[PR] I tried using Owltech's latest 3-camera drive recorder by myself-Car Watch

You can shoot not only the front and rear of the car but also the inside of the car at the same time...

You can record at the same time. In addition, the interior of the car is characterized by infrared recording that can be recorded even at night. , There is also a feeling that drive recorders have become quite popular, but what is the actual situation? When the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism conducted a questionnaire survey using the Internet from November 8 to 22, 2019, approximately 46% of the respondents answered that they were "equipped." On the other hand, ETC, which is now a necessity when using expressways, has a utilization rate of 92.8% according to a survey by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. Although it seems that the number of drive recorders has increased, more than half of them are still not installed, and it seems that there is still a long way to go to spread to the same level as ETC.

Drive recorder penetration rate (source: Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism) ETC usage rate (source: Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism) Ah, that's why I should have added it..." There are many patterns that I regret. I know that, so I want to put it on as soon as possible.

However, if you are going to install it now, or if you want to replace it with a new one because it is old, you will be overwhelmed by the number of types of drive recorders that are as numerous as the number of stars when you look at car accessory stores and online mail order stores. , I'm very annoyed which one to choose.

The package features Juichi Wakisaka, who is also a racing driver and race director who produces this drive recorder. Cords, microSD cards, etc.

This time, we tried Owltech's 3-camera drive recorder. Although it is new as a car parts manufacturer, it actually started with computer parts and peripherals, and now it is a company that is involved in a wide range of businesses, including the manufacture and sale of smartphone and tablet-related accessory products, as well as the development and design of electronic devices. We are a genuine professional group when it comes to parts. Small size, high performance, and high quality can be said to be Japanese specialty, but this drive recorder is also compact, but it can be said that it is characterized by a fulfilling multi-function.

The main body is the front camera. Built-in brightness sensor on the bottom. Approximately 107 g and light weight The display and in-vehicle camera are on the inside of the room. Equipped with four LED lights around the in-car camera. Uses a Sony image sensor Operation buttons are placed on the top surface. The operating temperature range is -10°C to +55°C. On the side, there is a rear camera cord insertion port, microSD card slot, video output terminal, and reset button. Equipped with a power supply port The mounting bracket slides into the main unit and fits in. The included microSD card is 16GB and the recording time is about 60 minutes. 128GB can record about 400 minutes. A rear camera that can store about 600MB of still image files. Approximately 28g ultra-lightweight rear camera Rear rear camera connection cord insertion port Cigarette plug cord (main power supply) is approximately 4m Rear camera connection cord is 8m, so you can use it safely even with long body types such as Hiace 44-page full-color instruction manual. Also includes troubleshooting. It also serves as a warranty.

If you ask a car parts store to install it, they will install it neatly by passing the wires out of sight. I tried to install it myself.

The view from the driver's seat of the Prius α (2018 model) equipped with Toyota Safety Sense was installed. Image of where to install There is not much space to install near the rearview mirror of Prius α

First, consider the installation location. Since the Toyota Safety Sense monocular camera unit is installed at the base of the rearview mirror of the Prius α, there is no choice but to offset it to the driver's seat side or the passenger's seat side. In addition, according to the Road Transport Vehicle Law, installation on the windshield is "within 20% from the top or within 15 cm from the bottom" or "when the driver in the driver's seat sees the front, it is blocked by the rearview mirror in the vehicle interior. The range of the front glass”, in other words, the range behind the rearview mirror that is hidden from the driver's seat. Either of these conditions must be satisfied.

Therefore, I thought it would be better to place the in-vehicle camera on the right side of the main unit as close to the center of the vehicle as possible, but the instruction manual states, "Do not install it near the TV antenna for terrestrial digital broadcasting. Please, it may reduce the reception sensitivity of the TV." So we decided to install it on the driver's seat side. Connect the cigar plug cord that serves as the power supply and search for the installation location while displaying the image of the front camera. Once the location is decided, degrease it and then stick it with double-sided tape.

If it is in the center, it will be too low and deviate from the upper 20% range. The columnar part can be rotated to adjust the angle

After deciding the mounting position, route the wiring. I want to make the wiring invisible as much as possible, but if an amateur tries to force it, it will not be good, so I use a wiring stopper. The upper part of the windshield is neat because it was pushed into the gap of the roof lining in the same way as the ETC wiring. From there, slide the A-pillar down. The Prius α's glove box can be easily removed by simply pulling it toward you, so I'm happy that I could pass through the back side of the glove box from the A pillar to the cigarette lighter so that this part could not be seen.

