Will this gadget kill 3D?
Want to know what the death knell for 3D content looks like? Check out these pictures.
- Ty was nominated for Best New Journalist at the Australian IT Journalism awards, but he has only ever won one thing. As a youth, he was awarded a free session for the photography studio at a local supermarket.
3D: prepare to meet your doom.
The Aiptek 3D HD Camcorder i2 is a pocket-sized camcorder designed to bring the joys of 3D to the masses.
The problem is that unlike 2D, shooting 3D footage requires a set of rules that should be followed if you don't want to find your lap full of diced carrots. We're betting the person who buys this camera will be blissfully unaware of this, however. But, if we were a glass-half-empty internet type, we'd say it could also mean the birth of new 3D techniques not seen before. Time will tell, we say, while we puke.
The device features two cameras at less than the optimal 8cm apart, and the footage that we saw of the Computex show floor was in 3D, which wasn't very convincing.
The screen on the back features a 3D effect without glasses, though you can turn this effect off. Like many of these screens it has very low res in 3D mode and is fairly hard to look at.
The sensor is 5 megapixels and shoots up to 720p in 2D, and presumably half this for 3D. It shoots in MP4 format, and JPEG for stills. It has a small 128MB of storage on board, as well as an SD card slot.
To ensure you can inflict the maximum amount of hurlage, the camera comes with both an HDMI output and "YouTube 3D" software.
We are going to cut Aiptek a small break here, though, as we feel that any 3D camcorder will produce similar results in the wrong hands, and we actually look forward to playing with the gadget when it arrives in Australia.
The Aiptek i2 will be available in July 2010 for US$199. Australian pricing is yet to be confirmed.