DailyTech - Sharp Unveils New 3D Camera Module

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Gadgets Sharp Unveils New 3D Camera Module
Shane McGlaun (Blog) - May 12, 2010 10:28 AM

19 comment(s) - last by someguy123.. on May 12 at 7:04 PM

Camera module is the first to record 3D 720p images

3D is here in a big way in 2010 and will continue to grow as the technology matures. There are many 3D-ready TVs and home theater products already available and a glut of 3D content is coming to take advantage of the screens.

Sharp is making a lot of different 3D tech from displays to a new camera module that the company introduced today. The new 3D camera module is the industry's first camera module capable of capturing 720p resolution 3D images. Samples of the camera module will start shipping in July and mass production of the new camera is set to begin in 2010.

Sharp is also working on a 3D screen that requires no glasses. This screen is rumored to be the screen set for use in the Nintendo 3DS portable game console. Combine that screen tech with the new 3D camera module and a portable game console for 3D gaming and video recording might be a reality soon.

Sharp's camera module uses two cameras that take images simultaneously. The camera module requires additional circuitry to apply required processing between the two captured images to adjust color or correct the position between the images for 3D effects. The Sharp design is able to process the left and right images into a single 3D image.

The module has Color Synchronizing Processing to adjust the color and brightness of each image, Time Synchronizing Processing to sync the timing of the video signals, and optical Axis Control Processing to correct the position of the device. Sharp plans to embed the 3D camera in a range of electronic devices including digital cameras, mobile phones, and smartphones.

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Finally!

By FaceMaster on 5/12/2010 10:48:02 AM , Rating: 1

I am very pleased to see 3D finally starting to take off. A bit like HD resolutions with films, it's taken too long to implement. I can see ourselves looking back in 10 years time, wondering how we could live with out 3D pictures and videos. And games. Don't forget the games. Youtube has the feature, Nvidia is beginning to implement it, and the latest movies are doing it. Once 3D monitors and the like are launched I reckon the switch from 2D to 3D could be quite shot.

And could some one please make the visual equivalent of headphones, please?

*Buys website names relating to 3D porn*

RE: Finally!

By hughlle on 5/12/2010 11:06:14 AM , Rating: 2

yet we now have affordable HD EVERYWHERE, and yet i can still watch, not look back, but watch, video's, dvd's, and think at the end of the i really couldn't care less.

more like in 10 years you'll look back and think wow avatar was crap, what a gimmick.

i've watched 3d and 2d and it's just a novelty

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RE: Finally!

By FaceMaster on 5/12/2010 1:47:50 PM , Rating: 2

It's inevitable that for the most convincing experience, you'll need to require all 5 senses. Since some are impossible to simulate at the moment, we might as well perfect the ones we can record.

Have you got an archive of family videos? I'd love to start documenting mine in 3D.

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RE: Finally!

By ekv on 5/12/2010 5:56:56 PM , Rating: 2

quote:
It's inevitable

... Steve Jobs will require it 8)

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RE: Finally!

By someguy123 on 5/12/2010 7:04:03 PM , Rating: 3

I may agree with you for 3D, since it sort of chops up video into layers instead of giving a sense of realistic depth, but HD on an HD screen is substantially better in quality than DVD.

As big as VHS to DVD? No, but still pretty huge with a good screen.

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RE: Finally!

By FormulaRedline on 5/12/2010 11:19:57 AM , Rating: 2

Unlike hughlle, I can tell the difference between HD and SD and watching SD looks blurry, like I've taken out my contacts or something. It's very annoying and if it's not HD, I just don't watch it (with the obvious exception of things like short YouTube clips).

Recently I purchased an iZ3D monitor. This is a dual layered and polarized monitor that lets me game in 3D using movie theater style polarized glasses (versus active shutter glasses like nVidia's solution). It's new technology with a lot of ghosting in the image that requires you to be comfortable with tweaking the software. It's only 1680x1050 resolution.

I've got a beautiful Dell 3007wfp-hc sitting right next to it with sharp 2560x1600 resolution and amazingly true colors...and it's been relegated to web browsing. Games look amazing on the 1600p monitor, but I just can't go back to 2D when I've got the option, even an early work-in-progress option, to play in 3D.

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RE: Finally!

