How to choose a DVR for a car: reviews and videos
DVRs have long been used by many motorists, this device has become an integral attribute in the cabin. Thanks to it, you can record everything that happens to you while driving, and in the event of a traffic accident, you can prove your innocence. If you go to any store or visit an online store, you will see a wide range of these devices, which differ from each other both in their cost and in their characteristics.
How to choose a good DVR for a car, what characteristics to pay priority attention to? We have already covered this topic on our website Vodi.su, describing the popular models of registrars in 2015.
In essence, the DVR is a small camera mounted on the windshield, but in recent years the functionality has expanded significantly, and the recording quality has improved, and this is not surprising - look how far mobile phones have come in 10 years - from bulky monoblocks with antennas and limited capabilities , to ultra-thin smartphones, which are full-fledged mini computers.
The same thing happened with video recorders. However, are all these functions needed in real life? Let's consider in more detail.
Recording quality is the main parameter.
The following formats are currently in use:
- VGA - 640x480 pixels, an outdated format, in such a picture you can certainly see the road, the cars in front, the sidewalk, but you can hardly distinguish anything more detailed: you are unlikely to determine numbers, even models of other vehicles, besides colors are noticeably distorted;
- HD - high resolution 1280x720 pixels, the recording quality is several times better, such videos can be viewed on a large screen, although small details - car numbers - can only be read at close range, graininess will also be present;
- Full-HD - 1920x1080 pixels - excellent picture quality, you can see almost all the details, up to car numbers that are not very far away;
- Super-HD - 2304 × 1296 - the best resolution at the moment, such videos can be viewed on a large TV screen, the quality will please you, almost all the necessary details will be visible to you: numbers, road signs and signs, people's faces and so on.
That is, if you want the registrar to do its main task well, choose from the last two formats.
However, resolution is only one of the factors that affect the quality of a recording; such a parameter as recording speed is equally important, it is measured in frames per second. By modern standards, the recording speed should be at least 25 frames per second, there are more advanced models that can do 30 frames per second.
The higher the quality of the video, the more space it takes up on the memory card. There are also models where you can manually select the recording speed, for example, if the memory card is designed for 8 or 16 GB, then it is better to choose a low speed, although most video recorders of the middle and higher price ranges can support cards at 36, 64 and even 128 or 256 Gigabyte.
In order to fit more information on the memory card, you need to choose the right registrar according to the file compression method (encoder, codec, decoder).
File compression formats:
- MJPEG - an outdated format based on frame-by-frame compression, such a video takes up a lot of space, the sound is saved separately;
- MPEG4 - simultaneous compression of audio and video streams, video takes up 10 times less space;
- H.264 is the most advanced format, it takes up half the space than the previous one, and besides, there is better color and sound reproduction.
There are formats like MOV or AVI, video files in a folder recorded in these formats are marked like this: video.mov or video.avi. There are also specialized formats that are used by individual manufacturers. The VisionDrive format shows itself well, which is specially designed for recording video on the move. To play it, you need to download a special media player program to your computer.
Another important point is the night mode. In principle, the night mode is the trouble of any registrar. On illuminated city highways, the video comes out even more or less of high quality, but outside the city, where the roads are mostly unlit, it is very difficult to see anything. To remedy the situation, many manufacturers install infrared illumination, but from our personal experience we will say that it is of no use.
Well, another very important parameter is the viewing angle. The angle is usually measured diagonally and can range from 60 to 170 degrees. We would call the optimal gap - 90-140 degrees. It is this viewing angle that will allow us to consider neighboring bands. If the angle is too narrow, then you will not see, for example, cars in neighboring lanes, but if the angle exceeds 140 degrees, then the image is significantly distorted due to the fisheye effect.
Mounting method, the ability to turn 180 degrees - there are registrars that can be safely deployed in different directions to record a conversation with a traffic police inspector. There are also those that are tightly mounted on a tripod.
The motion sensor is a very useful feature, the recorder automatically wakes up from sleep mode as soon as any movement is noticed in the field of view.
G-Sensor or shock sensor - a special permanent folder is allocated on the memory card, in which video recorded in emergency situations is stored. For example, if you get hit from behind, or you were forced to brake hard, the video will be saved in this folder and will not be deleted during loop recording.
GPS is a very useful addition. The video records the speed of movement and the current date. And then, when watching a video on a computer, you can correlate it with Google maps, and the real speed of movement will be displayed on each segment.
Pay attention also to the size of the display, battery capacity, photo function, white balance, filter (screening out unnecessary radiation).
A more or less normal video recorder will cost at least 4 thousand rubles.
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