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I record all my journeys for evidence in the event of a collision. I don't want some driver's insurance company chasing me through the courts unduly. It's interesting that Aldi's dash cam automatically locks files when it detects a collision - I wish action cameras did that. Sadly, dash cams are not wateproof.
You need about 12MP for 4k video because sensors are normally sold in 4:3 aspect so to do 16:9 you need a larger sensor. Also the advert states Allwinner V3 which is a very humble chipset, I think there was the budget V3s that did 720p at 60fps and 1080p at 30fps but the full fat V3 does 1080p at 60fps and sub 4k at 30fps.4k requires at least 8,294,400 pixels, the Sony IMX179 in this camera has 8,030,000... there would have to be some interpolation. I usually shoot in 1080p, otherwise the file sizes are unmanageable. Sony's sensors have good dynamic range, for cheap action camera sensors.
IMX179 - Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corporation | CMOS Image Sensor
Who knows? Maybe they're overclocking. It's ARM based, so it's possible.
Do you mean cropping using a gyro for movement information? I was under the impression the cheapos simply cropped and enlarged, using detected reference points in the video to stabilise, rather like PC/Mac software can do in post. Actually moving the sensor around is too much to ask for at this price.
You're right, this one is, if it's the IMX179... unless they use a lens to deform the image to fill the sensor and then change aspect ratio in processing, which I don't imagine that camera is doing.
In daylight, I find 1080p @60fps is good enough to capture number plates clearly, and that's from my less well equipt cheaper Crosstour 4k. Not pretty looking footage by any means, but useful. Night footage is abysmal, but they all stink at night.
I don't think they typically overclock as its difficult to make additional cooling in an action camera and when they move to a new denser fabrication process that is normally a new design chip rather than an old chip with a better fabrication process, however I think I read in the past on a forum that some action cameras use cheaper slower memory and this can limit what features are implemented and also you can downclock for extra stability and improved battery life but again with reduced quality and functionality. It's possible some chips are graded lower and therefore kept to lower speeds than the chipset was designed to run at optimally. The Chinese retail market is extremely price sensitive and other there most products are designed to be low price but there are high quality Chinese manufacturers nowadays.
It isn't. Sure, you might be able to catch the odd one when they pass slowly and close, but see how many you get on the cars coming towards you on the other side of the road. If you want numberplates, it has to be 4K.
In bright light, it does a good job at capturing plates of cars going past quickly @1080p 60fps, but of course cars coming from the other direction on the other side of the road are passing faster (15.5mph plus about 30 or whatever) and are also at the edges of the cheap lens, which are usually sharper in the middle - I can still capture those plates if I export a frame when they're further away and enlarge, provided light is good and I have underexposed, as I usually do now (blown out highlights are impossible to enhance when there's low dynamic range, and my camera is high in low dynamic range). The plates of cars passing quickly and close on my side of the road are more legible when they are further away and in the sharper mid view of my cheap lens: export/snap a frame in (free) VLC video player, enlarge and enhance in (free) GIMP. It's easy to pause and advance frame by frame in VLC, to export the sharp ones. At 60 frames per second, there are usually several sharp plate views. With VLC, one can record the playing video and/or audio streams as a file - snip videos shorter, to preserve those treasured horrific memories.
Actually, the video below was shot using a cheap and common 2 year old Crosstour 4K, only 1080p. No image stabilisation, 60FPS. The scaled up screenshot of the number plate is at the end. And this is (obviously) at night. It's much easier to record clear plates of faster moving vehicles during the day. I don't think that a fortune necessarily needs to be spent on action cameras for this sort of task.
Wow, super impressive but I wonder how it compares to a full size gimbal. Sort of seems more like 2 axis optical stabilisation with digital image stabilisation added. To fit in a camera like that the mechanism most be extremely tiny and I guess a pretty small sensor physically to fit into that mechanism. Hopefully the technology will filter down to cheaper phones if its any good. So many sensors in phones nowadays. It's like my phone has 3 at the back and 1 at the front. It's clever how they can process images from all of the back sensors to create improved photos and videos computationally.
