The DR750X Plus Series started rolling out last week. The main change to the updated DR750X Plus is the use of an improved Sony STARVIS sensor. But how does the new sensor differ from the previous one?
We showed screenshots last week, along with a promotional video. This week, we share more about the differences between the DR750X Plus and its predecessor in various day and night situations.

Improved sensor

The DR750X Plus sensor has an increased native dynamic range compared to the DR750X sensor. Just to be clear, we are not talking about the High Dynamic Range process. HDR consists in blending dark and bright frames to digitally increase the dynamic range. Its drawback is that it can create artifacts in contrasted scenes or in fast-moving objects. Instead, the DR750X Plus sensor can natively reproduce scenes with dark and bright elements more accurately. It is also is able to better expose for different scenes (day / night).
Let’s see how those improvements benefit typical dash cam recording scenarios.

Details preserved in highlights at night

One of the most difficult tasks for a sensor is to expose evenly and preserve bright spots in an overall dark scene. When a sensor is pointed at an overall dark scene, such as a road at night, it will tend to compensate and make the image overall brighter. When combined with the illumination of your car’s headlights, license plates of other vehicles may end up appearing all white as a result. The DR750X Plus sensor adapts the exposure to preserve details in the highlights. And because it has a wider dynamic range to begin with, it also preserves details in shadows.

Shadow details kept visible during day

Conversely, when a scene overall bright, the sensor may tune its exposure all the way down. This can result is shadows looking darker than they are in reality. With the DR750X Plus sensor, you get both perfectly preserved highlights and detailed shadows.

Faster adaptation to differently lit scenes

Typically, this is most noticeable when entering or exiting a tunnel in daylight. If a sensor is slow to adjust its exposure, the image can get very dark in the moments you enter a tunnel. Then, upon exiting the tunnel, the image can appear almost uniformly white for some time until it exposes correctly.
The DR750X Plus sensor adapts much faster than its predecessor to those quick changes in ambient light.