World’s first 3D camcorder for home movies unveiled
By IANSWednesday, July 28, 2010
LONDON - The 3D revolution has so far been all about Hollywood blockbusters and major sporting events. But now, the cutting-edge technology is coming closer to home.
Treasured moments such as a child’s first steps or a university graduation can be captured in 3D with the arrival of the first camcorder - capable of filming in more than two dimensions, says the Daily Mail.
Unveiled by Panasonic Wednesday, the 1,300 pound HDC-SDT750 3D model works using a sophisticated double lens.
Company spokesman Barnaby Sykes said: “Just as we have two eyes, so the 3D camcorder has two lenses side by side. The camcorder acts like the human brain in converging the two images together to create one picture in 3D.”
The images can be played back on 3D television sets. They can be watched through so-called active shutter glasses, which open and close over each eye in an alternating pattern 60 times a second.
This means that each eye sees a slightly different view of the same scene, so the brain is tricked into thinking it is seeing a single image in 3D.
“Our research indicates that people will want 3D to record important family moments. That offers a huge emotional pull,” Sykes said.
The camcorder has a slot for memory cards to store the footage and create a 3D library of a family’s most important moments. This can be slotted into a 3D television set for viewing.
Customers can also buy a 3D burner to copy the film footage on to DVDs, to be stored and viewed later through a Blu-ray DVD player.
In the future, the lens system could be used to allow people to make 3D video calls over the internet, making this sort of communication much more like real life.
Other functions on the 3D camcorder include face recognition, where the camera seeks out a particular person in a group shot and ensures it is focused on them.
Many of the world’s technology giants have launched 3D TV sets in recent months. Sony also offers a camera to create 3D still images.
The Panasonic HDC-SDT750 will be available from September.
