Instructions for the Baiklov G1W Dash Camera- January 4, 2014 Updated now and then. Last update Sept. 3, 2014 These instructions are my work and NOT the work of Baiklov. I have corresponded via email with a technical support person who signs as Baiklov located in China near Hong Kong. Comments and corrections may be sent to: herbharm@gmail.com Herb You have made a good choice to buy the G1W Baiklov multi-function Dash Camera. It is an excellent product and will provide great pictures and, as a Dash Camera, protect you from legal actions. The camera has three general modes of operation, as a video camera, as a still camera and as a playback device. The camera is primarily designed to be a video camera. The camera can be used for only 3-5 minutes after being unplugged from power. In the case of an accident you can take videos of damage or other important scenes while disconnected from power. (The battery is small to make the unit light.) Power Sources The G1W can obtain power from 3 different sources. (1) Plugged into the automotive power source (12 volts) using the converter that is supplied with the G1W. (2) Plugged into a USB port (5 volts) on a computer. When connected, the camera will function only as a Mass Storage device (hard drive) or as a camera for the PC. The mass storage option allows you to watch the videos on your computer screen, copy files to the computer hard drive and delete files no longer needed. The camera works for Skype but the microphone does NOT work when connected through a USB port. (3) Plugged into an external power supply with the correct mini USB connector. When powered with an external power supply all functions are available and it is possible to experiment and take videos and photos indefinitely. A red LED will show when the camera is initially plugged into any power source. The red LED will flash when the battery is charging. When the camera is turned off, the red LED will go out. Buttons The Baiklov G1W has many options to make your videos and photo as useful as possible. All settings are made using the six (6) buttons on the camera described below. POWER: top > right side > left button - ON(Press-blue LED is ON)/ OFF(Long pressblue LED is OFF) MENU: top > right side > right button - selects menus when NOT recording. Recording must be off. Check to see the timer is not changing and the red LED is not flashing. The LED can be solid on. There are three mode menus, Video, Still, Playback. There is a Tools menu that is common to all three. The MENU button cycles between Options>Tools>Screen REC: right face > top button - Starts/Stops recording or Pauses Playback Also acts as Enter for menus MODE: right face > bottom button - Switches modes video(the movie camera), still(the camera icon) or playback(the film strip icon) and opens and closes menu UP: left face > top button - Scrolls menu selections, Zoom In (recording), decreases Playback speed or reverses playback DOWN: left face > bottom button - Scrolls menu selections, Zoom Out (recording), increases Playback speed Inputs/Outputs/Other RESET: On the right side. Small hole. Straightened paper clip works well. HDMI: On the right side. Used to connect to other video displays. No sound through HDMI. Page 1 of 5
AV Out: On top left. Used to connect camera to sound amplifier using 3.5mm stereo plug with RCA plugs into amplifier. Mini USB Port: On top left. Used to power camera and to connect camera to computer. MicroSD Card Port: On left side. Slot to insert microsd card for storage. The camera has no memory available for image storage. (A secret port is under the QC sticker next to the AV OUT port. A user suggests this might be for a GPS device. I have no idea what device might work.) Screen Layout in Video Recording The image below shows the important elements of the camera screen. Starting in the upper left is the mode, video(the movie camera), still(the camera icon) or playback(the film strip icon). Next a blinking red oval that indicates recording. Next is WDR meaning wide angle. The recording time is shown next. If recording the value will be less than 5:00 unless you are not loop recording. If you are not loop recording, this field will show either the available time for recording which depends on the size of you microsd card or the time for the current recording session. Next is the Resolution setting, in this case 720P at 60 Frames Per Second. Below is the microphone which is shown as on but could be shown with a red line across it indicating off. Below shows there is a microsd card in the camera. At the bottom right is a battery icon which will flash continuously when connected to power. To the left of the battery icon is the local time. Then the current date. On the left is the setting for Exposure, +1. Finally, the loop recording setting, 5 minutes. There could be a key icon to the right of WDR icon indicating the video