Harry's GPS Suite Forum

Hallo,

I have Laptimer Grand Prix - my equipment is Google Pixel 3 XL, Garmin Glo 2 and a RAM mount (RAM-B-166U).

I used this setup the past couple of months during two trackdays - the video is very shaky and blurry (partly out of focus)!! I tried enabling and disabling video stabilization (in the settings menu in the video preview) but the video was shaky in both cases. You can have a look here: https://youtu.be/NjQJy7UxGc0

Google Pixel 3 XL is supposed to have both optical and electronic image stabilization and the camera is supposed to be top notch. Why is this happening? What can I do to improve the video?

Thanks a lot,

basilis

The electronic stabilization can be turned off by software, the optical / mechanic one can not. At least to my knowledge... We have seen this issue for iOS devices for a long time already, modern Android phones are the same. The only work around I know is putting a tiny magnet to your case to fix the moving parts. The position is near the lens. I cannot recommend this because I do not know if it damages the mechanism on the long run. So it is up to you. The reason optical image stabilization fails this miserably is that it is designed for videos recorded from a human's hand. In a car, you get engine vibrations at a far higher rate (e.g. 3000-4000Hz) than human shivering. Which is outside of what the smartphone is designed for.

Someone working on damping materials could tell us what to add to the RAM mount to get rid of this...

- Harry

Thank you very much for the reply, Harry.

Would a gopro hero produce a better video? Is its stabilisation suitable for a car's vibrations?

basilis

Yes, I think problems from vibrations is one of the main reasons to use an action cam with LapTimer at all. It looks like action cams do not show this issue.

- Harry

As I am going to buy a used gopro hero, which one would you suggest? (I would like to avoid an overkill, that's why I am asking). 1080 is the resolution I prefer.

basilis

Maybe a HERO4 Silver.

- Harry