EEVblog #672 - GoPro Hero 4 Silver Teardown

[EEVblog]

What's inside the new GoPro Hero 4 Silver action camera?
Dave tears it down!

Ambarella A9 Chipset: http://www.ambarella.com/uploads/docs/A9%20Product%20Brief%20120813-2.pdf

TI TLV320AIC3212 http://www.ti.com/product/tlv320aic3212

[dr.diesel]

I really hope the 720P@240 is somehow just a in the works software snafu.  That was my primary buying consideration, with 4k just a nicety.

[EEVblog]

I really hope the 720P@240 is somehow just a in the works software snafu.  That was my primary buying consideration, with 4k just a nicety.

Yep, I was really hoping for and expecting that. Maybe some clever cookie will hack the firmware? All the hardware in there is capable of it.

[SeanB]

More impressive is that it went together again. I agree that that heatsink compound is hard to replace, likely a custom pad from Bergquist, which you could probably get as a sheet ( at a price no doubt) and trim to size.

Upgrading frame rate would probably be merely a firmware switch flip, likely like the E4, it all is in there but disabled. Wonder what the few bits difference between upgrade firmware for the black and the silver is. Might work but unless you get better cooling for the processor and support chips along with the sensor it possibly could cause issues in very hot environments or in cases where there is no ability to dissipate heat in any case.

[Legit-Design]

Striking the Youtube search terms before anyone else has a teardown up, this is a world first AFAIK.?

Even if someone did a teardown there would be no contest compared to yours. Usually people don't talk on teardowns or if they talk they just show how little they know about something. I don't blame them since not everyone has decades of industry experience. But quality and insight will always win over being first or shelling out multiple videos without much content in them. I still think PS3/PS4/X360 or any other console that has multiple teardowns and if you did a teardown of one then the insight and knowledge into design aspects and all kinds of things would definitely make it worth watching.

[max_torque]

The lack of soldermask over the pcb that houses the CCD might be just to ensure that the sensor is sitting parallel to the lens assy when screwed down?  (assuming the flatness of the copper layer is likely to be much better controlled than that of the solder mask layer etc)

[ratdude747]

The lack of soldermask over the pcb that houses the CCD might be just to ensure that the sensor is sitting parallel to the lens assy when screwed down?  (assuming the flatness of the copper layer is likely to be much better controlled than that of the solder mask layer etc)

Looks like heatsinking to me as that lens frame is indeed metal with some sort of coating/anodizing (the threads on the inside give it away)... I'd wager that there are more places for lens lineup wear in the sensor's mounting to the board than there is with the solder mask.

What would be really clever would be if the coating used was thermally dissipative, like is used on some purpouse-made heatsinks. It looks that way from here at least.

[dentaku]

The sound quality is amazing for such a tiny camera.

[bigsky]

The soldered-on backup battery was interesting. I wonder if that means GoPro regard the camera as having a life of a few years, after which it is scrap as this battery can't (easily) be replaced. If so, that's a bit thumbs down from me.

[SeanB]

I think that will be a rechargeable battery there, only meant to keep the clock running for a few months if you are not using it. Yes it will eventually die, but that is likely only after 10 years or so, when the rest of the plastic parts are more than likely to have disintegrated in any case from just exposure to light and air.

[EEVblog]

The soldered-on backup battery was interesting. I wonder if that means GoPro regard the camera as having a life of a few years, after which it is scrap as this battery can't (easily) be replaced. If so, that's a bit thumbs down from me.

Those usually last much longer than a few years.

[EEVblog]

I just LOST the GoPro in a canyon today!
It currently resides in the bottom of a 3-4m pool in Fortress canyon.
 
 

[nowlan]

Doent it float? Invest in ping pong balls on string next time.
Bad luck.

[HighVoltage]

Wow, sorry you lost it!

Being in the market for a GoPro for my son, I really enjoyed the details for your teardown on a weekend and watched it together with my children.

[mikeselectricstuff]

The soldered-on backup battery was interesting. I wonder if that means GoPro regard the camera as having a life of a few years, after which it is scrap as this battery can't (easily) be replaced. If so, that's a bit thumbs down from me.

Hardly scrap - it would just mean the RTC doesn't keep time.

[firewalker]

I just LOST the GoPro in a canyon today!
It currently resides in the bottom of a 3-4m pool in Fortress canyon.
 
 

 

Was it in an airtight case? Provide photos in order to design apparatus to salvage it!

Alexander.

[mikeselectricstuff]

Only 3-4m deep..?  SCUBA time?
Fishing trip with a camera on a string maybe...

[max_torque]

Next week on EEV, Dave modifies his Sinclair C5 into a Piloted Underwater Vehicle............   Who says electricity and water doesn't  match!  ;-)

[EEVblog]

Was it in an airtight case? Provide photos in order to design apparatus to salvage it!

In the stand waterproof case with the new touch screen window on the back. That window is only rated to 3m, so I don't expect it to survive for as long as the normal back door.
Also had the headband attached.
http://img.pecheur.com/headband-fixing-gopro-z-685-68518.jpg

[EEVblog]

Only 3-4m deep..?  SCUBA time?
Fishing trip with a camera on a string maybe...

A pair of googles and flippers would do it. We recovered a rope from the bottom, but no camera. Was too cold to spend much time there hunting.
The problem is it's whole days adventure to go back and search for it.

[firewalker]

It will make a good video though!

Alexander.

[EEVblog]

It will make a good video though!

Filmed with what? 

[open loop]

Review time for a really cheap action camera like,

http://www.banggood.com/Gopro-Hero-Extreme-Action-Bike-Sport-Waterproof-Camera-Wifi-Support-p-916900.html

Do a teardown and see how it compares to a real "action" camera. I also suspect you want to get what's on the card. Many people who loose a camera are not worried about the camera but want the last years of photos they forgot to download from the memory card.

[Bored@Work]

Well, better it is only the camera than the camera and you still attached to the camera at the bottom of a 3m pool.

[firewalker]

It will make a good video though!

Filmed with what? 

You still have the Pro 2, right?

Alexander.