Video Rotation and Scaling Hardware

Please excuse this format, it's a raw copy of my personal notes when search for an inexpensive , LOW LATENCY, small 12V device that could rotate 1080p HDMI video for converting landscape to portrait mode high end video conferencing for a telepresence robot.  see: video on my home page. 

Ultimately I was able to find a company that could for $15,000 in development be able to use a $300 FPGA board that could be customized to as low as $150.  Contact me for more info. 

We where also able to use an Intel i5 desktop board and a PCIE HDMI capture board. OMG what a clunky power hungry hassle. The USB HDMI capture devices introduced an unacceptably large delay in the video.  

John

Contents 1 Video Wall controller / splitter 1.1 IEI 1.2 iNDS 1.3 Eyevis 1.4 Vista System 1.5 Avitech 1.6 RGB Spectrum 1.7 Planar 2 Video Scalers 2.1 Altinex 2.2 Analog Way 2.3 Astro Systems 2.4 Communications Specialties 2.5 Extron Electronics 2.6 Folsom Research 2.7 FSR 2.8 Kramer Electronics USA 2.9 RGB Spectrum 2.10 Silicon Optix 2.11 SNELL & WILCOX 2.12 Crestron 2.13 FAROUDJA 2.14 Key Digital Systems 2.15 Other resellers 3 Known Working Solutions 3.1 Elemaint 3.2 Aurora Multimedia 3.3 Calibre 3.4 Colorado Video 3.5 TV One 3.6 VITEC - Video Innovations - Focus Enhancements 4 Unknown 4.1 AJA 4.2 DYI 4.3 Atlys 5 Chipset to search on

Video Wall controller / splitter

IEI

http://www.ieiworld.com/

Video Wall Controller VWBOX-114 VWBOX-122A

• http://www.ieiworld.com/files/product/08274672728838233771/catalog/en-US/VWBOX%20brouchure_0902.pdf
• http://www.abs-tech.com/admin/modulos/produtos/upload/mais_informacoes/551/551.pdf
• http://www.anewtech.net/product%20datasheet/anewtech-video-wall-controller.pdf
• http://www.anewtech.net/

IEI Integration USA Tel:+1-909-595-2819 Fax:+1-909-595-2816 Email: sales@usa.ieiworld.com Address: 138 University Parkway, Pomona, CA 91768, USA

iNDS

• http://www.indstech.com/

Sent Inquiry

Eyevis

• http://www.eyevis.de/index.php?article_id=187&clang=1 TOO LARGE

Vista System

• http://www.vistasystem.com/ WRONG

• http://www.vistasystems.net/Pages/default.aspx
• http://www.vistasystems.net/video-processors-and-matrix-switchers/video-processors/pages/default.aspx

• http://www.christiedigital.com/en-us/business/products/image-processor/pages/christie-vista-spyder-image-processor.aspx
• http://www.christiedigital.com/en-us/business/products/image-processor/Pages/Christie-Vista-Spyder-X20-Image-Processor.aspx

Avitech

• http://avitechvideo.com/index.php

jim.boyd@avitechvideo.com

RGB Spectrum

Planar

• http://www.planar.com/
• http://www.planar.com/products/video-walls/image-processing/indisys/

Video Scalers

GOOGLE : rotate video scaler

Altinex

http://www.altinex.com NOTHING

We do not have anything like this. Sorry Sincerely, Steve Lindenmeyer Western Regional Sales Manager

Analog Way

http://www.analogway.com None

Sent Inquiry

Astro Systems

http://www.astro-systems.com DEAD

Communications Specialties

http://www.commspecial.com NONE

We don’t make a box that will take HD in and rotate or scale it.
 
Sorry, but thanks for thinking of CSI.
 
Regards,
Mike
 
*************************
Michael Fazzi
Western U.S. Regional Manager
CSI (Communications Specialties, Inc.)
2416 NE 18th Ave.
Portland, OR  97212
Tel:503-287-3248
Email:MikeF@CommSpecial.com
Web: CommSpecial.com & ScanDoHD.tv

Extron Electronics

http://www.extron.com NO

Folsom Research

http://www.folsom.com DEAD

FSR

http://www.fsrinc.com No

Kramer Electronics USA

http://www.kramerelectronics.com Too big/full size rack(19in.), Rotate?

