Mini 0906 custom test firmware

[Tobi@s]

Good evening,
many testers complained about low bitrates, so I decided to max out the capabilities of the NT96663 SoC..

This will probably generate lots of heat.. So either risk shutdowns or remove resistor R12.

Modifications:
Front + Rear cam is now recording at 20mbps each (I highly recommend a class10/uhs1 sd card)
1080p60 mode is recording at 30mbps

Not modified:
1080p30 single mode is still 14 mbps (so simply dont use it)
And all other modes..

Download: http://dc.p-mc.eu/dl/0906_20mbps_mod.bin
Oh by the way I'm not responsible for the car (oh it's yours) thats burning down because of this mod

 

[kamkar]

Have you changed to CBR instead of VBR ?

 

[Tobi@s]

It's still variable but should be overall higher
Someone needs to try this

 

[kamkar]

Im of it "tobi" just have to put camera together and flash, then i go for a night drive.

 

[kamkar]

Alles klar will go for a short drive, should be back in front of computer with feedback in 30 minutes.

 

[kamkar]

Okay so i took a drive with the car heater on full tilt fanning it all onto my windscreen, this was a hot ore deal so on my way home i just had to stop by at the local gas station for a little cold sugar water.

 

[kamkar]

64 degrees was the best i could do tonight, i am not totally sure but i don't think that a much out of the ordinary temperature for my sample recording night in town footage.
Will see what it can do tomorrow, my camera should shut down if it get too hot, but i will still keep a close eye on the little screen, ATM i have the LCD screen on all the time.

 

[Tobi@s]

I'm not 100% sure how much the bitrate affects the temperature.. Maybe I was exaggerating a bit
In theory the CPU should need less power since it does not need to compress the frames that much.
On the other side the memory gets a lot more to do and will get hotter as well..

Thanks for the feedback @kamkar1

 

[kamkar]

No problem M8, i have been running modified firmwares on the X camera too, the norm high there are 18 mbit, but 28 mbit are noo problem and i even run it as high as 35 - 40 mbit, but really up there all it do is create huge 3 minute files, so 28 mbit seemed a good middle ground.

 

[Nigel]

Was the image quality improved by the higher bitrate?
Or do we have to wait for some sunshine tomorrow to find out...

 

[kamkar]

I have no idea really just refocused lens and its dark outside and sort of too in my living room, but now i just hope this don't ruin my even more fawked up sleep pattern, i was lucky to sleep from 8 to 12 this "morning" so i might not sleep at all tonight.
I am going to jump out of bed and go buy some fresh bread, i will have a update on my #1 focus issue - #2 temperatures of camera - #3 IQ in relation to Blockiness at least cuz i am not sure i have nailed the focus issue.

Be ready to find some pictures and video links here.

 

[kamkar]

This short video are from my test drive tonight.

Kids and their not knowing how the light on their care are supposed to be used

 

[Hombré]

This will probably generate lots of heat

The first thing I did 3 years ago when I bought a 2 amp charger for my electric bike was pull it apart and drill a hundred or so 3mm holes for dissipation of the heat and its still working fine

Be warned folks, heat will kill anything if not vented properly longterm

 

[Tobi@s]

It's not even getting noticeably hotter

 

[Nigel]

Download: http://dc.p-mc.eu/dl/0906_20mbps_mod.bin

Downloaded it and put it on the card in the root folder,
Started the camera, recorded some video and looked at it - still low bitrate.
Not surprising, so I renamed the file to "firmware.bin" as a guess, pressed the power button, blue light flashed for a few seconds and then nothing.
Tried again and I don't even get the blue light flashing, just a black screen...

What next?

 

[Nigel]

Downloaded it and put it on the card in the root folder,
Started the camera, recorded some video and looked at it - still low bitrate.
Not surprising, so I renamed the file to "firmware.bin" as a guess, pressed the power button, blue light flashed for a few seconds and then nothing.
Tried again and I don't even get the blue light flashing, just a black screen...

What next?

A 12 second press of the power button has woken it up again

 

[Tobi@s]

Was the flash successful? (chrck firmware version in the menu)

 

[Hombré]

A 12 second press of the power button has woken it up again

What made you think to try that ?

 

[jokiin]

What made you think to try that ?

long press the power button has always been the reset procedure on mini series cams, logical thing to try

 

[Nigel]

long press the power button has always been the reset procedure on mini series cams, logical thing to try

Used to be 16 seconds, the 0906 is faster, but the 0906 also has a reset button, I didn't think of trying that!

1080P30 mode is still rubbish, as stated above.

1080P60 is a huge improvement - thanks Tobi@s

Still got it down to 6MB/s at one point, the first two dips are where it goes into the dark and I do see compression artefacts on the road surface in the video there, but the bitrate comes back after it has adjusted its exposure.