Place the A-pillar in the gap between the air conditioner outlet Remove the glove box and the air conditioner outlet and bundle the excess wiring behind the glove box. A blue lamp lights up when you plug it in, so you can check the power status

Next, install the rear camera. According to the instruction manual, avoid the heating wire in a position where you can shoot properly even in the rain (such as within the wiper's movable range). The rear wiper of the Prius α is short and if it is installed within the movable range, it will be quite low. Decided to install.

　The wiring for the rear camera is about 8m, so it is possible to go down from the A-pillar to the floor and pass it through the rear gate while passing under the floor mat, but eventually I would like to pass the wiring through the roof lining. While thinking about it, I used the wiring stopper to pass it through to the rear on the roof side. The point to note is that the cord is not stretched when the rear gate is opened. The angle of the rear camera is also adjusted while it is projected on the monitor in the same way as the front camera. This adjustment can be completed quickly with two people working rather than one.

The Prius α has heating wires up to the top, but the wiring that was barely avoided is sent to the rear through the roof (planned to be put inside the lining of the roof someday) I opened the rear gate. Determine the position to stop the wiring in the state State when the rear gate is closed As seen in the rearview mirror. It's attached to the top of the rear window, so it doesn't interfere with your field of vision.The kit comes with a screw for fixing the angle of the rear camera (one spare).Installing the screw is optional, but it's pointless if the angle shifts due to vibration. So you can rest assured that there are spare double-sided tapes for both the front and back. If I installed it without shooting, I think it would have been completed in about an hour and a half to two hours. All wiring is completed in the car, and since it is a cigarette lighter power supply, no special tools are required. I used a spray and a towel to degrease the pasted part of the window. It's about the size of a precision screwdriver that tightens the screws on the rear camera.

When looking at the front camera from the outside, the rear camera can hardly be seen from the outside. The front camera, in-vehicle camera, rear camera, and 3 cameras can be switched with a single button. Since it is a drive recorder for emergencies, it is not something you see during normal driving, but only the angle is checked to make sure it is facing the right direction.

3 camera display Display only the front camera Display only the rear camera Display only the in-vehicle camera (normal mode) Display only the in-vehicle camera (infrared mode) If the main unit detects an impact, it will be an emergency recording and will record for 20 seconds with the "!" mark displayed. And the file is automatically protected so that it will not be overwritten

　You can start using it immediately after installation, but if something happens, you may ask, "How can I view the recorded data?" It's meaningless to fall into a situation where you're like, "Is that it?", and just like home appliances, it is important to check the functions and initial settings of electronic products.

When the power is turned on, the "11" logo, which is a pun on Juichi Wakisaka's name "Juichi", is displayed and recording starts. Format the microSD card before using it for the first time. In addition, a message prompting maintenance such as regular formatting and operation check is displayed about once a month

　There are three main menus: "recording settings", "system settings", and "playback mode". The basic operation is very simple.

Recording settings include "resolution", "video compression format", "loop recording", "audio recording", "G sensor", "WDR (Wide Dynamic Range)", "exposure", "driver information", "parking monitor", "stamp", "rear There is an item "Camera Settings", and you can make detailed settings such as ON / OFF of functions and change of numerical values. Regarding the parking monitoring function, if you use the power supply from the cigar socket, the battery may run out, so an optional special cable (estimated store price 5478 yen) is required.

For the resolution setting, you can select "WQHD" or "FHD" only for the front camera. The rear camera and in-car camera are "FHD" only. The video compression format can be selected from the general "H264" and the "H265" that can record for a longer time with high compression. Loop recording can be selected from "1 minute", "3 minutes" and "5 minutes". Audio recording can be selected from three modes: "Always record", "Do not record", and "Record only when there is an impact". The G sensor has "small", "medium" and "large" settings for the strength of the impact when recording starts. Since WDR is used for image correction when there is strong contrast such as going backwards or entering and exiting tunnels, it is basically OK to leave it ON. Exposure can be set in increments of 0.5 from -2.0 to +2.0. Up to 9 numbers and alphabets can be registered for driver information.It can also be recorded in recording data.Parking monitoring starts recording when there is an impact while parking. You can select whether to record information such as "logo", "date/time", "driver information", "speed", and "GPS" in the recorded data. For the rear camera setting, you can select “normal image” or “mirror image” when displaying the rear image on the monitor. However, the recording will be a normal image.

