If you already know the basics of 3D video camera technology and/or looking for 3D video camera reviews, please skip this post and visit our homepage. However, if you are interested in learning about 3D camcorder recording and 3 dimensional technology altogether, sit back and enjoy the read.
Stereoscopy – the science behind 3D video camera recording
A regular photograph taken with a regular digital camera or a regular movie shot by a video camera is essentially two dimensional. In other words you can appreciate height and width, but the perception of the 3rd dimension, that is depth, is relatively poor. That is because you are watching the movie or image on a 2 dimensional plane. With 3D technology, the illusion of depth in an image or video is being enhanced. This is known as stereoscopy. In very simple terms, what happens in 3D imaging is that two separate 2D images are presented to the left and right eyes. Inside the brain, these two dimensional images are combined to provide the viewer an appreciation of depth. You may have heard that if you close one of your eyes, you can only see a 2-D image. So if you are to perceive depth, it is necessary that two different images are presented to the two eyes whether it is a still picture or a video playback that you are watching.
Therefore, with a 3D video camera, you need two different lenses to record two different movies that will be directed to the two eyes separately! That is the reason why most 3D video cameras available in the market have two lenses. The two lenses are very clearly visible on the model of 3D HD video camera shown to the right.
Not only do these 3D Digital video cameras have two lenses, the modern ones are also equipped with two sensors (e.g. CMOS sensors) and two image processors. The Sony HDR-TD10 Full HD 3D video camera is an example. The earlier versions like the Fuji FinePix 3D W1 however came with a single processor.
Stereoscopic imaging is a broad topic and in depth 3-D imaging technology is beyond the scope of this article. If you are interested in learning more about 3D video recording read this article on stereoscopy on Wikipedia.
Can you watch a movie recorded by a 3D video camera on your home TV?
The answer is NO! You cannot watch a 3D movie on your regular television, whether recorded using your portable 3D HD camcorder or the best professional 3D video camera available. You need a 3D ready display to be able to appreciate the depth of the video recording. Not only do you need a 3D TV to watch the 3D video recording, you would also need a 3D source such as a blu ray disc player to playback the 3D recording. A regular CD or DVD player will not be able to read 3D content! However, newer models of portable 3D video camcorders come with 3D LCD displays where you can perceive depth to a certain degree. It is the ‘parallax barrier system’ on these LCD playback screens that enables you to watch the 3D movie you just shot without using dedicated 3D glasses. Even with some of the pocket 3D video cameras such as the Sony Bloggie 3D camera and Aiptek 3D HD camcorder, you can view the 3D image/video directly on its LCD screen.
Panasonic SDT750 3D camcorder – World’s first 3D video camera
The first 3D recording video camera that was released to the market was the Panasonic SDT750. For 3D video recording, you needed to attach a 3D conversion lens. However modern 3D HD video cameras come with built in 3D lenses and you do not need to attach any external lenses. We go in to detail about the world’s first 3D video camera, the Panasonic SDT750, and a detailed Panasonic 3D video camera review elsewhere.
