GoPro HD Hero 2 issues - continued...

I've had two problems with my Hero 2 recently, this weekend was one of those lightbulb moments - they're not seperate issues, they're related and i've just not realised it until now. Refering back to a previous post GoPro Protune firmware - buy a faster SD card! I'd been trying out the Protune feature and found that the footage was jumpy, I'd put it down to my SD card and the increased write demands of the firmware. Because of this, I ordered myself a Sandisk Extreme Pro card, with a 95mb/s write speed, this would easily cope any write demands. Yet my video was still stuttering. I've also recently been experiencing some freezing and lock ups when cycling through the camera recording modes, I'd logged this with GoPro and they're looking into the problem.

It was at that moment that the light switched on! of course they're not seperate issues, they've got to be related. After doing some googling and reading through some forum posts, it appears that it's an issue that's out there, but not affecting all camera's, even if using the same firmware version. (I got a ZeroAccess! virus from one forum for my troubles, I don't know what site it was as my PC had to be cleaned right back to (hopefully) get rid of it)

It looks like I might have to return my camera to GoPro, I followed the instructions they sent me and applied another firmware. I seemed to improve a little, but it's always difficult to tell when it's an intermittant fault. However the freezing still happened, thankfully the camera is in warranty, i've just got to find my reciept! Some sites mention that they've cleaned the freezing by rolling back to an older firmware, I've been reluctant to do this, as I'd really like to use the Protune feature.

GoPro HD Hero 2 freezing issues.

I updated my GoPro to the Protune firmware version when it was released a few weeks ago, since then I've been experiencing slowness and freezing when cycling through the camera's recording modes. I've turned off the Protune options and I still experience the problems, the freeze can be for a matter of 4 or 5 seconds between modes or can last much longer forcing me to have to remove the battery to reset the camera. I've also tried it with and without the Wifi Bacpac attached, I've logged an issue with GoPro. Will have to wait for their response.

*follow up post

GoPro Protune firmware - buy a faster SD card!

Last week saw the release of the Protune firmware for the GoPro HD Hero 2, the firmware offers some key updates for those who hope to do that little bit more with their footage. The key change is the reduction in the compression ratio, resulting in a data rate of 35mbps rather than a 20mbps, this reduces the amount of artifacts caused by the compression of the footage. Another major change is the addition of a 1080p @ 24fps mode, this allows the footage from the GoPro to be more easily integrated with output from other camera systems without the need to convert the frame rate to match.

The update also reduces the amount of in camera processing (reduced sharpening and a netural colour profile, amoungst other changes), this allows for more flexibility in the post processing of the video.

A couple of things to note:-

I currently use a Sandisk Extreme SD card, it's a class 10 card, I've had no problems with using it in the GoPro. With the Protune update switched on and recording at 720p at 60fps, the playback was jumpy, with a stutter in the video at roughly every second. Checking into the spec of the card, I think I've found the 'problem', the card has a write speed of 30mbps, obviously the protune update switched on it increased the data rate is 35mbps, 5mbps faster than the card can handle, hence the juddering video. I've been looking at buying a larger card for a little while now, it looks like I'll also have to make sure it's got a faster write speed.

One other thing I've noticed, I set my GoPro to PAL rather than NTSC, since the update this appears to always be set to NTSC. You can change the setting to PAL in the menu, but after you've exited the menu, if you go back in, it appears as NTSC again. Is this by design or by bug?

*follow up post.