Novatek's 4K30 SoC - NT96683.

[nutsey]

Seems like we're going to see very interesting action cam SoCs producers competition in 2018.

One of those is Novatek with its long-awaited NT96683 chipset capable recording 4K30 with H.265 encoding support.

[petesimon]

I really like the NT (NTK) 96660 chipset paired with a Sony IMX078 (and better) sensor in budget cameras such as any of these: Soocoo C30 / Explorer Elite / Extral SJ8000 / (etc).

1080p / 60fps raw footage looks quite satisfactory for a $50 to $60 price. Link here - https://yadi.sk/d/PrcaYrUc3RSZHo

So now I am hoping to soon see a good selection of budget "SJ8" style cameras that have the new NT96683 chipset paired with any nice Sony IMX--- sensor.

Are any Blackview DV series that have NT96683/IMX--- for regular (not bulk) sale yet ? http://www.szdome.com/product-default-cid-94-1.html ?

[AussieKev]

petesimon Not seen any other NT96683 Action Cams pop up yet

[nutsey]

NT96683+OV12895 EZVIZ S6 action camera: https://www.ezvizlife.com/id/id/product/s6/861

[AussieKev]

nutsey EZVIZ Australia don't sell the S6 (or any action cams) sadly. Very strange.
Their S5+ has Ambarella A12 and the higher end ChipSip SoC 8Gb LPDDR3 + 2Gb Nand Flash but new S6 only 2Gb LPDDR3、1Gb Nand Flash which is odd? Wonder why the downgraded internal storage for their "Flagship"?
These companies never cease to amaze me with their decisions.

[nutsey]

Seems like that SJCAM is in the first flight here.

[AussieKev]

SJ8 types and specs

[nutsey]

NT96683 SPI flash structure (MTD partitions):

uitron
uitron ro
uboot
uboot ro
uenv
linux
linux ro
ramfs
rootfs
fat
dsp
dsp ro
pstore
pstore ro

[nutsey]

DV560 action camera by SZ DOME

Specs:

• SoC: Novatek NT96683
• CMOS Sensor: TBD (it should be 8M Sony IMX317 or 12M IMX277)
• LCD: 2" touchscreen
• Video modes: up to 4k30/1080p120
• Video encoding: H.264/AVC and H.265/HEVC
• USB: TypeC with mic-in function
• Battery: 1350mAh

DV560 has a selfie mirror and a strap hole. Seems like these features were inspired by Firefly 8-series design.

[petesimon]

is this or something else like this for sale yet?

[nutsey]

EZVIZ S6 action camera with 1/2.3" 12MP OV12895 CMOS sensor inside. Expected to be available in October.

[AussieKev]

LINK here https://www.ezvizlife.com/id/id/product/s6/861
Also OmniVisions new sensor looks impressive https://www.ovt.com/sensors/OV12895

[petesimon]

any shopping/retail links available yet?

[nutsey]

A tip for updating NT96683 cams firmware: put the file named NVTDELFW to the root of your memory card when updating the firmware - FW96683A.bin will be deleted after update is done and you don't need to reformat your card or remove the file manually anymore.

[nutsey]

I wonder if anybody here is interested in hacking newer 675/683 chipsets?

[BCHobbyist]

Currently interested in Novatek NT96670 to 96683 dual partition unpacker and any other tools.

[nutsey]

These firmwares have several new features like LZMA compression and a new fw file header. I've already managed to unpack and repack the partition with AE/AWB/IQ/etc data in semi-manual mode.