DISPOSAL Please respect the environment! Dispose of the packaging according to the local recycling regulations. Dispose of the appliance at the end of its life span according to environmental considerations. Car Black Box INSTRUCTION MANUAL Protect your licence and your no-claims bonus WARNING This product is intended for domestic use only. Imported and distributed by Easylife Group Ltd, London NW1 0JP Model No. EL5740 Please read carefully before use and keep for future reference IN5740-1 2014 Easylife Group Ltd
Dear Customer Thank you for purchasing the Car Black Box. In order to help you operate it correctly, please read these instructions carefully before using. Road accidents are always upsetting but if there s a dispute about who s at fault, things can turn nasty. What you need is a witness, one that s 100% reliable. The Car Black Box is a discreet mini video camera with a 2.5inch TFT screen that mounts on your windscreen to constantly record live action and audio as you drive. Switching on and off automatically after the engine starts and stops, it films constantly in a loop to store critical time and date marked recordings. Because it has Infra-red night vision, and motion detection, it provides protection right round the clock. With an integral rechargeable lithium battery, charged via the car s lighter socket, it records audio and motion in high resolution and supports SD Cards (not included). Supplied complete with USB cable for transferring pictures and videos to your computer, it can also be used in court. Enjoy the protection of the ultimate reliable witness. CONTENTS 1 x Portable DVR Camera 1 x 12V car charger 1 x Suction mount 1 x USB cable 1 x User manual 10 7 11 19 PARTS 1 USB / 12V slot 2 Not In Use 3 SD card slot 4 Speaker 5 Mount hole 6 Microphone 7 Battery compartment cover 8 Lens 9 IR LED 10 ON/OFF switch / red charging indicator 11 Record / capture/ enter button 12 2.5 LCD screen 13 Menu button 14 Down button 15 Up button 16 Mode button 17 Li-ion battery 18 USB cable 19 Windscreen mount 20 12V car charger 5 6 1 3 2 20 12 17 13 14 15 16 18 4 9 8
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION Screen 2.5 LCD Viewing Angle 120 Resolution 640 x 480 mega pixels Video Format AVI Photo Format JPEG Memory Card SD (1GB 0 32GB) - Not Included Power Source Rechargeable Li-ion battery or 12V Car Socket Microphone Yes Day and Night Yes Vision Measurements 13cm (length) x 11cm (depth) x 6cm (width) Operating system Compatible with Windows 2000, XP, Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8 Languages English, Chinese, Portugese, Japanese, Russian INSTALLATION It is vitally important that the Car Black Box is installed in the correct position. The Car Black Box should not intrude in the windscreen wiper area (as shown below). This is a legal requirement under the Road Traffic Act 1988. Incorrectly positioned installation may contravene this act and may constitute dangerous driving. Please note: The windscreen wiper area will vary in size between vehicle types. It is recommended you mount the Car Black Box outside of the wiper area with the camera pointing into the direction of the wiper zone (Fig.A) FIG. A ASSEMBLY Remove the battery compartment cover (7) and insert the battery (17) into the battery compartment, ensuring the metal contacts on the battery align with the metal connectors in the battery compartment. Open the SD card protective cover and Insert an SD card (not supplied) into the SD card slot ensuring it clicks in place. To remove the SD card simply press the SD card down and it will partially eject allowing it to be removed by hand. If the SD card is not installed the display screen will show No Card. Always ensure the SD card is fitted correctly. Attach the camera to the windscreen mount (19) by screwing the camera into the mount hole (5) and tighten by turning the wheel anti-clockwise. To adjust the angle of the windscreen mount, turn either of the knobs anticlockwise to loosen, adjust and turn clockwise to secure. The suction cup may require light moistening to give improved suction to the windscreen. OPERATION The Car Black Box can either be operated using the charged Li-ion battery supplied or by connecting the in-car charger to the 12V socket in your vehicle. You will need to insert an SD card (It is possible to use any type of SD cards ranging from 1-32GB in the Car Black Box) into the card slot (3). The Car Black Box LCD screen must not be visible to the driver whilst the vehicle is in operation as this may distract the driver. It is recommended that you position the angle of the Car Black Box when the vehicle is stationary. Please note: An SD / MMC card is not included Recording Guide The number of photos and videos that can be taken will vary according to the device settings, the type of video / photo taken and the SD / MMC card used. When a video length has been selected the Car Black Box will record in blocks of the selected length until the storage capacity is used up, it will then overwrite the oldest recordings with new videos to provide continuous service. It is therefore recommended to use larger capacity storage cards so that a greater number of video loops are preserved.
