Magellan’s new dash cam PND
Looks like Magellan wants to get into the dash cam act too, albeit with a twist. Rather than a standalone unit like the one announced by Garmin this morning, Magellan has opted to add one to a PND, the RoadMate 6230T-LM PND DashCam.
The 6230T-LM is compatible with Magellan’s wireless backup camera as well, and includes landmark guidance, PhantomALERT red light and speed camera warnings, junction view, and free lifetime traffic and map updates.
The unit can actually display the live video feed on screen, if so desired. The video is locked when an accident is discovered; otherwise it will loop when the memory is full. No word yet on how much memory is included or if there is an expansion slot.
Like Garmin’s unit, a gravity sensor…
…detects and records any sudden motion or speed changes. As soon as any sharp braking, rapid acceleration, excessive cornering, or sudden impact occurs, the dashcam’s DVR kicks in, recording what is taking place.
Slated to be available in April 2014, the dash cam model will carry an MSRP of $229.99.
Here’s a link to the full news release.
About Rich Owings
MiTAC International Corporation of Taiwan produces Magellan. This is one of the finest companies manufacturing GPS systems in the world. The new Magellan Roadmate 6230T-LM PND is now entering the market in April 2014, incorporating a dash camera. No known technical details have become available as yet, and there are no videos to determine any images.
There are numerous dash camera’s in the market, mainly being manufactured in three nations, Korea, China, and Taiwan. The most significant aspect is that the many have an operating temperature to overcome, as is the case with the many electronic builds. This is the main element to achieve in producing a reliable dash camera. Naturally, the lens, sensor, aperture, and size are important ingredients as well. However, “heat” remains the ultimate factor to be refined.
Magellan can overtake the market in the U.S. if the quality of the build is superior to the rest of the dash cams. There is no question of the very fine GPS systems Magellan manufacturers, but the dash camera is the key. The ‘dash cam’ is what the mainstream has been searching for, a “quality” camera. Should this model not employ the characteristics of the ultimate dash camera, irrespective of 1080P, there will not be many interested. No one will question the GPS, but the camera must be compatible as well.
Many, if not most all companies are concerned with the cost factor. This, in a sense, deprives the consumer from obtaining a quality product, backed by an extended warranty. We would believe that the format of 1080P@60FPS, rather than 30fps would be highly beneficial. Accompanying this would be a 25mm wide aperture, and naturally a Sony Exmor R CMOS image sensor, not a Sony Exmor CMOS. The conglomerate of file formats associated with dash cams leaves little to be desired, and the bit rate on the many dash cameras are just too slow.
Finally, if Magellan can bring to the table at least 720P, this would suffice, providing that the build is quality engineered. We believe than the best dash cam can forego the heat range of about 80C. If the Magellan can surpass this range, this would dictate the quality of components. Everyone has bypassed the need of a great lens, in place of a fair lens. All dash camera’s are mainly clear at center focus, but the image is dissipated toward the edges (fish-eye). This is not as extreme as the ‘heat’ issue, but still a concern. The conglomerate of time gaps between files are an additional issue, hindering on the aspect of heat. These issues are factors on quality camera’s, so there is really no reason to expect anything more. The color, and size are very meaningful when any wish to consider such a product. All these factors must be amassed in a unit that appeals to the consumer.