In the system settings, set "language", "SD initialization", "date/time", "screen off", "operation sound", "initialization of settings", "FW version", "SD card maintenance notification", etc. . By the way, the date/time is set automatically in areas where GPS can be received, so there is no need to set it. Most of the system settings are rarely changed once set.

You can select "Japanese" or "English" for the language. SD initialization can initialize the inserted microSD card. "Screen off" is a function that selects "1 minute", "3 minutes", or "5 minutes", and if no operation is performed for that time, the monitor will turn off, and recording will continue as it is. This function is effective when the monitor is an eyesore. For operation sound, you can select "on" or "off" for button operation sound. If you select Initialize Settings, the settings will be returned to the factory settings. Of course, the recorded data will not be erased. If you turn on the SD card maintenance notification, a notification will be displayed about once a month.

　Recorded data can be divided into three types. "Event" is emergency recording = recorded when an impact is detected. "Normal" is the data that was always recorded. "Photo" can take a snapshot by pressing the power button while recording, and the data is stored. When there is an impact such as an accident, it is stored in the "event" and is automatically protected without being overwritten, which is one of the safe functions.

There are 3 types of playback modes: data with a key mark indicates that an impact has been detected and emergency recording has been made; no mark indicates data that has been recorded continuously and snapshot images that can be seen at a glance.

　Recorded data can be played back and viewed on the main unit, but by importing recorded data to a computer, more information can be viewed at the same time. Become. Since the recorded data is saved as a general mp4 format file, it can be viewed with playback software that is included by default on a personal computer.

Playback is possible with video software built into a computer. I know it's pretty high quality. The information that the stamp function is turned on is displayed at the bottom of the screen

　ABC is written at the end of each file name, A is the front camera, B is the in-vehicle camera, and C is the rear camera. data. When recording in a 1-minute loop, one file was about 60MB for the front camera and about 40MB for the inside and rear cameras. The reason why the front camera data is large is because the resolution is set to "WQHD", and if you change this to "FHD" in the settings, it will be about 40MB.

It's easy to understand when you line up three files.The estimated recording time is listed on the side of the data capacity box for each file, so please refer to it. Once installed, in addition to the data taken with the camera, speed, G sensor value. In addition, if the Internet is connected, the map data will also be displayed in cooperation. The trajectory of the movement is displayed on the map along with the video. Now you can clearly see when, where, how fast and how you were running. However, speed and location information is not memorized in places where GPS cannot reach, such as tunnels.

By setting, it is possible to select "Km/h" or "MPH" for the speed display. In addition, you can select 1 to 3 camera modes for playback mode. The wavy line below is the G sensor information, showing the G values ​​in the X (left and right), Y (up and down), and Z (back and forth) directions 1 camera mode 2 camera mode 3 camera mode

Other images It is also possible to magnify up to 5 times. It is a useful function when you need to read license plates and the like. It also has a function to take a screenshot with a single button. It is a convenient function when printing a part of the video or passing the data to others.

Normal 2x 3x 4x 5x Inside a tunnel Normal inside a tunnel 3x Inside a tunnel 5x The white circle where you continue shooting is the display magnification change operation bar, and the speed is displayed below it. If the shooting frequency of the drive recorder and the frequency of the LED used by the signal match, the signal will turn off as if it were turned off.

　Snapshot data that can be taken by pressing the power button during recording can also be transferred from the microSD card to the computer. I was able to shoot at a level where the license plate could be clearly read even in the tunnel. The snapshot function can be used to record when you go out, but it seems that you can also use it to save landmarks to check where you passed later, such as when you are on a road for the first time.

Owltech's 3-camera drive recorder "OWL-DR803FG-3C" not only beautifully records images of the front and rear of the vehicle and inside the vehicle day and night, but also provides speed and location information using the built-in GPS. It is also recorded, and if by any chance an accident occurs, it will definitely be useful for proving your innocence. In addition, even if an accident occurs in the surrounding area, if the data is immediately protected so that it is not overwritten, it will be useful for subsequent investigations of the cause. In addition to your own safety and security, there may be situations where you can help other drivers.

Recently, automobile manufacturers are gradually starting to equip new cars with something similar to a drive recorder, which is proof that the drive recorder contributes to safety and security. However, in an emergency, it is important to properly select a product that does not show the important points or that it is difficult to judge because the information is only images.

Owltech's latest 3-camera drive recorder recording data "OWL-DR803FG-3C" (5 minutes 7 seconds) Purchased on Amazon: