Technabob » 720p

Absolut Transparency: Samsung Shows Off 46-inch See-Through LCD on Liquor Display

Shane McGlaun — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 00:00:06 +0000

GM is looking at transparent displays for the windows of your car and Samsung is using them to make the coolest and most interactive liquor cooler on the planet (among other things.) Samsung has announced a 46-inch LCD which shows images just like a regular LCD display, except that you can see through it.

Samsung has teamed up with Absolut Vodka to show off the screen on a commercial cooler for its liquor. The screen is the front of the glass cabinet door. The buyers can see advertisements on the door of the cooler and still look inside to see if the cooler is stocked.

The 46-inch LCD screen has a contrast ratio of 4500:1 and a resolution of 1366 x 768 allowing it to show (720p) HD content. The downside is that the see-through design makes the display have worse than normal color reproduction with a 70% color gamut. Still, it’s pretty cool.

Samsung showed off a similar transparent display demo at last week’s CES, which was used to create what they called a “Smart Window.” What other cool uses do you see for a clear display like this?

Kodak Shows Off PLAYFULL Waterproof Camera

Shane McGlaun — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 14:00:37 +0000

There are a bunch of people today that don’t care for tons of zoom and fancy features on their camcorder. Many folks just want a cheap and compact camera that is good enough for uploading to Facebook or YouTube. Kodak has a new digital camcorder that might be perfect for folks like this called the Kodak PLAYFULL Waterproof Camera.

The (woefully mispelled) PLAYFULL comes in black or white colors and is expected to ship this October 28th. The little camera is waterproof to 10-feet. It is dust proof and can survive drops of 5-feet onto plywood. It will come in a version with a 4GB SDHC card and a version without. The camera has 18MB of internal storage and supports SDHC cards up to 32GB. The digital zoom is 2x and it can shoot 1MP still photos and video in 720p resolution at 30 fps.

The screen also offers something called “Glare Shield” which is supposed to adjust the LCD so you can actually view it in bright sunlight – a major problem for many portable cameras today. It also has integrated effects, including sepiatone, B&W, high saturation, and 1970′s film. It has a lithium polymer battery and an integrated USB plug for charging and synchronizing content online. The version with the 4GB card will cost $119.95 (USD) and the version without is $99.95.

Phantom V1610: Shoots Video at up to 1 Million Frames per Second!

Range — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 13:30:30 +0000

You’d expect there to be some fancy cameras that can capture high-speed video for slow motion shots, but I never thought that there would be one that could capture a million frames per second.

But before you get too excited, you should know that Phantom v1610 Camera does the deed as more of a marketing ploy than anything else (it worked on us). Regardless, you’ll be happy to know that it can still capture 720p HD video at a pretty mind-blowing frame rate.

The Phantom V1610 can capture a million frames a second using a ridiculously low resolution of 128×16, so you won’t go bonkers over those images. But at 720p HD resolution, it can still capture at a not-too-shabby 18,100 fps.

If you’re wondering why you’d want something so fast, this high-speed digital camera allows to capture those amazing high-definition, slow-mo shots you’ve been admiring in various TV shows, commercials and music videos. Sadly you’ll have to pay around $100,000 to get this one for your next shoot.

[via Uncrate]

Is This the World’s Smallest HD Camera?

Technabob — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 00:39:31 +0000

You know a camera is small when it’s got the following warning on its product page: “Important: Keep away from small children as it could become a choking hazard.”

While I’m not sure the guys who make this tiny camera have actually checked with the Guinness Book or World Records, I do have to say this is the smallest standalone HD camera I’ve seen.

We’ve written about a couple of other tiny cameras before, but this one definitely looks smaller than either the already miniscule Chobi Cam or the MAME-CAM DX. At just about 1.25″ wide, ChinaVasion’s DV59 micro-camera is definitely small enough to fit in the palm of your hand, and even looks a little bit like a miniature DSLR. Trust me when I say it’s not a DSLR, though.

Despite its size, ChinaVasion claims the camera can shoot 720p (1280×720) video at 30fps. Still images can be captured at up to 8 megapixels, but that’s upsampled from its 2 megapixel CMOS sensor. I don’t get why anyone still quotes upsampled megapixel resolutions anymore. Heck, with Photoshop, I could turn a VGA image into a 20 megapixel image, and it’ll still look like crap.

Still, priced at only $44.49 (USD), it looks like a fun little novelty item, if for nothing else you want to tell your friends that you have the world’s smallest HD camera – except for that one that’s built into every smartphone on the market these days. Oh yeah.

ZionEyez Glasses Have Integrated HD Video Recording

Shane McGlaun — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 17:44:40 +0000

There is no shortage of wearable camcorders on the market today with things like the GoPro and Replay cameras that allow you to wear a camera to get your view of what is happening when you do things. If you want a wearable camcorder that is a little more discrete and don’t mind wearing some ugly eyeglasses, the ZionEyez HD video recording glasses might be just what you need.

These glasses look like the old 80′s shades that were popular when I was a kid. The little sensor is right in front of the right earpiece on the front of the glasses. That sensor records in 720p HD resolution.

The glasses also have a hidden microphone and will offer WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity as well. The recorded video is saved to 8GB of internal storage.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

The battery is good for three hours of recording, which is actually pretty good. There is a microUSB port hidden on one of the side logos for sharing and shooting video over to your computer. The only downside (other than the questionable looks of the glasses) is that the things cost $199.99 (USD). If you pre-order though, you’ll get them for $149.99.

[via ZDNet]

TS3Cine Camera Shoots 720fps at 720p Resolution

Technabob — Sat, 23 Apr 2011 15:03:00 +0000

These days, there are even cheap consumer cameras that can shoot high-speed video. However, the resolution loss in high speed mode is so abysmal that it pretty much prevents you from shooting the cool sort of slow-motion action shots you really wanted to capture in the first place. If you’ve got the budget, the TS3Cine camera can shoot not only at high speeds, but at high resolutions.

Fastec’s TS3Cine can shoot 1280×720 images at an astounding 720 frames-per-second, and up to 500fps at 1280×1024. And if you don’t mind reducing resolutions, it can shoot at up to 20,000 fps. The camera even has a self-contained 7-inch LCD screen, so you can see exactly what you’re shooting right away. This is a rarity on pro-grade high-speed cameras. The camera can handle about 3 hours of shooting on a single charge, and has a built-in SSD that can hold up to 256GB of video.

Here’s some footage of what you might be able to expect out of the TS3Cine, and there’s a great gallery of additional sample video over on Vimeo.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

The TS3Cine sells for $29,900 (USD) – plus the 256GB SSD will add another $2k, so most people will want to rent this camera – with day rates likely to be around $500 to $600. It’s available exclusively from Rule Boston Camera.

[via Wide Open Camera and Cool Things]

World’s Largest HD Video Wall Speeds Into Charlotte Motor Speedway

Shane McGlaun — Sat, 25 Sep 2010 13:00:59 +0000

The new stadium that the Dallas Cowboys plays in here in Texas has a gigantic video screen hanging from the ceiling and the thing is awesomely huge. There are other massive video walls in use around the country in stadiums and other places where many people congregate to watch sports. Now, the Charlotte Motor Speedway is getting the world’s largest video wall thanks to Panasonic.

The massive video wall will sit between turns two and three and is designed to be viewed by spectators sitting in the turn four to turn one area of the track. It’s hard to fathom how massive the screen will be when finished. It will cover 16,000 square feet, which is larger than the grocery store up the street from me.

The behemoth will measure 200-feet wide by 80-feet tall and weigh 165,000 pounds. It will offer a 720p resolution image produced by 9 million LEDs. I don’t even want to think how much power the beast will draw. It will be used for all sorts of coverage of races and interactive content with construction starting next month and finishing in April 2011.

Pentax Optio W90 May be More Rugged Than You Are

Shane McGlaun — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 18:22:04 +0000

I have a friend that fell four feet the other day and broke his leg half off. Well, maybe not half off but enough that no one wants to hang out with him until he stops whining about it. Pentax has a new camera called the W90 that could have fallen the same four feet as my pal and never missed a beat, confirming the fact that my friend is a massive wuss.

The Optio W90 can survive those four-foot drops and is waterproof to 20-feet. You can even take pics underwater and in temperatures that are freezing. This sounds like the perfect camera to strap to the back of a penguin as he is attacked by a seal while floating on an iceberg.

The camera has a 2.7-inch LCD, 5x optical zoom, and a 12.1-megapixel sensor. It can also record 720p HD resolution video and has HDMI out for hooking to your big screen. The W90 will ship in April for $329.95.

Newman Newsmy A18hd Media Player Looks Mighty Slim

Technabob — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 06:01:39 +0000

I must start out this post by saying that I rarely trust artist’s renderings of gadgets before they’re released, as they’re almost never what the real thing looks like. That said, this new media player LOOKS pretty slick from the concept renders, but I haven’t found any photos of the real thing.

