All future models from Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors will be equipped with a built-in vehicle blackbox dubbed Drive Video Record System (DVRS), Hyundai Motor announced on Thursday.

The industry’s first DVRS as a default option will first be mounted on the 8th-gen Sonata sedan to be rolled out in March. The next-generation DVRS features front and rear high-definition recording, recording during parking (when an auxiliary battery is installed), shock detection mode, AVN and smartphone connectivity and a built-in memory, the company said.

The DVRS module integrated with the car part does not disturb the driver’s vision and lowers the risk of injury in case of a collision accident, the company explained. The front-facing camera (resolution 1920x1080) is built into the plastic cover behind the room mirror, and the rear camera (resolution 1280x720) is in the existing parking assistant camera.

The camera’s 32 GB storage device installed inside the vehicle is an embedded memory (eMMC) used in smartphones, which is superior to an external memory in durability and reliability, the company claimed. The continuous recording time is up to 3 hours while driving and 10 hours during parking (when an additional battery is installed).

In addition, the system reliability is significantly improved to withstand extreme weather conditions, the company said. Saved images can be played, edited, deleted or shared using the AVN screen or a smartphone app. A time-lapse function for compressing long-time images is also available.

But the built-in vehicle blackbox may take a toll to car navigation manufacturers, given the car brand’s market dominance of some 70 percent in Korea.

By Moon Ji-woong and Minu Kim

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