GoPro HERO5 Black Video Sizes, Framerates, Modes & Options

The GoPro HERO5 Black shares many of the same video modes with its predecessor, the HERO4 Black.

The top-end video modes remain 4K30, 1080p120, and 720p240. So if you were hoping for 8K video or 4K60, you’ll have to wait a bit longer yet.

Two new additional features are available in many, but not all, video modes. They are the new Linear FOV mode, which corrects for fisheye distortion in-camera, and the built-in video stabilization that smooths out the footage in the camera.

Relative Sizes and Aspect Ratios

Here’s a graphic showing the relative sizes and aspect ratios of the available video resolutions. Click on the image to open a full-size version at 1:1.

Note that in practice the zoom is done from the center of the frame.

Video File Types on the HERO5 Black

The HERO5 Black outputs .mp4 files in 8-bits with a variable bitrate setting. They’re encoded with the widely compatible H.264 (AVC) video codec, so you can edit and share them just about anywhere and with nearly all video editing, playing, and sharing software and services.

Fields of View When Shooting Video with the HERO5 Black

The GoPro HERO5 has a fixed lens, but it’s capable of outputting video in five different fields of view, or FOV settings (FOV is also often known as lens perspective).

Not every FOV setting is available in every combination of resolution and framerate–see the table below for details. The different video FOV settings available are:

SuperView FOV

Unique to GoPro (and trademarked by them), SuperView is an even wider view than the standard wide view. It’s good for an exaggerated immersive look such as from chest harnesses or helmets, but it also adds even more distortion by stretching the content.

Wide FOV

This is with the most commonly used settings. It provides a large field of view in wide-angle but also adds that distinctive fisheye look that GoPro footage has become known for.

(It’s possible to correct the fisheye distortion in post-production.)

Medium FOV

This is a zoomed-in field of view, focusing on the center of the frame. Note that the “zooming” is a digital manipulation, not an optical change in the lens. That is, it’s really a type of cropping, although the output dimensions remain the same.

Linear FOV

This is a new setting with the HERO5 line that corrects for the fisheye distortion in-camera rather than having to do it in post-production. It’s good if you want a more traditional perspective, for aerial drone footage, or you don’t want bendy lines that should be straight. It does reduce the field of view around the edges of the frame.

I have more detail on the linear FOV setting here, along with more examples.

Narrow FOV

This is the most-zoomed-in perspective. But again, it’s really a type of digital cropping, not optical zooming (although the output video dimensions remain the same).

It’s also worth noting that there are actually two versions of the Narrow FOV: the one used in the ultra-high-speed 720p240 setting is smaller than at the other resolutions and framerates.

Protune Settings on the HERO5 Black

Protune is GoPro’s name for its suite of expert controls that lets you override some of the automatic exposure settings.

