POV.HD
[ Wednesday - May
25, 2011 ]
What comes to mind when the number... 1080 flashes in front of
you. Well, it could be any number of things until you add a 'p'
to the end of it. Yes, 1080p. It's that distinctive number
that is normally associated with high definition video. What so
special about 1080p? It's been out for a long time now and it's a
common specification. Yes, it has existed in the consumer
electronic world for quite some time now. What so special about
it? Why it's better than 1080i due to the progressive up date
instead of drawing every other line of video regardless of whether
there are signals to update or not. But really, this has nothing
to do with the video standard.
In this particular instance, it's associated with a VIO Point Of View
camera system. The POV.HD (http://www.vio-pov.com).
It's VIO's latest introduction to a long history of quality video
systems. As usual it's top notched and very well
engineered. Up until today, I've been using the POV.1 for three
years straight, rain or shine, commute to and from work. I also
use the video system to record the occasional long trip(s). After
three years of
abuse, the POV.1 is pretty beat up. One of the 8 screws that
holds the front plate on is missing, one of the two battery panel
latches is broken, and the cable between the camera and recorder is
kinking. Still, the unit functions flawlessly.
The POV.HD comes in a inconspicuous black carrying case with the VIO
logo stitched to the case. Opening the case reveals all of the
thought that goes into this product. There are a number of
mounting systems that comes with the unit. You can either mount
the camera via a star mount, with sticky back hook and loop material,
or use the slip-on goggle strap mount. In my case, it's the start
mount with hook and
loop at the top of the helmet.
Looking at the camera head on, it's
much bigger than the POV.1. This is mostly due to the POV.HD's
wider field of view. At 1080p, the camera is able to capture 146
degrees of angle. The 720p setting grants 95 degrees of view,
which is inline with the POV.1's 98 degrees field of view.
Star mount, camera, remote recorder pad, and HD recorder.
The new HD recorder. It's the same size as the POV.1.
As always, up is marked with a white line to prevent confusion and
frustration.
Ultra transparent lens cap still on.
The recorder has been improved compared to the POV.1.
As usual, there are a plethora of possible video recorder
setting. 1080p at 30 fps, 720p at 60 fps, 1080p at 25 fps, 1080p
at 24 fps, etc. For me, it's 1080p at 24 fps... for now. This new
recorder also allows you to take single pictures. Treating the
POV system like a digital camera. Hm... I think this is going
backwards, but I'm sure the capability will come in handy some
how. Limited battery life is one possibility that comes to
mind. Of course, one can purchase the vehicle power adapter for
the POV and power won't be an issue. Then again, 1080p at 25 fps
on high resolution setting will only allows for 1 hour 25 minutes worth
of an 8GB SD card. It looks like it's time to invest in
some 32GB SDHC cards.
With the camera mounted on the helmet, it sits a bit higher than the
POV.1. Then again I was using my own custom mount for the POV.1
so there was really no mounts to content with. I basically
Velcro'ed the camera onto the helmet.
The star mount is really cool. VIO provides 6 extra strong
magnets that you're suppose to install into the top and bottom parts of
the star mount. Just make sure the polarities are opposite of one
another otherwise the mount halves will repel one another as oppose to
attracting. The bottom part of the star mount goes onto the
helmet, while the top part of the star mount has the camera attached to
it. This is a really nice arrangement because it allows for the
camera to be easily removed from the helmet and then re-installed
without much fuss. Now I can lock my helmet to my bike and take
the camera with me while I'm stopped to eat at a restaurant. If
VIO keeps this up, I might start mistaking them for BMW. In other
works, they think of everything. BTW, the magnets are so strong
that the top mount leaps out of my hand and onto the bottom mount when
I get close enough in proximity. This ensures the camera isn't
going anywhere at freeway speeds.
Here is the POV.HD camera mounted on the helmet.
The silver circles at the three tips are the magnets.
Top half partially connected to bottom half.
Bottom half only.
It's a stubby little camera.
Tomorrow is the first test ride with the new HD system. Let's see
how many road embedded pebbles you can spot in the video. Don't
lose count now...
[ Thursday - May
26, 2011 ]
Wow! The quality is impressive. Click on the video to see
for yourself. For some it's too expensive. For me, it's
worth the $600. The thing that sucked a little is the fact I had
to upgrade my video editing software to be able to edit the
1080p. Oh well, it's all part of the technology game.
No audio. It's just a bunch of wind noise anyway.
(Dumbed down to 720)
If the video doesn't stream for you, you might want to consider
downloading and using Mozilla Firefox 4 and Apple Quicktime.
[ Friday -
June 10, 2011 ]
I had a chance to ride the same stretch of road again. Here is
the equivalent footage from the raw device with a slight reduction in
1080p resolution. Turn down the volume before watching the raw
footage. It's loud.
The date and time is incorrect.
Written on: May 25, 2011
Last modified: June 10, 2011
