recording onboard car camera footage

bigmike20vt · 3 May 2023 at 23:09

hi.
this isn't possible on my car but I was wondering if it is possible to record the images from a cars parking cameras when driving. if so which models allow this?
my current car has 360 degree cameras but I still have to use an unsightly dash cam.

thanks.

Rroff · 3 May 2023 at 23:23

Off the top of my head I think only Teslas have such functionality.

rG-tom · 4 May 2023 at 02:02

Rroff said:
Off the top of my head I think only Teslas have such functionality.

BMW have "drive recorder" too

Rroff · 4 May 2023 at 02:04

rG-tom said:
BMW have "drive recorder" too

There are a few cars which have the ability to dump the cameras manually (usually like the last 90 seconds, etc.) to a USB stick and/or the last 20 seconds in a crash but most don't present a traditional dashcam type functionality - I believe BMW has some kind of functionality like that on one of the upgraded trim levels though?

Rroff · 4 May 2023 at 02:11

I find it a bit weird in a way - the built in cameras on mine aren't amazing but passable enough, the vehicles have SD card slots and reasonable spec unit driving the electronics so it shouldn't be that hard to include embedded dashcam functionality.

bigmike20vt · 4 May 2023 at 05:57

indeed I don't get it either. I don't need ultra HD quality , it's not like I will be using for entertainment , but my journey home there are 2 points where I regularly get cut up . I am used to it and ready for it now but just in case is why I got my dash cam. all the ingredients already seem built into many new cars now. it seems a design no brainer to allow this feature without buying a dash cam.
I wouldn't mind even having to use my own memory stick

rG-tom · 4 May 2023 at 10:15

Rroff said:
There are a few cars which have the ability to dump the cameras manually (usually like the last 90 seconds, etc.) to a USB stick and/or the last 20 seconds in a crash but most don't present a traditional dashcam type functionality - I believe BMW has some kind of functionality like that on one of the upgraded trim levels though?

The BMW is optional yes, not on every car, and requires the 360 cameras. It does the automatic dumping, but you can also press a button on the centre console to record manually. What other functionality would a normal camera give you?

It annoyingly isn't active when parked, like it is on the tesla's "sentry" mode, but better than nothing and better than having a dashcam attached!

Nasher · 4 May 2023 at 10:23

You can get some pretty small dashcams. Its the easiest solution TBH.

bigmike20vt · 4 May 2023 at 10:53

Nasher said:
You can get some pretty small dashcams. Its the easiest solution TBH.

not as easy as if it was a built in option using the hardware your car already has tho....

jpaul · 4 May 2023 at 11:14

Additional cost of the heavy duty video encoder silicon and memory storage bandwidth needs, that limits deployment of video recording on cars;
cost/economy of scale to justify R&D by individual car manufacturers, too....
Apple would like for car manufacturers to have integrated iphone hardware to support it,

Don't know do cars with android automotive sharing Intel architectures have it - polestar / stellantis

bigmike20vt · 4 May 2023 at 11:28

i mean i get it for cheaper cars..... but for high end cars (other than tesla and BMW it seems) i think the cost excuse is a bit lame (of the manufacturers not people here of course).

i would even be happy to use my own flash drive if that £10 makes the difference

take the ipace i am looking at *possibly* buying.... when new that was a £70K car all bar a few pennies... (its far less now ... but i digress)....... imo it should be a standard feature on all cars above a certain price.