RGB Spectrum

http://www.rgb.com Enormously massive scaler.

Silicon Optix

http://www.siliconoptix.com DEAD

SNELL & WILCOX

IQDPF DIGITAL PICTURE FIXER (VIDEO PROCESSOR)

• http://www.snellgroup.com/ NOPE

Crestron

CNX-DVP4 4X1 Digital Video Graphic Processor

• http://www.crestron.com/resources/product_and_programming_resources/catalogs_and_brochures/online_catalog/default.asp?jump=1&model=cnx-dvp4

FAROUDJA

http://www.faroudja.com/ NO

Key Digital Systems

http://www.keydigital.com NO

Sorry we do not support that capability Mike Tsinberg , Robert Scarano

KEY DIGITAL - http://www.digitalconnection.com/products/video/kdsdi1080p.asp

KD-VP750

• http://www.digitalconnection.com/products/video/kdvp750.asp

HD Spider KD-VP8

• http://www.digitalconnection.com/products/video/kdvp8.asp

Other resellers

http://www.ivojo.co.uk/

Known Working Solutions

Elemaint

http://www.elemaint.it/prodotti.asp?KeyCat=153&lng=EN

SCALER PREMIERE VIEW PRO AV are able to reproduce the output, available both with 15-pin analog VGA and with digital DVI-D/HDMI, and to deform, enlarge, reduce, rotate the image as needed. This can be done with a very intuitive interface: a drag and drop matrix is displayed directly on the output directly to grant a simpler configuration.

Sent inquiry, waiting reply.

Aurora Multimedia

Sounds like you would need a dido JR. Please call me to discuss.

Frank Vono
Inside Sales Specialist 
fvono@auroramultimedia.com
www.auroramultimedia.com
732-591-5800 x211

Aurora Multimedia http://www.auroramultimedia.com Dido Pro, $4200, rotation!, 8.4" x 5.7" x 1", 1.2 lbs

http://auroramultimedia.com/?section=products&id=1

The DIDO Pro is an extremely compact and powerful, multipurpose video processor. It is a high resolution, quad image scaler with the ability to rotate the displayed image windows in ninety degree increments.

Aurora announces DIDO (ASR-44 for Pioneer)

http://www.keydigital.com/PRESS/PRODUCT%20REVIEW/401SVC_42.44.46.pdf

he ASR-44 has a picture-in-picture (PiP) generator and audio-follow-video capability, and it can rotate, stretch, and crop multiple images at once. $4200

Calibre

http://www.eiki.com/usa/products/calibre/hqview310 $2,867.00 USD

http://www.calibreuk.com/product_pages/scalers/hqv.php

http://www.calibreuk.com/documents/hqv/HQView-310.pdf

http://www.tekshop247.com/calibre-dvihdmicomponent-dvihdmi-scaler-hqview310-p-1225716.html $2163, rotation, small enough

Colorado Video

Video Rotator Model NVVN424CS

• http://www.colorado-video.com/rotatevideospecs.html ONLY NTSC $929.00

• http://www.colorado-video.com/hi-def-video-scan-reverser/ Rotate!, $1200, doesn't do 90
• http://www.colorado-video.com/hi-def-video-scan-reverser/hi-def-video-scan-reverser-specs.html
• http://www.colorado-video.com/hi-def-video-scan-reverser/hi-def-video-scan-reverser-prices.html

Dear John,
 
Thank you for your inquiry about rotating video 90 degrees.
 
Colorado Video’s NVVN424CS will rotate NTSC standard definition video 90, 180 and 270 degrees.  You can view details at http://www.colorado-video.com/rotatevideospecs.html .
 
Please have a look at this web page contact me again if you need more information or care to place an order.
 
Sincerely,
Kirk Fowler
COLORADO VIDEO, INC.
sales@colorado-video.com

TV One

• http://www.tvone.com Too big, Rotate?

• http://coriomini.tvone.com/

The CORIOMaster Mini is 1 RU in height. 160W power consumption. It lists for $10995 for the chassis. Input/output cards vary on price.

Hi John,
Thank you for your inquiry. Please provide me with your companies location so I can put you into contact with the appropriate Regional Sales Manager.
Thanks,
 
Kelly Broderick | Marketing Manager | +1 (859) 282-7303 phone | +1 (513) 490-5629 mobile
kelly.broderick@tvone.com | www.tvone.com | 2791 Circleport Drive, Erlanger, KY  41018


We have our CorioMaster product which can rotate images in 1 degree increments.
 
http://coriomini.tvone.com/
 
Let me know how I can help.
 
