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What Is A G Sensor?

Image: What is a G Sensor

A G sensor is commonly referred to as an accelerometer. They are used in a wide range of devices like smart phones, vehicles and of course, dash cams. A G sensor in a dash cam will monitor the proper acceleration, aka G-Force.

Image: G Sensor DiagramIn other words, the dash camera will detect a sudden change in direction. This could be caused by hard braking, impact from crashing, or even movement when stationary i.e. someone rocking the vehicle. When a dash camera detects this change in direction it will automatically switch to ‘event mode’ and save the current segment of footage in a protected section of memory. This varies across brands, but the dash cams tend to save footage from 10 seconds before an incident, through to a minute after. This ensures that the point of impact will be saved into memory for later retrieval. The time frame and sensitivity of the G sensor can usually be adjusted.

The true benefit of a G sensor in the dash cam environment is the ability for the dash cam to be able to automatically store crucial footage without intervention from the driver. If you have a dash camera and are unfortunate enough to be involved in an accident the last thing you need to worry about is pressing a button or checking the recording has been stored.

Any worthwhile dash cam should have a G sensor- all of the dash cameras featured on Dash Witness have one. If you would like more information on a particular dash cam and the G sensor functionality, please get in touch.

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