recordings are locked. If Motion Detection is set, an icon will appear below the loop icon. Memory Card The camera requires a MicroSD card. Card capacity can be from 1GB to 32GB. Class 4 or 6 is adequate. A class 10 works well. The 32GB card will record about 9 hours at the 720p60FPS setting. (720P is the resolution (very good) and 60FPS is Frames Per Second, better than the other option of 50FPS) Insert the micro SD card into the memory card slot on the edge next to the up/down buttons until you hear a click. The display will show a card icon when properly inserted. To remove the card press in on the card, release quickly and remove the card after it pops out. Initial Adjustments Next make minimum adjustments. Plug the camera into a power source (not the USB of a computer). The camera will come on automatically and begin recording. Recording can be verified by the blinking red oval in the upper left of the screen and the time readout 00:00:00 (hh:mm:ss) in the upper right counting up one second at a time. An icon in the lower right with a battery shape and a black plug superimposed on the battery will blink. To change video settings the camera must NOT be recording. If the camera is recording press REC to stop recording then MENU next to POWER. The Video menu will display Video in the upper right. In the upper left will be two icons one for Video settings and one for Tools settings. Pressing MENU will toggle around Video settings>tools settings>video Ready Mode. Initially, go to Tools settings containing 11 options on 3 screens. Note 1/3 in the lower right corner. Select Date/Time by pressing DOWN>REC. Press REC to cycle through Page 2 of 5
Year>Hour>Minute>Second. Use an UP or DOWN long click to cycle through Month>Day>Year. (Once date is set, it is unlikely you will need to change it.) Hint: The clock stops when being set so set the clock last. Press REC to return to the menu. Beep Sound, Language, TV Mode (NTSC for USA), Frequency (60HZ for USA) are obvious Set Screen Saver to turn off the camera screen after a short time. Once the camera is adjusted in your vehicle a blank screen will eliminate a source of driver distraction. REC to return to the menu. IR LED turns on the light on the front of the camera. Experiment to determine usefulness. Car Plate is your car s plate number. Format performs a format on the microsd card which prepares it to record videos/pictures and also erases everything on the card. Default Setting uses factory settings. Version is self-explanatory. MENU until Video setting shows and the clapper clap board icon is in the upper left. The lower right should show 1/2 as there are 8 options on 2 screens. DOWN to select Resolution then REC. Five options are available. Begin with the second option 720P 60FPS. When highlighted, press REC to return to the menu. Next item is Loop Recording. Suggest setting at 5 minutes which will make a file of about 280MB every 5 minutes. REC to return to the menu. WDR refers to Wide Dynamic Range which adjust for different light conditions. Exposure will set the amount of light the camera will gather. The larger the value the brighter the picture will be. The value ranges between -2, minimum light allowed, to +2, maximum light allowed. Begin with +0.0. REC to return to the menu. Motion Detection can be useful but the design of the camera causes a new file to be created if the majority of the scene is stationary for about 10 seconds. Motion Detection ON generates a great many files when the camera is used in stop and go traffic. Suggest it be turned off pending experimentation. REC to return to the menu. Record Audio will pick up all ambient sounds and use a bit more space on the microsd card. However, the sounds are nice when playing back the video. A user reported that in his 2003 Crown Vic his camera picked up the sound of the turn signal. This sound could be helpful in an accident. REC to return to the menu. Date Stamp will place the date and time on the video. Answer should be On. REC to return to the menu. G-sensor is an internal camera device that senses shocks. The g-sensor will lock the current video file if an impact should occur. In the case of an accident, the looping system will NOT overwrite the video file when the impact occurred. It is good to have it turned on and set to Middle pending experience. REC to return to the menu. Ready for first Video The camera is now ready for use. Mount the camera in accordance with local regulations and be sure the camera and the mount do not reduce you view of the road. Hint: To ensure a good connection for the USB power cord, loop a small rubber band around the USB plug and then around the camera. Page 3 of 5