The Newman Newsmy A18HD (nice name there) is a new media player out of China, which claims to offer a spectacularly svelte 9.8mm thick form factor (which is a couple of millimeters thinner than an iPhone at it’s thinnest point). In addition to its striking looks, the A18HD has 16GB of built-in memory, and sports an oversize 5-inch, 16-million color LCD display. The device can play videos in 720p resolution, but the screen’s resolution is an underwhelming 480 x 272, so you’ll want to connect the included component video cable if you have any hope of playing back your flicks at higher resolutions.

Audio formats supported include MP3, WMA and FLAC, while video can be played in RM, RMVB, AVI, and FLV formats (although I’m not sure if you need to do any conversion first, which is often the case with cheap Chinese media players). The A18HD also supports what Newsmy is calling “64-bit games” – whatever those might be. I doubt you’ll be playing your old N64 titles on here, but I could be wrong.

If you’re willing to take a gamble on one of these, head on over to Ownta.com, and plunk down your hard earned $142.71 (USD). I have a funny feeling that none of the instructions are in English.

[via Ounae]

Pink HD Camcorder: Because Girls Like Digital Video Too

Technabob — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 13:09:45 +0000

More and more gadgets are starting to turn up in colors besides basic black, white or grey. It was only a matter of time before the good old camcorder got a colorful makeover – in pink.

This cheery pink digital camcorder is perfect for girls (and very confident men) who want to shoot video and are sick of the same old, same old. Just like the big boys, the pink HD cam can shoot 720p high-definition video at up to 30 fps in H.264 format. See, these girls are definitely stoked about those stats…

Girl on right: “Hey, did you know my HD digi-cam can shoot digital video at 1280×720 resolution with a frame rate of 30 frames-per-second and encodes its data using a Quicktime H.264 codec?” Girl on left: “Shut up and take my picture already! Can’t you see I was busy listening to some tunes in Ogg Vorbis format!”

The pink cam has even got a pair of SD slots, each of which can hold 16GB of memory, so you can store up to 32GB of digital video if you load up both slots. In addition to shooting video, the pink cam will take still photos at up to 5-megapixel resolution. Video is displayed on the camera’s large 3-inch touchscreen display. And it’s pink – with ruby-colored sparklies!

Pricing hasn’t been announced yet, but you can check back over on Chinavasion for more information. Think pink!

Sony Vpl-Aw10 and Vpl-Aw15 Projectors From $1000

Technabob — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 17:56:32 +0000

Sony today announced a new series of agressively-priced LCD front projectors, the Bravia VPL-AW10 ($1000 MSRP) and VPL-AW15 ($1300 MSRP).

Both projectors feature a widescreen 3-LCD panel with 720p native resolution, and a bright 165-watt UHP lamp. They both include versions of Sony’s well-reviewed advanced iris system, providing the AW10 with a 6000:1 contrast ratio and a 12,000:1 contrast ratio for the AW15. The more expensive of the two models also includes lens shift capabilities to provide installation flexibility. They’re also designed for quiet operation with a low noise fan mode that can be as quiet as 20dB.

If you’re looking to set up a really big screen home theater set up (say between 80 and 200 inches diagonal,) and don’t have a lot of money to invest, this looks like it could be a great way to get into the game. Sure, the projector doesn’t have the full 1920×1080 resolution of today’s more expensive models, but it is capable of handling 720p, 1080i and 1080p sources, so you’ll be able to enjoy all high definition content regardless. Both projectors are both expected to start shipping this June.

[Press Release]

God of War 2 to Run in High Def on PS3?

Technabob — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 17:15:50 +0000

[UPDATE 2/13/07: IGN has since updated their original review, now stating that SCEA has confirmed that the title will only run in 480p. Bummer.]

I was already psyched for the impending release of God of War II for the Sony PlayStation 2, but now there’s even more reason to rejoice. According to IGN’s review of the upcoming game (9.7 out of 10), not only does the game kick some serious butt, it will play at full 720p resolution when running on a PlayStation 3.

It’s too soon to know if the 720p mode will improve texture quality or just polygon resolution. If executed properly, this little upgrade could be a significant bonus for those of use who’ve picked up a PS3. Since IGN was reviewing a pre-release build, they didn’t get a chance to actually play it in high definition, so we’ll have to wait a few weeks to know for sure. God of War II is expected to hit shelves on March 13, 2007.

[via Joystiq]