Sony’s High Frame Rate Single Lens 3D Camera

The most remarkable news that thrilled everyone from the world of motion pictures and photography is the recent announcement from Sony – the development of a single lens 3D camera technology capable of recording natural and smooth 3D images of even fast-moving subject matter such as sports, at an unbelievable 240fps (frames per second).

The combination of Sony’s new single lens 3D system and its 240fps high frame rate technology has realized a single lens 3D camera system, based on universal properties of the human eye, which enables natural and smooth 3D images with no accommodation-vergence conflict to be recorded.

Technological Features:

1. New single lens optical system

- Captures left and right images simultaneously to deliver natural and smooth 3D images with no accommodation-vergence conflict.

- Eliminates the need for lens synchronization, ensuring easily accurate control of 3D zoom and focus functions.

- When polarized glasses are not used, viewers with still be able to see natural 2D images, as the disparity of the images for left and right eyes are within the range that human eyes can recognize as a blur.

2. 240fps image capture to realize high quality motion images

- Realizes high quality capture of 3D content including fast-moving subject matter such as sports.

240fps 3D Filming:

Optical tests have shown that a frame rate 240fps represents the limit of human visual perception, and beyond that it becomes difficult to detect differences in terms of blur and “jerkiness” of moving images (where images that were continuous are now seen as a series of distinct snapshots).  By developing a 240fps frame rate CMOS image sensor with properties close to the human eye, which is capable of capture natural images of even fast moving subject matter, Sony has succeeded in further enhancing the quality of 3D video images.

The combination of Sony’s new single lens 3D system and its 240fps high frame rate technology has realized a single lens 3D camera system, based on universal properties of the human eye, which enables natural and smooth 3D images with no accommodation-vergence*1 conflict to be recorded.

This technology combines a newly developed optical system for single lens 3D camera which captures the left and right images simultaneously, together with existing high frame rate (HFR) recording technology to realize 240fps 3D filming.  Sony will demonstrate a prototype model incorporating this technology at “CEATEC JAPAN 2009”, to be held at Makuhari Messe convention center in Chiba city, Japan, from October 6^th 2009, today.

Looks like we are all set to watch some high quality realistic 3D movies soon, thanks to Sony. What do you think? Do you think this is going to revolutionize the current state of 3D movie industry? Or do you think that this is going to be the biggest FAIL in the history of lens making?