Protune Option	HERO11 Black	HERO9 Black	HERO8 Black	HERO7 Black	HERO6 Black	HERO5 Black	HERO4 Black	HERO4 Silver	HERO Session
10-Bit	On Off (default)	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Bitrate	Standard (default) High	Low (default) High	Low (default) High	-	-	-	-	-	-
Color	Vibrant Natural (default) Flat	GoPro Color Flat	GoPro Color Flat	GoPro Color Flat	GoPro Color Flat	GoPro Color Flat	GoPro Color Flat	GoPro Color Flat	GoPro Color Flat
White Balance	Auto (default) 2300K 2800K 3200K 4000K 4500K 5500K 6000K 6500K Native	Auto 2300K 2800K 3200K 4000K 4500K 5500K 6000K 6500K Native	Auto 2300K 2800K 3200K 4000K 4500K 5500K 6000K 6500K Native	Auto 2300K 2800K 3200K 4000K 4500K 5500K 6000K 6500K Native	Auto 2300K 2800K 3200K 4000K 4500K 5500K 6000K 6500K Native	Auto 3000K 4000K 4800K 5500K 6000K 6500K Native	Auto 3000K 4000K 4800K 5500K 6000K 6500K Native	Auto 3000K 4000K 4800K 5500K 6000K 6500K Native	Auto 3000K 5500K 6500K Native
Manual Exposure / Shutter*	Auto (default) 1/fps 1/(2xfps) 1/(4xfps) 1/(8xfps) 1/(16xfps)	Auto 1/fps 1/(2xfps) 1/(4xfps) 1/(8xfps) 1/(16xfps)	Auto 1/fps 1/(2xfps) 1/(4xfps) 1/(8xfps) 1/(16xfps)	Auto 1/24 1/25 1/30 1/48 1/50 1/60 1/96 1/100 1/120 1/192 1/200 1/240 1/384 1/400 1/480 1/960 1/1920 1/3840	Auto 1/24 1/25 1/30 1/48 1/50 1/60 1/96 1/100 1/120 1/192 1/200 1/240 1/400 1/480 1/960 1/1920	Auto 1/24 1/25 1/30 1/48 1/50 1/60 1/80 1/96 1/100 1/120 1/160 1/192 1/200 1/240 1/320 1/400 1/480 1/960	Auto 1/60 1/120 1/240	Auto 1/60 1/120 1/240	-
ISO Limit	6400 3200 1600 800 400 200 100	6400 3200 1600 800 400 200 100	6400 3200 1600 800 400 200 100	6400 3200 1600 800 400 200 100	6400 3200 1600 800 400 200 100	6400 3200 1600 1200 800 400	6400 3200 1600 1200 800 400	6400 3200 1600 1200 800 400	1600 400
Sharpness	High Medium (default) Low	High Medium (default) Low	High Medium (default) Low	High Medium (default) Low	High Medium (default) Low	High Medium (default) Low	High Medium Low	High Medium Low	OFF ON
Exposure Compensation	-2 to +2	-2 to +2	-2 to +2	-2 to +2	-2 to +2	-2 to +2	-2 to +2	-2 to +2	-2 to +2
Raw Audio Track	Off (default) Low Mid High	Off Low Mid High	Off Low Mid High	Off Low Mid High	Off Low Mid High	Off Low Mid High	-	-	-
Wind	Auto (default) On Off	Auto On Off	Auto On Off				-	-	-
Auto Audio Mode Group	-	Auto On Off	Auto On Off	Auto Wind Only Stereo Only	-	-	-	-	-

* Note on manual shutter: The specific options available in the manual exposure / shutter section vary by the framerate you've chosen. The available shutter speeds you'll see available will be limited to multiples of the framerate you're using. As an example, if you set it to record at 1080p60, you won't see the option for a manual shutter speed of 1/96 but you will see 1/120 and 1/240. In general, the scale goes 1/fps, 1/(2xfps), 1/(4xfps), 1(8xfps), and 1(16xfps).

Master List of Video Modes Available on the GoPro HERO5 Black

Here’s a master list of all the video resolutions and framerates, along with the corresponding bitrates and whether or not stabilization is available with that setting.

