Beheading a Dash Camera for VGA Game Capture - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: jonovid
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 21, 2021, 05:17:56 am
content: is it possible? to behead a dash camera to make a DIY Video Graphics Array HD capture card?see diagram!no one else is doing this type of hacking.not even hackaday.a way to capture a Video Graphics Array output from a gaming PC. without software!is it possible?hackaday has not hacks like this.the technical question is this.can a camera have its image sensor removed and replaced by a VGA input?the Video Graphics Array output from a gaming PC into the video cameras RGB electronics?see diagram! is it possible?even if the analog-to-digital chip bashing fails to work properly.the question is, can this be used to generate analog video FX ?analog HD video circuit bending?so before I kill a working cheap dash camera. see imageI post the question, is it even possible?as others are far more knowledgeable ifthiscan work.can you generate artificial video image sensor output ?as I have looked at both video camera image sensors & Video Graphics Array specificationsand find no one is hacking them other then the odd home telescope image sensor from a moded webcamhacking the image sensor exposure settings for astrophotography and observation.in my case, is it possible?? to have a dash camera electronics be tricked in to taking a VGA input?making the dash camera work as a HD VGA recorder with a mini video display.RGB levels & horizontal vertical sync.play with the analog RGB levels video circuit bendingnote- the audio side of things is looking somewhat straightforward.replacing the electret condenser mic capsule with an audio buffer attenuator circuitpowered off the Vccmy hypothetical electronics question this week.

author: james_s
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 21, 2021, 05:26:42 am
content: What makes you think the dash camera sensor outputs analog VGA? That's not impossible, but I would consider it extremely unlikely.

author: jonovid
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 21, 2021, 08:48:54 am
content: last time I did any investigating of a video camera image sensor pin outs . were ribbon cable had to have a T in it so oscilloscope probing can take place .just the length of test cable was enough to let static discharge kill the camera.

author: tom66
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 21, 2021, 09:20:38 am
content: The dash camera almost certainly uses a MIPI CSI-2 (if 720p or above) or a parallel RGB sensor (if lower resolution) so your idea will unfortunately not work. Even if it did use analog signalling, the likelihood of you being able to match the timing requirements of the dashcam perfectly are pretty close to zero.You can get VGA capture cards fairly inexpensively. If you wanted to do this without buying something, but instead build something, you would need to use something like an FPGA and an ADC chip to convert the VGA signals into a digital video stream. You could then convert these into MIPI format to feed to the dashcam (if you really insist on using that) or better build a lightweight JPEG encoder and record frames to an SD card.

author: jonovid
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 21, 2021, 05:55:17 pm
content: Quote from: tom66 on February 21, 2021, 09:20:38 amThank you, you saved a working dash camera from the knifeI will look into getting VGA capture card on my other PCputting it all in perspective, my first video camera decapitation was about visual effects.I have done posterization hacking with an 80s home analog video camera some yrs ago.getting all manner of color posterization from video circuit bending the vidicon RGB analog pre-amps .the key was keeping horizontal & vertical sync. with any external video input added.the vidicon HT had deceased when the VHS color back-pack camera fell into a pool. so I get given it for free!

author: NiHaoMike
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 21, 2021, 06:30:44 pm
content: Just get a VGA to HDMI converter and one of those cheap HDMI capture sticks based on the MS2109.

author: jonovid
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 22, 2021, 02:55:59 am
content: Quote from: NiHaoMike on February 21, 2021, 06:30:44 pmafter searching the internet for a yr and then posting thisI then finally found theexactRecorder I was hoping to make or copy .this it!aVGA Video Recorder to USB hostEzcap289 1080P HDMI Lecture Recorder VGA Video Capture boxhttp://www.ezcap.com/index.php/product/ezcap289lecturecapture.html