front camera body to be too easily moved and at times I would notice a very small amount of shaking in the front interior/exterior video.

 

[LateralNW]

When I had the pre-production N5 cameras in my car, the front interior and rear interior cameras never had a crisp focus. It wasn't the worst I've seen, but it wasn't as good as others I've tested.

I've included frame grabs from the pre-production N5 front interior and rear interior cameras while installed in my car. The rear interior is definitely out of focus. The front interior is somewhat out of focus. I've also included a VIOFO T130 front interior frame grab. The T130's front interior camera has a clear/sharp enough image that you can see the scratches in the seating surface of the rear seat.

The one thing I did find improved with the production N5 was the front camera's windshield mount was about 30% tighter than either of the pre-production front camera mounts. The pre-production mounts would allow the front camera body to be too easily moved and at times I would notice a very small amount of shaking in the front interior/exterior video.

View attachment 66270 View attachment 66269 View attachment 66271

I can see the rear camera pointing forward doesn't have the best balance of light and focus. This is the pre production unit.


It is easy to see that the image is from the T130 mainly because of the purple tint in some places of the image. I'm going to guess that you are wearing a black or grey T-Shirt

Cheers

 

[rcg530]

I updated the N5 front/rear camera firmware to ECF211 using the Android Vantrue app. I reran my focus check with the front WDR feature on and the rear HDR feature on. There was no difference in the focus clarity level from the previous test (as I would expect).



Front / WDR On


Front Interior / WDR On


Rear Interior / HDR On


Rear / HDR On

 

[Karagandinez]

When I first powered up the N5 in my garage it was dark enough for the IR LEDs to be turned on and the click could be heard. As I started backing out of the garage, I could hear both the front interior and rear interior IR filters "click" and the IR LEDs were turned off. The rear interior camera looked okay, but the front interior video then started to have the purplish hue on things like the seat belts and my black shirt.

On my videos, compared to yours, it's just awful.

Vantrue Nexus 5 4CH 2K / My introduction to the new model.

I received a birthday present the other day, a new model Vantrue N5. For which many thanks to Jeff_Vantrue. There is a gradual acquaintance with the new model on the table. I'll put it on the car later. Packing and equipment.

dashcamtalk.com

 

[rcg530]

On my videos, compared to yours, it's just awful.

Vantrue Nexus 5 4CH 2K / My introduction to the new model.

I received a birthday present the other day, a new model Vantrue N5. For which many thanks to Jeff_Vantrue. There is a gradual acquaintance with the new model on the table. I'll put it on the car later. Packing and equipment.

dashcamtalk.com

I replied in your thread about this issue: https://dashcamtalk.com/forum/threa...troduction-to-the-new-model.49286/post-597372

 

[rcg530]

I received feedback from Vantrue about the focus clarity questions I had:

N5​

2.5K front camera digital signal,​

1080P front interior camera digital signal,​

1080P rear interior camera analog signal HDR,​

1080P rear camera digital signal HDR​

​

front camera 2.5K, the rest are 1080P, because the rear interior camera is suitable for use in the car (analog signal technology is global exposure), if the interior camera is used as an external camera will cause the problem you said​

I installed the production N5 in my car. Today, I drove my weekly grocery shopping trip route. I have to disagree that reason for the focus issue was the interior cameras being used for exterior / long distance use in my original focus tests.

Here is the report I submitted to my Vantrue contact from today's testing:

• N5 Configuration
  • 4-channels
  • Firmware
    • Front VT-ECF211
    • Cabin VT-ECD191
    • Rear VT-ECF211
  • Front Exterior – 40mm CPL Installed
  • Front WDR = Enabled (Default)
  • Rear HDR = Enabled (Default)
  • MicroSD Card: Vantrue 128GB
  • Parking Mode = Low Bitrate 1080p 15 fps
• Focus Quality Check
  • Front Exterior
    • This is the best of the four cameras as far as focus quality goes, but it’s not as sharp as it should be.
  • Front Interior
    • The focus quality is just okay in my opinion. The front seats of my car are kind of in focus, but the rear seat is a bit blurry.
  • Rear Interior
    • The focus quality is very poor. The global focus lens is just not in focus. Everything is blurry.
  • Rear Exterior
    • This camera’s lens is way out of focus.
    • Check video sample files uploaded to my Google Drive folder (see below).
• Dropped / Duplicated Frame Check
  • I found that the pre-production N5 dash cameras would create video footage with dropped or duplicated frames.
  • Checking the production N5 with the current firmware installed
    • I found several instances of duplicated video frames.
    • I found one duplicated frame example where the overlay text changed between adjacent frames, but the video content did not change while the vehicle was in motion.
    • Frame grabs from that example are attached to this email.
• Randomly stops recording video (observed with pre-production units)
  • During this day’s testing, this problem did not occur.
• Impacts during low bitrate parking mode causes loss of video/audio content as it switches back to normal recording mode
  • While I understand what the dash camera is trying to do by switching back to normal mode when an impact is detected in low bitrate parking mode to get higher quality footage, it results in the loss of video/audio content performing the switch.
  • If the parking mode is already recording video/audio (such as low bitrate), the camera should stay in low bitrate recording mode to prevent the loss of potentially critical video/audio around the impact.
  • I have an example of this issue when I closed the door on my car after placing groceries in the car and then I walked the cart to its collection location.
  • Just by looking at the filenames of the “P” files vs the “N” files you can see there is a multiple second gap between them.
    • Looking at the “A” parking mode video file content, you can see the last timestamp in the video status line is 11:51:45.
    • The normal mode “A” file has a beginning video status line timestamp of 11:51:53.
    • That is a loss of 8 seconds of potentially critical video/audio content.
    • Why can’t the N5 simply stay in low bitrate parking mode and flag the file as parking mode event in some manner?
  • 

Screenshots:

Front Exterior / Front Interior / Rear Interior / Rear Exterior


Rear Exterior (cool) / Rear Exterior (Warm)


Example of duplicated video frame from the front camera written to the video file while the status line text changed (seconds value and speed changed - while vehicle in motion):


To end my day of testing fun, I went to install the microSD card into the N5 and the plastic door/button cap fell off the magnetic ring that holds it to the side of the N5.

 

[Panzer Platform]

On the bright side it looks like Vantrue has established the number of channels a dash cam can reliably operate.
Three. lol