RECORDING MODE The Car Black Box digital video recorder is activated by pressing the record button (11) when the unit is running from the Li-ion battery. When the unit is running from a 12V accessories socket the Car Black Box will begin recording automatically when the car engine is started. Recording can be stopped at any time by pressing the record / capture / enter button (11) or by turning off the engine when running from the 12V accessories socket. When recording with the motion detect function enabled, once motion has been detected the car Black Box will record for the recording time selected (see the section entitled settings). It will then stop recording automatically if no further motion is detected, or continue recording if motion is still being detected. CAMERA MODE To select camera mode, switch the Car Black Box on, fold down the LCD screen (12) and press the mode select button (16) until camera mode is selected. To take a photo in this mode, press the record / capture / enter button (11) once. VEIWING PHOTOS AND RECORDINGS With the Car Black Box switched on press the mode button (16) until you enter the preview mode. Photos and recordings are listed by date created, scroll through items of recorded material by pressing the up (15) and down (14) buttons. To play recordings select the file using the up (15) and down (14) buttons and then press the record / capture / enter button (11) to view. To delete a photo or recording in playback mode press the MENU button (13) whilst viewing the file you wish to delete. Select Delete using the UP (15) or DOWN (14) buttons and then press the RECORD / CAPTURE / ENTER BUTTON (11), then select Execute using the UP (15) or DOWN (14) buttons and pressing the RECORD / CAPTURE / ENTER BUTTON (11) to confirm deletion. UPLOADING PHOTOS & RECORDINGS TO YOUR PC OR MAC Connect the USB cable (18) to your computer via the USB slot (1) on the Car Black Box. The computer should detect the Car Black Box automatically as it is a plug-andplay device. Photos & recordings are filed by date created in the DCIM folder You can now upload and save the photos & recordings to your computer. Charging the Car Black Box To recharge the Car Black Box battery simply connect the device to the 12V socket in your vehicle using the 12V charger also provided. Please note the car black box will not charge via the USB cable provided. Settings Press the menu button (13) to bring up the options screen for the currently selected mode. Use the up (15) or down (14) keys to cycle between the options available and press the enter button (11) show the settings available for that option. Use the up (15) or down (14) keys to highlight the desired setting and press the enter button (11) to select. You can press the menu key (13) to go back to the previous screen at any time. When in the main options screen for any of the modes pressing the menu button (13) again will take you to the systems settings screen. The settings here can be adjusted in the same way as the mode settings. Please note: Do not view recordings or photos whilst driving the vehicle. This is against The Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986.
Video Settings To alter the video settings, press the mode button until the camera is in video mode and then press the MENU button. The following settings can be amended: EV Adjust exposure value +2/3 to -2.0 Time Stamp ON / OFF When on this will add a time stamp to your videos Motion Detect ON / OFF Switch on automatically when motion is detected Video Time Choose the length of the video from 1, 3, 5 or 10 minutes, or off for continuous. See Changing Video Length below for more information. Night Mode ON / OFF to enable night vision MD Sensitively HIGH / NORMAL / LOW To adjust the sensitivity of the motion detector, the lower the sensitivity the greater amount of motion is needed to activate recording. Photo Settings To alter the photo settings, press the mode button to select photo mode and then press the MENU button (13). The following settings can be amended: Quality FINE / STANDARD / ECONOMY select picture resolution up to 640 x 480 EV Adjust exposure value +2/3 to -2.0 ISO Auto 100 200 Select auto for normal usage, or adjust if required Saturation Colour Saturation adjustment HIGH / NORMAL / LOW Sharpness Picture sharpness filter HARD / NORMAL / SOFT Color STANDARD / MONOCHROME Choose colour or black and white Preview ON / OFF When switched on it will give you the option when you take a picture for you to either save or delete Playback Settings To alter the playback settings, press the mode button until you enter playback mode and then press the MENU button (13). Note: There must be files saved on the SD Card to access these settings. Delete Thumbnail CANCEL / EXECUTE Use to delete a video or film CANCEL / EXECUTE Select Execute to show the videos and images in smaller thumbnail versions so that you can scroll through them quicker, Select an image or video by using the RECORD / ENTER button (11) to exit the thumbnail view. System settings To alter the system settings, press the menu button (13) twice from any of the modes. Format CANCEL / EXECUTE To format your SD / MMC card. NOTE: This will clear all the information on your SD/MMC card, including any pre-existing information from any source Language Select between various languages including English, French, German, Italian, etc.. LCD Auto Off To save power you can set the screen to switch off after 1, 3 or 5 minutes, or to stay on continuously. System Reset CANCEL / EXECUTE - this allows you to reset the system to default settings Light 50HZ / 60HZ Frequency Date Input Update the system Date and Time USB PC CAM / DISK DRIVE This determines how the camera acts when connect by the USB to a computer. By selecting PC CAM the camera will work as a web cam and disk drive will connect the camera as an external disk drive for the search and transfer of videos and pictures.