Thanks,
 
Steve
 
Steve Sherk | Regional Sales Mgr. –Western US | +1 (562) 627-6828 phone | +1 (562) 308-8602 mobile
steve.sherk@tvone.com | www.tvone.com | TV One, 2791 Circleport Drive, Erlanger, KY 41018 |

VITEC - Video Innovations - Focus Enhancements

http://www.focusinfo.com Nothing

http://www.vitecmm.com/

Sent Inquiry

 
I have received a response back from engineering.  We currently have a PCIe board that has SDI & HDMI inputs and HDMI output. 
We could develop the rotation microcode in the FPGA and deliver the board with a serial link to control it. 
The size is small about 4’’x4’’x1’’. The only thing you would need is power supply (5V TBD).
We would have only HDMI output (no VGA and no DVI-a, only DVI-d = HDMI).
 
Please let me know if this is something you’re interested in pursuing.
   
Michael Chorpash
Vice President of Sales
VITEC
 
Office: 650-230-2562
Mobile: 818-324-4658
Email: mikec@optibase.com
 Corporate: www.vitecmm.com

Unknown

AJA

http://www.aja.com/en/products/mini-converters/roi/#overview NO

DYI

• http://e2e.ti.com/support/interface/digital_interface/f/130/t/159804.aspx
• http://www.parallella.org/board/
• http://harbaum.org/till/dvi2par/index.shtml
• http://www.xilinx.com/products/boards-and-kits/1-1S0K0O.htm
• https://www.google.com/search?q=zynq+video+development+kit
• http://sewelldirect.com/Sewell-HDMI-1x2-Splitter-v13b.asp
• https://www.google.com/search?q=ti+dsp+hdmi
• http://e2e.ti.com/support/dsp/davinci_digital_media_processors/f/717/p/146649/530497.aspx#530497
• http://www.ti.com/general/docs/litabsmultiplefilelist.tsp?literatureNumber=spraav4
• http://focus.ti.com/paramsearch/docs/parametricsearch.tsp?family=analog&familyId=738&uiTemplateId=NODE_STRY_PGE_T
• http://www.ti.com/product/tms320dm8168&DCMP=vs_dm8168_03182010&HQS=Other+OT+dm8168
• http://www.xilinx.com/content/xilinx/en/products/silicon-devices/soc/zynq-7000.html
• http://www.raspberrypi.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=62&t=7230
• http://www.zedboard.org/content/overview
• Silicon Image is supposed to have related ASICs.

Atlys

• http://www.digilentinc.com/Products/Detail.cfm?NavPath=2,400,836&Prod=ATLYS&CFID=2250892&CFTOKEN=87362712
• http://www.xilinx.com/support/documentation/application_notes/xapp495_S6TMDS_Video_Interface.pdf
• http://tristesse.org/FPGA/DigilentAtlysResources

Chipset to search on

Anchor Bay -> acquired by marvel

Apple - QuickTime 1.0 Tour (1991)

Versacorp Patents: Optical systems for panoramic imaging

http://www.versacorp.com/vlink/legal/patent.htm

Versacorp has developed innovative patented optical systems, display systems, and panoramic imaging accessories. Some of the Versacorp patents available for license are shown below.

---

Versacorp (TM, SM) Technology Transfer Opportunities for:

