Brief review of D4640B action camera (tomtop's $20 bargain).

[nutsey]

Specs, Box, Bundle and Design




Tech specs

• SoC: Allwinner V3
• Sensor: 8Mp 1/3.2” Sony ExmorR IMX179s (1.4 μm pixel)
• Lens: Wide-angle 170-degree FOV (diagonal)
• Display: 2-inch LCD TFT screen, 320x240
• Video resolutions and format: [email protected] fps, [email protected] fps, [email protected]/30 fps, [email protected]/60/30 fps. MP4 file format.
• Photo resolutions: 2M/5M/8M/12M/16M
• Connectors: microHDMI, microUSB
• Wireless features: Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n
• Additional features: UVC webcam, 4x digital zoom
• Storage: microSD up to 64GB
• Battery: removable, 3.7v Li-ion 900mAh
• Dimensions: 59 mm * 40 mm * 24 mm
• Weight: 57 g (43 g without battery)

Package and bundle

The package dimensions are: 115 x 90 x 60 mm (~0.6 L of volume), its weight is 238 g.



What's inside the box: D4640B cam in a waterproof box, 1x mounting frame with a clip, 1x standard tripod mount for the waterproof box, 1x microUSB charging/data cable and a folded piece of paper named 'Action Canmera'.

[nutsey]

Facts and Measurements *

Dropped/skipped frames

No frame doubling was observed for any video mode.


Bitrate values

4K - 23 Mbps
2.7K - 32 Mbps
1080p60 - 32 Mbps
1080p30 - 32 Mbps
720p120 - 23 Mbps
720p60 - 32 Mbps
720p30 - 32 Mbps


Resolution test




Horizontal FOV (measured using this test chart)

All video modes except 720p120 have same values of HFOV.

~90° for 'FOV' option set to 'Close'/'Wide':

~73° for 'FOV' option set to 'Middle':

~62° for 'FOV' option set to 'Narrow':


HFOV for 720p120:

~79° for 'Close'/'Wide':

~63° for 'Middle' and ~54° for 'Narrow'.

According to HFOV values, the lens focal length is very close to 3.6 mm.


Sound quality

8000 Hz, 15 kb/s, AAC, 1ch (mono)


Battery life and capacity

46 min @ 1080p30, LCD on, WiFi off.
35 min @ 4k30, LCD on, WiFi off.
Measured capacity is only ~200mAh.

Lens focus

The lens is focused properly without any noticable out-of-focus problems in the corners. There are no overheating issues with focus loss even when shooting in direct sunlight (t=33°C in shade).


Firmware bugs

1. 'Middle' and 'Narrow' are not usable for 1080p30 mode due to some errors in sensor readout settings. The picture shakes every second when one of these FOV settings is enabled.
2. 60/120fps video modes show severe artifacts in blue colors.


* - some of the measurements are valid only for 20170502V3.3 firmware

[nutsey]

Teardown / disassembling


IT_X3_V33 mainboard with XR819 (Xradio) wireless chip.

Lens is glued into its holder with cyanoacrylate.

Sony IMX179 sensor.

[nutsey]

Samples and Conclusion

Google.Drive folder with sample video clips and stills: https://drive.google.com/drive/folde...2s?usp=sharing

Bike test shot in 1080p30.

Dascam test shot in 1080p30.

Pros:

• Price.
• High quality lens.
• No out-of-focus problem occurs when heated.
• No frame skipping in all video modes.

Cons:

• Problems with blue colours (esp. for 60/120 fps modes) and other firmware bugs.
• Low battery capacity.
• Self-discharge when the camera is off.
• Bitrate values for 30 fps modes are not adequate.

[Pete]

Attention! 4K/30fps are NOT real 30fps ... only 4K / 2x 15fps ... but (I) can live with this fact :-)

[nutsey]

What do you mean? Video files shot in 4K with this cam have 30 fps frame rate and there is no frame skipping/doubling observed (each frame is unique).

[Pete]

Look a file with MPC-HC STEPWISE, than you will see: two consecutive frames are same

[nutsey]

Nope. In my case they are different.

[nutsey]

I use VLC, MPC-HC, Virtualdub, Bitrate viewer and Mediainfo tools for many years... So I'm pretty sure when I say things like that

[nutsey]

Please feel free to check it by yourself: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4t...ew?usp=sharing

[Pete]

Thanx ..... damned, your file is played with 30fps, MY file is played with 2x 15fps

[petesimon]

depends on firmware and/or camera when in '4k' mode. For example - The F60B 'Crane' camera had 3200×1800 25fps (plus 1 duplicated frame every 2 or 3 frames = 5 total duplicates and that = fake "30fps"). But when I tried several different firmware for that cam, sometimes I the cam could do 3840×2160 and 25 fps real, but of course the quality was mediocre.

[Pete]

Hmmm, I think there are differences in software/hardware (as you said).
My friend tried to install firmware 20170621 - without success.

[petesimon]

Pete

My friend tried to install firmware 20170621 - without success.

Can you tell me more information about this? - what are the hardware details of your friend's camera? and what 'model' / LCD / sensor are associated with the "20170621" firmware?