SETTING THE TIME AND DATE 1. Turn the Car Black Box on (with or without the SD card) 2. Press the MENU button (13) once to enter the mode settings screen 3. Press the MENU button (13) once more to enter the systems settings screen 4. Scroll down using the DOWN button (14) until you reach Date Input and press the RECORD / ENTER button (11) once to select 5. In this screen you can change the date and time. To change the time and date press the UP and DOWN button to select the correct time and date, pressing the RECORD / ENTER button (11) to move through the selections. Once all the options have been changed pressing the RECORD / ENTER button (11) once more will save your setting and return you to the systems settings screen. CHANGING THE VIDEO LENGTH 1. The Car Black Box can record continuously or in shorter blocks of time. The advantage of recording in shorter blocks is that as it saves each video regularly making it a more secure way to keep your recordings. 2. To change the length of the video time, in video mode press the MENU button (13) once to enter the video setting screen. 3. Use the up (15) or down (14) keys to highlight Video Time, press RECORD / ENTER button (11) to select. 4. Use the up (15) or down (14) keys to highlight desired video loop length required, press RECORD / ENTER button (11) to select. 5. Press the MENU button (13) twice to return to video mode, when you next press the record button it will record in blocks of the video length selected. 6. When the SD / MMC card is full, it will erase over the earliest recorded video automatically to provide continuous recording. TROUBLE SHOOTING The Car Black Box comes shipped with a screen protector, to be able to see the screen clearly this needs to be removed prior to use. Please ensure that an SD / MMC card (not included) has been inserted prior to use, if you are experiencing difficulties, or if the Car Black Box doesn t recognise the inserted card, remove and re-insert the card with the Car Black Box switched on or try another SD / MMC card. In Night Vision mode please be aware that when the Car Black Box focuses on an object with a reflective surface, like glass, refection can occur. Your Car Black Box is very similar to a computer. If, for any reason it stalls during operation, turning it off and on again will most likely resolve the problem. If this doesn t work, you may need to do a system reset. System reset can be found in system settings, press MENU (13) twice in any mode to enter system settings, use the UP (15) or DOWN (14) buttons to highlight Sys Reset and then press the RECORD / CAPTURE / ENTER BUTTON (11). Use the UP (15) or DOWN (14) buttons to highlight Confirm and then press the RECORD / CAPTURE / ENTER BUTTON (11). Please note that this changes all settings back to system defaults so you may have to re-enter your preferences. CLEANING THE CAR BLACK BOX Wipe clean with a soft dry cloth Every now and then wipe the lens clean with a soft dry cloth or lens cloth. Clean the screen using a TFT screen cleaner or equivalent. USB MODE When you connect to your computer using the USB cable, if Disk Drive has been selected in system settings, the Car Black Box will show as a removable disk in Windows Explorer / OS X Finder so that the files can be transferred to your computer as described in the UPLOADING PHOTOS section earlier in this manual. Always Eject the Car Black Box removable disk in Windows Explorer / OS X Finder before disconnecting the USB cable. If PC Cam is selected in system settings the Car Black Box will act as a web cam, software not included, as above always Eject the Car Black Box removable disk in Windows Explorer / OS X Finder before disconnecting the USB cable. Please note: Please insert the SD card before recording.