🚗 Dash cam guide
Dash Cam Parking Mode: How It Works, What It Needs and How to Set It
The four kinds of parking mode
| Mode | How it works | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Impact (G-sensor) | Sleeps; wakes and records when the car is bumped | Lowest battery use; catching hit-and-runs |
| Motion detection | Records when something moves in front of the lens | Quiet parking spots; busy streets trigger it constantly |
| Time-lapse | Records continuously at 1–2 frames a second | Seeing everything that happened, at small file sizes |
| Buffered | Keeps a few seconds before the trigger as well as after | The moment of impact itself — the most useful, where offered |
Why it needs a kit
Most cars cut power to the 12 V socket when the ignition is off, and the camera's own supercapacitor or battery holds energy only for seconds. A hardwire kit (₹1,799–₹2,873) or OBD kit (₹2,999–₹3,199) gives the camera constant power and tells it when the engine stops, so it can switch to parking mode automatically.
A pass-through power bank can run a camera for a few hours in parking mode without wiring, which suits a rental car or a one-off.
Settings that work in Indian parking
- Impact sensitivity: start low. On a street with speed-breakers and heavy vehicles, high sensitivity fills the card with false events.
- Motion sensitivity: medium, or off on a busy road. Wind-blown leaves and passing traffic trigger it.
- Time-lapse at 1 frame per second covers a whole night in a small amount of card space.
- Low-voltage cut-off: 12.0 V for a healthy battery, 12.2–12.4 V for an older battery or if the car will stand for days.
- A parking timer (where available) of 12–24 hours protects the battery on long trips.
Frequently asked questions
Will parking mode drain my car battery?
Does every dash cam have parking mode?
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