Mirror Dash Cam - Questions

[#1]

@Mook  There is no software with this setup.... all the "processing" is done within the mirror screen and saved to a TF card (max32GB).  you can remove the card to download, or you can remove the power lead and insert a camera download type lead. to download to laptop.... I remove the card... it's easier than carting the laptop out and back again...

[#2]

You are missing the point here @shutter, for any device like this worth its salt you should have got software with it that would allow you to view the footage offline, edit, copy etc.

[#3]

Slightly OT, but at 31cm it seems to be quite a large beast @shutter .

Doesn't it interfere with the full movement of your sun visor(s) when lowering them?

And does its 'replacement' mirror have a dimming feature for night time driving?

[#4]

---

@Mook wrote:

@RobPN - The camera I had was a Thinkware F770 Dual I bought from Amazon but I had it installed professionally by an auto electrician for no other reason than aesthetics. 

---

Likewise @Mook , although I'd do the job myself using the supplied hard-wire kit as I couldn't be doing with visible cables and a plug-in-to-the-12V socket arrangement.  I'd already determined how to remove the A-pillar trim and refit it properly, then run the cables behind the pillar air-bag and connect the wires to two separate fuse-ways (1 x switched and 1 x permanently live) using piggy-back fuse tap connectors. 

Apparently most* of the Thinkware cameras can be upgraded whilst leaving the wiring in place, and just swapping the new camera in.

*(with the exception of the M1 motorsport camera)

[#5]

---

@Mook wrote:

You are missing the point here @shutter, for any device like this worth its salt you should have got software with it that would allow you to view the footage offline, edit, copy etc.

---

As already mentioned.... I remove the TF card....  put it into an adapter card ( to increase it 's physical size )  then i put that into the slot on the laptop... where i can View the content... download it to the HDD, and edit it /save it/ re-record it at my leisure...

I already have "software"  SM Player (to view) and

VOKOSCREEN, to re record it.. I

have software that I can cut and edit . AVIDEMUX   

  I also have AnyVideoConverter to change the file(s) to a different type.. and join together several sections of recordings, to play back as one video.

I can also delete the content from the card, and then replace it in the TF card slot on the top of the mirror....

why do i need any extra software?

[#6]

---

@RobPN wrote:

Slightly OT, but at 31cm it seems to be quite a large beast @shutter .

Doesn't it interfere with the full movement of your sun visor(s) when lowering them?

And does its 'replacement' mirror have a dimming feature for night time driving?

---

No problem with the sun visors... they come down clear of the mirror. and do not block the camera view either.

the mirror seems to be blueish tinted, but that does not impede "normal" usage/viewing when driving, At first, the little screen on the right hand end, does tend to draw your eye a bit...but after a while, you tend to ignore it, automatically, so, again.. it's no big deal or problem when driving.

Never been a fan of those mirrors with a "dim"/"dip" switch on them...  I had one back in the 60's but it was more of a pain than useful, due to the fact that you do the dip, but then forget to revert to "normal"   then wonder why you cannot see properly out of the back window ! ! !

If someone comes up behind me, with headlights ablaze... I put up with it, until they see the notice in my back window.... and they back off to a reasonable distance  or overtake....

I have had this ( well not this particular one, but re-prints) in my back window for about 15 years now... with no camera on board..... works a treat....   Everything... HGV's, buses, coaches, 7.5 t, transit type vans, cars... all see it, and slink off, giving me the safety space, that they should.

[#7]

I know you already mentioned it, which is why I said you were missing the point. Doing what you're doing with Vokoscreen is bonkers.

Is 'SM Player' the software you got with the camera, No, I thought not. The camera is a specialist device so by implication may need specialist software. The software provided with or available for the camera may well present your rear view camera with the correct orientation because it knows it's format.

[#8]

@Mook  There is NO SOFTWARE associated, or provided with this type of mirror and rear camera setup.

Not really bonkers using Vokoscreen, to re-record the "important" bits, when running it in the correct aspect on SMPlayer. What IS BONKERS,... is that the camera records it in mirror image in the first place....

HOWEVER,

After I get home, tomorrow, on Thursday, I will try to find some way of fixing the camera in an "INVERTED" aspect, just above the dome of the rear windscreen wiper area,.. and see if that resolves the problem of BONKERS MIRROR IMAGE RECORDING.

As mentioned.. most of the stuff recorded is of little interest, until some "incident" occurs, when the relevant section can be edited and re-recorded as necessary, using the aforementioned software.

[#9]

---

@shutter wrote:

... you can remove the card to download, or you can remove the power lead and insert a camera download type lead. to download to laptop.... I remove the card... it's easier than carting the laptop out and back again...

---

Presumably as you are resorting to those methods of getting the footage off the camera it has no in-built WiFi @shutter ? 

If it did have WiFi there would probably be an accompanying app you could download from the Play Store, which would possibly give access to more settings.

---

@shutter wrote:

Never been a fan of those mirrors with a "dim"/"dip" switch on them...  I had one back in the 60's but it was more of a pain than useful, due to the fact that you do the dip, but then forget to revert to "normal"   then wonder why you cannot see properly out of the back window ! ! !

---

Not something I'd like to be without; I'd have thought most cars would have at least a mechanical dimmer option these days, and all the VWs I've owned for at least the past three decades or more have had them.  My present car has an auto dimming (electro-chromatic) one, which as it says on the tin, dims automatically according to how bright the lights behind are, and doesn't affect daylight driving if left switched on.  I definitely wouldn't want to cover it with a clip-on camera.

[#10]

If you do end up sending it back and getting a replacement make sure the one you get's got software with it. Yes it's a pita installing more but could be worth it if you need to submit footage to the Police or Insurance as it will include the GPS and Tracking data. Just saying. 

[#11]

@RobPN  it's cheap and cheerful... it works...and  it has it's limitations. 

@Mook  obviously, if it had WIFI and all the bells and whistles, that i probably would not use,  it would cost twice or three times as much.. and the same amount of video would be discarded at the end of every journey as recorded on the cheap and cheerful job that is under discussion.

as for needing gps  to give the vid to the police... well... if it were an accident... they would certainly have their own GPS being used by the Accident investigation office.... .... in cases of "moving incidents"... I am sure that they would not require a precise location.... and a general description of the location such as.. "it happened about 2 miles from the xxx junction on the xxx road" would probably suffice. 

[#12]

The advantage of providing the GPS and tracking information is there is no ambiguity as to the location or time of the incident. If you record an incident that, by chance, records an individual's face for example, they then cannot deny it was them when the information puts them at the location on the date and time in question.

[#13]

I have Garmin SatNav fitted.... so I expect that if they really wanted to "drill down" into the depths.... they could find details from it, of any jouney I have taken, and used the satnav....  ( agreed, I don't use it for local/familiar location/journeys... )

[#14]

That's not in the same league as having a video with time and GPS* irrefutably  'stamped' on it though.

Edit: * and possibly speed

[#15]

I'm not that bothered about it, really...  nor am I going to spend money on a gizmo with all the bells and whistles, that I have no intention of using. having video evidence will  be sufficient for my needs, IF i need it...

I suppose I have been lucky really, i have been driving around England Wales Scotland Gibraltar,  Malta, Mauritius, and Singapore, during my driving career of 57 years... and never had an accident, or been involved with one.  so if i should have the unfortunate happen to me, then I will have more evidence now, than I have had over the past 57 years, to back up my version of events.