By Connoisseur on 5/12/2010 11:23:26 AM , Rating: 2

Ehh I disagree. At least moving from SD to HD, you get some tangible extra content in the form of more detail (individual peach fuzz hairs on Megan Fox for ex.). The current 3D really is just an illusion. No matter how hard you look or strain, you're not getting any more detail or information. It's not like I can change my viewing angle and suddenly see something I didn't before.

I think the true 3D revolution will come in the form of either:
a) True 3D holographic displays or
b) 3D camera systems which let you rotate a video (live or otherwise) in any angle to see the action from different perspectives. Imagine being able to watch a football game from the top down to see the formation and then seamlessly zooming in (via your control) to see the sweat on the QB's face.

Well at least those two things would be a lot cooler than the "3D" we have now which is basically the equivalent of crossing your eyes to see the picture in those "Magic 3D" books.

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RE: Finally!

By Spivonious on 5/12/2010 11:56:24 AM , Rating: 2

3D is a gimmick. As long as the viewer has to wear glasses to watch it, it will never catch on in the mainstream.

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RE: Finally!

By FaceMaster on 5/12/2010 1:44:44 PM , Rating: 2

quote:
3D is a gimmick

I agree, but I consider glasses necessary at the moment, since there's no other way of doing it. The first computers might have been gimmicky but look where they've ended up. We'll be thankful when 3D becomes more accessible and easy to use when we already have a list of compatible games and films dating back to pre-2010.

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RE: Finally!

By Spivonious on 5/12/2010 2:57:39 PM , Rating: 3

Computers have never been gimmicky. They took up whole floors of buildings and were used to perform mathematical calculations.

And there is at least one company (whose name escapes me) who has a 3D TV that doesn't use glasses, but does depend on a pretty narrow viewing angle.

3D movies have existed since the 1950s. If they haven't caught on by now, they're never going to catch on.

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RE: Finally!

By Anoxanmore on 5/12/2010 1:52:36 PM , Rating: 2

I want my holodeck....

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3D porn cometh

By Shadowmaster625 on 5/12/2010 10:45:02 AM , Rating: 2

Once all the porn producers buy these, the prices should come down.

RE: 3D porn cometh

By Kurz on 5/12/2010 10:48:31 AM , Rating: 2

Now I just need to know what kind of glasses I would need...
Preferably the easy to clean kind.

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RE: 3D porn cometh

By MrBlastman on 5/12/2010 11:57:06 AM , Rating: 2

Depends, in some cases you might have to worry about cleaning the camera. What a sticky situation...

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RE: 3D porn cometh

By metaltoiletry on 5/12/2010 11:24:58 AM , Rating: 2

Once Porn accepts 3D there's no stopping 3D. Porn is always the deciding factor of new mediums and viewing technologies.

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RE: 3D porn cometh

By GuinnessKMF on 5/12/2010 12:03:28 PM , Rating: 2

Stereoscopic photography is nothing new, even this device isn't really "first in the industry" there are companies that sell multi-lense cameras not just 2, but whole arrays, allowing for even better depth detection.

You can make your own stereoscopic photos with your current camera, just take a picture, move the camera horizontally 2.5" and take the picture again. Set the two pictures up next to each other reversed (so right on the left), then cross your eyes until the two pictures merge, and VOILA! 3D. There's a website, Milk3d (something like that), that has a lot of great "cross your eyes" stereoscopic photos of nature and the like ... They also have some softcore 3d porn.

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Nintendo 3DS

By CZroe on 5/12/2010 12:57:38 PM , Rating: 2

The Nintendo DSi has two cameras, one for self-portrait and one forward-facing. If they can somehow make these pivot they would be great for the DSi successor (tentatively titled "3DS"). I can imagine that a video chat would be much more amusing if the other person's face appeared to pop up a bit from the screen.

That said, I do not believe these are spaced far enough apart to record proper "human perspective" 3D in most cases. Blown up stuff from the perspective of a leprechaun might work well. ;)

RE: Nintendo 3DS

By SuckRaven on 5/12/2010 4:51:53 PM , Rating: 2

Dad: And here, little Timmy, is your great great great great grandfather in glorious 3D.

lil' Timmy: Ewwwww. Is that what that smell is?

Dad: Yes son. People back in the day thought using all 5 senses to record family albums was gimmicky, but we know better now. That's what he would have smelled like 150 years ago.

lil' Timmy: I bet he doesn't smell so good anymore.

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