The camera has the handy feature that it automatically turns on and begins recording when power is supplied. Adjust the camera to record as much action area as possible. Try to adjust the camera so it records little of the car hood. Initially the screen will be active. Depending on your setting for Screen Saver, the screen will go blank after a minute or more to minimize driving distractions. After a few months with the camera I found it very handy to mount the camera so it is touching the dashboard. Having it low is not a problem although having it higher would be better. The downside of high mounting is obstruction of driving vision. When the camera is mounted with a firm support under the right side, it is very easy to get in the habit of turning it on and off as part of the start-up and turn-off sequence for the car. Watching your videos Watching videos can be done one of three ways, (1) On the camera (2) on a TV with HDMI connection (3) on a computer. (1) When not recording, MODE cycles through Video>Still>Playback, with film strip icon showing in the upper left. REC to begin playing stored videos. UP and DOWN to move between recorded segments. Remember, the camera will take a maximum of 5 minutes in one segment. REC to play the segment. Pushing REC will stop the playback and allow stop action playback. Use MODE to stop playback and then use the UP and Down buttons to move between recorded segments. UP will run at 2X. DOWN will return to 1X. There is a 4X and 8X using UP and DOWN. Long hold might change speed.?? (2) Plug the supplied HDMI cable into a TV with an HDMI jack. MODE to Playback then REC to start playback. Hint: Be sure to have the TV set to the HDMI port. (3) You can view videos by using the supplied short USB cable and plugging the camera into a computer s USB port. When plugged in, select Mass Storage Device and press REC. If on a Windows computer, open Computer. The camera will show as a hard drive with a capacity roughly equal to the microsd card you are using. Double click on the camera s hard drive icon and a folder, DCIM, will show. Open the DCIM folder and one or more numbered folders in chronological order will display. In the second level of folders are the video files with the extension.mov for movie. The video files can be played using various software including VLC, an excellent free player. Still Camera Settings There are other functions and settings that can be helpful. The camera can be a still camera with up to 12MB resolution. However, because the camera is designed with a wide field, close up images will be distorted. To access the camera MODE until a still camera shows in the upper left. MENU to select desired settings. Under the Camera settings are: Capture Mode: Single (0 Seconds), 2S Timer, 5S Timer, 10S (Timer for delayed shutter.) Resolution: 12M, 10M, 8M, 5M, 3M, 2MHD,VGA, 1.3M (A 32GB card can hold 73437 pictures at 1.3M while it can hold 8390 pictures at 12M.) Sequence: When set to ON the camera will take 3 photos within about 1 second. The setting will revert to OFF when the camera is turned off. Page 4 of 5
Quality: Fine, Normal, Economy (Probably the.jpg compression setting) Sharpness: Strong, Normal, Soft (The photo is modified by making the edges of anything in the image sharper.) White Balance: Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent (Type of ambient light.) Color: Color, Black & White, Sepia (What the image will look like. Sepia is tan.) ISO: Auto, 100, 200, 400 (The amount of light allowed on the sensor. 100 for bright objects and 400 for darker images. When set higher there will be less definition in the image, graininess will increase.) Exposure: +2.0, +5/3, +4/3 +1.0, +2/3, +1/3, +0.0, -1/3, -2/3, -1.0, -4/3, -5/3, -2.0 (The amount of light allowed. +2.0 allows most light creating a very bright image. Would be used for dark scenes. -2.0 allows least light creating a darker image. Would be used in very bright sunlight.) Anti-Shaking: Off, On (Used to minimize the normal movement of hands when taking still pictures. Should be On.) Date Stamp: Off, Date, Date/Time Option to have added to the image. MENU until an arrow head icon shows. Playback Delete: Erases all files on the microsd card. Protect: Protects files from being overwritten. A key icon will show on the screen. Slide Show: Play back of STILL photos with various timing. ********************************************************************************************** Overview of Menus Video Clapper Tools Resolution Date/Time Loop Recording Beep Sound WDR Language Exposure TV Mode Motion Detection Frequency Record Audio Screen Saver Date Stamp IR LED G-sensor Car Plate Format Default Setting Version Still Camera Capture Mode Resolution Sequence Quality Sharpness White Balance Color ISO Exposure Anti-Shaking Date Stamp Tools Same as Video Tools Playback Arrow Icon Tools Delete Same as Video Tools Protect Slide Show Page 5 of 5
In June I received an email with 7 very useful comments. If you find sections that are unclear or you discover a new feature, let me know. Everyone will benefit. Page 6 of 5