[Pete]

Sorry, he lives in another town, but he also got his camera from tomtop - "same model" ? ? ? - $ 19.99

[petesimon]

"same model" ? ? ? - $ 19.99

often the 'model' (of the hardware insdie) such as Crane / Fuxin / Beike / etc will be different. search 'tomtop' in the "Allwinner cams" forum section.

link - https://www.goprawn.com/search?q=tom...%2217%22%5D%7D

[Pete]

My cam with 20170621 makes 4K with 2x15fps, my second cam (both from tomtop) makes 4K with 30fps.
I'll try to flash old firmware into cam with 20170621.

Problem: I got fwinfo from first cam with scripts from nutseye - but now I get (on 3 PCs) always error messages :-(
(or virus alert ---> cyglz4-1.dll)

some frames from 3840x2160/30fps video

[nutsey]

Do older 4K30(15) and newer 4K30(30) have same firmware version 20170621?

[Pete]

No, "older" with 2x15fps has 20170621V01, "new" with 30fps has 20170502V33

[nutsey]

I see. Note that 0502 has Xradio wifi and 0621 has 8189.

What software gives you that alert for .DLL file?

[nutsey]

Seems like camera with 0502/30fps has better/faster DDR memory...

[Pete]

... and "better colors" :-)

alert ..

[nutsey]

I really like how it performs in 1080p30 with NR set to something close to zero.

[Pete]

After hours of braining I found solution: it was shi.... virus scanner!

[Sleep]

I also received cam from tomtop, like petes cam2 with 20170502V33. Didn't understand what firmware /camera is better 20170621V01 or 20170502V33. And if there is any other, what firmware do you reccomend to flash instead of 20170502V33

[Pete]

I flashed 20170621V01 into another camera - voila: only 4K/2x15fps :-)
it is better to use 20170502V33 with 4K/30fps

Newer FW not always means better FW.

2x15 or 30fps?

Make a 4K movie while moving camera from right to left or left to right.
then view it with MPC-HC .. stepwise.
If 2 consecutive pictures are same, then it is 4K/2x15fps
if 2 consecutive pictures are not same, then it is 4K/30fps

[Sleep]

i was wrong, i have completely different firmware, i checked now... SoC:
Allwinner V3
Product:
crane-sl609
Manufacturer:
jiangxiaodong
FW date:
20170807
Camera name:

Version:
20170706
LCD model:
st7789v
LCD resolution:
320x240
Sensor model:
imx179

[nutsey]

Sleep according to your backup WASPcam ROX 9941 = D4640B under the hood

[Pete]

@Sleep
Your camera makes "real" 4K/30fps?
I tried your firmware, but it delivers 4K/2x15fps :-( ... grrrrr ...

[Sleep]

@nutsey
i assumed that is good, or?
@pete
still didn't test all cam features, these days i will and report you back...

[Mike]

Hey!

My quality with FW 20170621V01 is very bad. Where I can find FW 20170502V33 ?

Many thanks for your help!

Mike

[Pete]

nutsey is an excellent fw collector :-)

Look message #8 ---> https://www.goprawn.com/forum/allwin...action-cameras

[Mike]

nutsey is an excellent fw collector :-)

Look message #8 ---> https://www.goprawn.com/forum/allwin...action-cameras

20170621V01 > 20170502V33

Ok, at about 80% of the downgrade, the process crashed. Can not start the cam. Display dark, no contact with PC possible.

Remove battery without success.

Only the 2 LEDs on the back in the lower left corner still light up.

[petesimon]

you used Phoenixsuit (or PhoenixUSBPro) to flash the camera?

see this video from TIME 13:52 https://youtu.be/QrTxFjIiHvc?t=832

[Pete]

Try it again - I sometimes got black screen, but after some flashings it worked.
Do it how PhoenixSuit says.

[Mike]

Try it again - I sometimes got black screen, but after some flashings it worked.
Do it how PhoenixSuit says.

Thanks. Cam works again with 20170621V01.

But with 20170502V33 not.

I try it now 8 times. 100% successful, but after restart black screen.

[Pete]

nutsey/petesimon - how to find out which wifi chip is inside?

for cam1 I flashed 6 different firmwares, but noone is 100% okay
most wifi not okay or 4K frames are 1233 5677 or 1233 56788 ... double frames

LOOK post #18




cam1 ... no wifi




wifi okay


wifi okay

[petesimon]

@Pete



the (x) symbol is for "xradio" wifi made by Allwinner company
but without the (x) symbol, the wifi is "8189es" wifi made by the Realtek company

the way to find which wifi is inside your camera is by looking inside the original factory firmware backup and going into ( / system ) / vendor / modules folder and looking for 8189es.ko file or xradio*.ko files.

another way is to totally disassemble the camera and look for a very small wifi chip.

[Pete]

Often with cam1 wifi didn't work, buuuut after a lot of flashings I flashed (original) 20170621 again ...
all okay (2x15fps :-( ), but wifi didn't work. So I changed from app "DVX" to app "Explorer Pro"
and voila: wifi worked ! Don't ask WHY ....

[petesimon]

Pete

So I changed from app "DVX" to app "Explorer Pro"

there are many many apps for these Allwinner V3(s) cameras that are 98% the same, only logo is different and a few menu options are different. but functions / features are the same. I have a collection of wifi apps for android. I suggest you try them to see which one works best for your cams.

download - https://www.dropbox.com/sh/valwz8zch...jv2AMsqia?dl=0

I like HotShot because I (usually) can change wifi name (SSID) and password of the camera.