Tesla software update adds zoom for closer Dashcam review

A zoom feature arrived in Tesla’s Dashcam Viewer with the 2025 Holiday Update (2025.44.25+). The company didn’t promote it in headline notes, but owners quickly noticed it and treated it as a long‑requested fix.

Dashcam or Sentry Mode footage can now be paused, then a pinch gesture on the screen zooms into the frozen frame.

Before this change, the in‑car viewer was locked to the original camera view, so many drivers exported video to a laptop or phone for close inspection. With zoom on the center display, key parts of a frame can be examined immediately without leaving the cabin.

A paused frame with zoom often provides enough clarity to decide whether to contact police, file an insurance claim, or share video with a property owner.

Part of a broader Dashcam system

The zoom option lands on top of several years of upgrades to Tesla’s camera and logging platform. Recent software versions add telemetry overlays to recorded clips, including speed, steering angle, indicator status, accelerator and brake usage, and driver‑assist engagement.

Tesla has also provided tools to decode and visualize embedded telemetry from dashcam files on a computer.

On top of that, newer releases improved clip organization and storage reporting, grouping events by trigger type and exposing how much space each category uses. Dashcam now behaves more like a managed archive than a simple list of video files.

Hardware gap between Ryzen and Intel cars

This feature depends on Tesla’s newer infotainment hardware. It runs on MCU3 with an AMD Ryzen processor, which has substantially more graphics and CPU capacity than the Intel Atom–based MCU2 units.

Ryzen first appeared in refreshed Model S and Model X in 2021 and later in many Model 3 and Model Y builds. Those vehicles already support heavier visual features such as richer 3D visualizations, advanced games, and in‑car Zoom video calls, so dashcam zoom fits into the same performance tier.

Cars with MCU2 retain Dashcam and Sentry Mode but don’t receive every new interface‑intensive feature that leans on Ryzen’s headroom.

Hardware type can be checked under Controls > Software > Additional Vehicle Information, where the infotainment entry lists “Intel Atom” or “AMD Ryzen.” That line usually aligns closely with the feature set available on the screen.

How drivers use zoom in daily life

Zoom becomes most valuable in stressful or uncertain moments. A scrape in a hotel lot, a close call on a highway merge, or a late‑night Sentry alert feels different when a single frame can be enlarged to confirm what another car did.

There’s less need to remove storage devices, carry them indoors, and load footage on a larger screen to answer a simple question. A pause and a quick zoom from the driver’s seat often provide enough detail to judge how strong the recording is for any formal report.

Ryzen’s extra capacity now backs a safety‑adjacent feature instead of only entertainment or visual polish.

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