The HD Hero 960 uses a rechargeable battery. When it is fully charged, the camera should work for as long as 2.5 hours. It can be recharged using the included USB cable.
Pictures and videos are stored to SD and SDHC memory cards…cards up to 32 GB can be used. The average recording times are:
WVGA (60 fps): 8 hours, 9 minutes
720p (30 fps): 8 hours, 9 minutes
960p (30 fps): 5 hours, 26 minutes
The HD Hero 960 has a 5 megapixel camera that records video to H.264 compression, as MPEG4 (.mp4):
WVGA = 848×480 pixels (16:9), 60 fps, 8 Mbit/s data rate
720p = 1280×720 pixels (16:9), 30 fps, 8 Mbit/s data rate
960p = 1280×960 pixels (4:3), 30 fps, 12 Mbit/s data rate
Still photographs can be taken in single-shot, triple-shot, and self-timer modes. The camera can be set to take a shot in intervals of 2, 5, 10, 30, and 60 seconds until the battery is dead or the memory card is full.
Files on the memory card can also be accessed via the USB cable.
The housing is waterproof, and there are accessories to use with it:
a curved adhesive mount (for helmets)…
a helmet front mount (so the face of the person wearing the helmet can be seen)…
a flat adhesive mount…
a headlamp-style head strap…
and a quick-release buckle (that connects the camera housing to the mounts).
An HDTV can be connected to the HD Hero 960 via a component HDTV-out port. The audio-out port also disributes the composite video out. NTSC and PAL options are available for recording and playback.
To my surprise, the camera does not record a “flat” view as most cameras do…it has that “bowl” effect, like most videos I’ve seen from helmet cams on motorcross competitors. But, then again, that IS what this was designed for. The angle of view is 170º.