Resolution	FPS	FOV	Dimensions	Aspect Ratio	Bitrate (megabits/s) - Protune / + Protune	Stabilization?
4K	30	Wide	3840x2160	16:9	60 / 60	-
	25	Wide	3840x2160	16:9	60 / 60	-
	24	Wide	3840x2160	16:9	60 / 60	-
		SuperView	3840x2160	16:9	60 / 60	-
2.7K	60	Wide	2704x1520	16:9	60 / 60	✓
		Medium	2704x1520	16:9	60 / 60	✓
		Linear	2704x1520	16:9	60 / 60	✓
	50	Wide	2704x1520	16:9	60 / 60	✓
		Medium	2704x1520	16:9	60 / 60	✓
		Linear	2704x1520	16:9	60 / 60	✓
	48	Wide	2704x1520	16:9	60 / 60	✓
		Medium	2704x1520	16:9	60 / 60	✓
		Linear	2704x1520	16:9	60 / 60	✓
	30	SuperView	2704x1520	16:9	45 / 45	✓
		Wide	2704x1520	16:9	45 / 45	✓
		Medium	2704x1520	16:9	45 / 45	✓
		Linear	2704x1520	16:9	45 / 45	✓
	25	SuperView	2704x1520	16:9	45 / 45	✓
		Wide	2704x1520	16:9	45 / 45	✓
		Medium	2704x1520	16:9	45 / 45	✓
		Linear	2704x1520	16:9	45 / 45	✓
	24	Wide	2704x1520	16:9	45 / 45	✓
		Medium	2704x1520	16:9	45 / 45	✓
		Linear	2704x1520	16:9	45 / 45	✓
2.7K 4:3	30	Wide	2704x2028	4:3	45 / 60	✓
	25	Wide	2704x2028	4:3	45 /	✓
1440p	80	Wide	1920x1440	4:3	60 / 60	-
	60	Wide	1920x1440	4:3	45 / 60	✓
	50	Wide	1920x1440	4:3	30 / 45	✓
	48	Wide	1920x1440	4:3	30 / 45	✓
	30	Wide	1920x1440	4:3	30 / 30	✓
	25	Wide	1920x1440	4:3	30 / 30	✓
	24	Wide	1920x1440	4:3	30 / 30	✓
1080p	120	Wide	1920x1080	16:9	60 / 60	-
		Narrow	1920x1080	16:9	60 / 60	-
	90	Wide	1920x1080	16:9	60 / 60	-
	80	SuperView	1920x1080	16:9	60 / 60	-
	60	SuperView	1920x1080	16:9	30 / 45	✓
		Wide	1920x1080	16:9	30 / 45	✓
		Medium	1920x1080	16:9	30 / 45	✓
		Linear	1920x1080	16:9	30 / 45	✓
		Narrow	1920x1080	16:9	30 / 45	✓
	50	SuperView	1920x1080	16:9	30 / 30	✓
		Wide	1920x1080	16:9	30 / 30	✓
		Medium	1920x1080	16:9	30 / 30	✓
		Linear	1920x1080	16:9	30 / 30	✓
		Narrow	1920x1080	16:9	30 / 30	✓
	48	SuperView	1920x1080	16:9	30 / 30	✓
		Wide	1920x1080	16:9	30 / 30	✓
		Medium	1920x1080	16:9	30 / 30	✓
		Linear	1920x1080	16:9	30 / 30	✓
		Narrow	1920x1080	16:9	30 / 30	✓
	30	SuperView	1920x1080	16:9	30 / 30	✓
		Wide	1920x1080	16:9	30 / 30	✓
		Medium	1920x1080	16:9	30 / 30	✓
		Linear	1920x1080	16:9	30 / 30	✓
		Narrow	1920x1080	16:9	30 / 30	✓
	25	SuperView	1920x1080	16:9	30 / 30	✓
		Wide	1920x1080	16:9	30 / 30	✓
		Medium	1920x1080	16:9	30 / 30	✓
		Linear	1920x1080	16:9	30 / 30	✓
		Narrow	1920x1080	16:9	30 / 30	✓
	24	SuperView	1920x1080	16:9	30 / 30	✓
		Wide	1920x1080	16:9	30 / 30	✓
		Medium	1920x1080	16:9	30 / 30	✓
		Linear	1920x1080	16:9	30 / 30	✓
		Narrow	1920x1080	16:9	30 / 30	✓
960p	120	Wide	1280x960	4:3	30 / 45	-
	60	Wide	1280x960	4:3	30 / 30	✓
	50	Wide	1280x960	4:3	30 / 30	✓
720p	240	Narrow*	1280x720	16:9	60	-
	120	SuperView	1280x720	16:9	30 / 45	-
		Wide	1280x720	16:9	30 / 45	-
		Medium	1280x720	16:9	30 / 45	-
		Narrow	1280x720	16:9	30 / 45	-
	100	SuperView	1280x720	16:9	30 / 30	-
	60	SuperView	1280x720	16:9	30 / 30	✓
		Wide	1280x720	16:9	30 / 30	✓
		Medium	1280x720	16:9	30 / 30	✓
		Narrow	1280x720	16:9	30 / 30	✓
	50	SuperView	1280x720	16:9	30 / 30	✓
		Wide	1280x720	16:9	30 / 30	✓
		Medium	1280x720	16:9	30 / 30	✓
		Narrow	1280x720	16:9	30 / 30	✓
	30	Wide	1280x720	16:9	20 / 45	✓
		Medium	1280x720	16:9	20 / 45	✓
		Narrow	1280x720	16:9	20 / 45	✓
	25	Wide	1280x720	16:9	20 / 45	✓
		Medium	1280x720	16:9	20 / 45	✓
		Narrow	1280x720	16:9	20 / 45	✓
480p	240	Wide	848x480	16:9	30 / 30	-

Video Bitrates

The HERO5 Black retains the 60 megabits per second (60 Mb/s) bitrate for the top-end video modes, with lesser modes at 45, 30, and 20 megabits per second. See the table above for details on which bitrates used for individual modes, with and without Protune.

Video Formats

The HERO5 Black can shoot in NTSC and PAL formats—you choose which in the main camera preferences, not in the video settings where you might expect it.

Some FPS settings are only available in the corresponding format. For instance, if you want to shoot at 50fps, perhaps to match some existing footage, then you’ll need to first put the camera into PAL format.