Now I know why Fatshark wouldn’t upgrade their built-in DVR, because they wanted you to buy the better DVR separately :D Joke aside, we will check out this PowerPlay DVR from ImmersionRC, a new gadget designed for for FPV Goggles.

Some of the links on this page are affiliate links. I receive a commission (at no extra cost to you) if you make a purchase after clicking on one of these affiliate links. This helps support the free content for the community on this website. Please read our Affiliate Link Policy for more information.

What’s Special about the PowerPlay DVR?

The ImmersionRC PowerPlay DVR is designed for FPV Goggles, especially the Fatshark Goggles.

Fatshark Goggles are known to have relatively low quality built-in DVR, and that’s why you might want to get the PowerPlay. It records high quality DVR footage, in 60FPS and H.264 encoding (just like GoPro videos). And the bit-rate is going to be considerably higher too.

In fact, you can connect it to any FPV goggles or video receiver, as long as they have an “AV OUT” port.

Another cool thing is that the PowerPlay can also power your FPV Goggles, as there are 2S 18500 Li-Ion cells inside (NOT 18650). Batteries can be re-charged inside the DVR via a USB-C connector.

It’s quite a compact design, so you can strap it to your headstrap just like a normal goggle battery.

And there is a 4-bar battery voltage indicator on top, similar to the one on the Fatshark Goggle battery.

Good feature doesn’t end there, there is even a built-in screen.

And it has a power button that everyone has been asking to have on the Fatshark Goggles :) Genius! It powers both the DVR and FPV goggles.

Where to Buy the PowerPlay DVR?

It hasn’t been released at the time of writing, so I have not tried it myself yet. However you can pre-order it from these places now if you cannot wait:

• Banggood: http://bit.ly/2nM2SGb
• GetFPV: http://bit.ly/2okaH6k

Comes with the following accessories:

• 2x 18500 1400mAh Li-ion Batteries (installed, you can upgrade to 2040mAh)
• 1x Head Strap Clip
• 1x Over-head Strap
• 1x Replacement fan cover mounting kit w/Strap clip
• 1x Short DC/AV ‘Y’ cable for head-mounting use (incl. Fan Power)
• 1x Long DC/AV ‘Y’ cable for pocket use (incl. Fan Power)

Specifications

• Power Source: 2x 18500 Li-ion cells (without protection circuits)
• DVR  Video File Format: h264 (AVC)
• DVR Resolution: 720×576 (PAL), 720×480 (NTSC)
• DVR Bit-Rate: ~15Mbps (PAL), ~8Mbps (NTSC)
• 6cm LCD screen (2.4 inch)
• USB-C Charging

Review?

I hope they have a voltage regulator onboard to step up the voltage, otherwise using Li-Ion cells to power the goggles, the goggles will start beeping low voltage half way.

Honestly I don’t really care too much about the better DVR for the Goggles. I mostly use my receiver-side DVR for tracking down my crashed quad, video quality is just not good enough for proper FPV videos on Youtube.

Analogue video quality is inherently bad, it gets even worse after going through the 5.8GHz link. Not to mention it will be further ruined by interference and break-up. I wish someone makes a good onboard DVR that connects directly to the FPV camera. It’s a better way to capture the best possible analogue video.

And it’s unclear if the screen is capable of showing live video, or just DVR playbacks. I hope it does both, so you can use it for showing spectators your flying. If it only plays back DVR that would be pretty disappointing.

Once it’s available I will get one and test it out :)