• Omniramix (TM) ultra wide angle optical systems and virtual reality environments. See the abstract page of related U.S. patents 6,333,826 and 6,449,103.
  • Omnirama (TM) Portable Wide Angle Optical Systems for “one shot” 360 Degree Panoramic Imaging and Surveillance. (U.S. Patent 6,333,826 "Omniramic Optical System Having Central Coverage Means Which Is Associated With A Camera, Projector, Or Similar Article". Jeffrey R. Charles, Inventor; Filed in 1998 (claims benefit of 1997 provisional application), issued Dec. 2001. - 67 Claims.)
  • OmniLens (TM) Advanced Omni-directional Optical Systems with up to Full Sphere Coverage in one picture. (U.S. Patent 6,449,103 "Solid Catadioptric Omnidirectional Optical System Having Central Coverage Means Which Is Associated With A Camera, Projector, Medical Instrument, Or Similar Article". Jeffrey R. Charles, Inventor; Filed in 1998 (claims benefit of 1997 provisional application), issued Sep. 2002. - 137 Claims.)
  • OmniFlector (TM) and VersaFlector (TM) wide angle reflectors. (U.S. Patent 6,333,826)
  • Total Immersion VR (TM) and Omnimmersion (TM, SM) Omnimmersive (TM) Virtual Reality Environments and Displays. (U.S. Patents 6,333,826, 6,449,103, and Patent Pending)
  • Versarama (TM) Automatic Motorized Indexing Rotary Camera Platforms for Panoramas
  • Image processing for transformation of circular and rectangular panoramic images, including correction for pointing errors (U.S. Patent 6,333,826 and patent pending.)
• Versacorp (TM, SM) innovative optical instruments for astronomy, photography, surveillance:
  • DiaGuider (TM) and VersAgonal (TM) patented multiple flip mirror systems (U.S. Patents D295,871, D310,381, D310,676)
  • VersaScope (TM) Optics for photo-visual use of ED telephoto camera lenses
  • MicroStar focusing system, VersaFocus zero backlash focusing attachment
  • SunZapper (TM) sun shades and occulting objects for ultra wide angle optics. (U.S. Patents 6,333,826 and 6,449,103)
  • Other innovative optical accessories and adapters

This Magical Door Lets You Explore The Virtual World Without Putting On A Headset

http://www.fastcodesign.com/3056522/this-magical-door-lets-you-explore-the-virtual-world-without-putting-on-a-headset

Fwd: Google VR may ditch the smartphone with motion-tracking standalone headsets | PCWorld

http://www.pcworld.com/article/3032689/consumer-electronics/google-vr-may-ditch-the-smartphone-with-motion-tracking-standalone-headsets.html

iZugar Studio - Interactive Video Production & Immersive Display Solution

http://www.izugar.com/index.html#products


Sent from my iPad

Man-made bee's eye could mean big things for flying robots

http://www.gizmag.com/artificial-bee-eye/15965/


Sent from my iPad

Entaniya 280 deg Fisheye lens for GoPro.

https://www.entapano.com/shop-en/?product=entaniya-fisheye-280#


Sent from my iPad

Panoramic Video from Unstructured Camera Arrays

Link to publication page: 
http://www.disneyresearch.com/publication/panoramic-video-from-unstructured-camera-arrays/

We describe an algorithm for generating panoramic video from unstructured camera arrays. Artifact-free panorama stitching is impeded by parallax between input views. Common strategies such as multi-level blending or minimum energy seams produce seamless results on quasi-static input. However, on video input these approaches introduce noticeable visual artifacts due to lack of global temporal and spatial coherence. In this paper we extend the basic concept of local warping for parallax removal. Firstly, we introduce an error measure with increased sensitivity to stitching artifacts in regions with pronounced structure. Using this measure, our method efficiently finds an optimal ordering of pair-wise warps for robust stitching with minimal parallax artifacts. Weighted extrapolation of warps in non-overlap regions ensures temporal stability, while at the same time avoiding visual discontinuities around transitions between views. Remaining global deformation introduced by the warps is spread over the entire panorama domain using constrained relaxation, while staying as close as possible to the original input views. In combination, these contributions form the first system for spatiotemporally stable panoramic video stitching from unstructured camera array input.

360 Degree Bullet Time Camera Array - Light Painting

Published on Sep 8, 2015

48 cameras. No CGI Animation or VFX. All imagery in this video was created in camera.

*Note - due to the limitations of internet streaming and re-compression from youtube, the video has blocky pixelation at times when there is more motion/detail/color than can be handled by youtube's compression

mitchmartinez.com

Filmed at Hill Theatre Studio (Paulsboro, NJ)
hillstudioonline.com

52 GoPro Cameras, puppies, and girls! BTS with Orapup!

Imagine Google's VR gadget without the cardboard. Google does

Imagine Google's VR gadget without the cardboard. Google does

http://www.cnet.com/au/news/google-said-to-be-prepping-new-vr-headset-without-the-cardboard/

Yahoo, Verizon, AT&T Want NFL Thursday Streaming Rights - Bloomberg Business

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-02-08/yahoo-verizon-at-t-said-to-want-nfl-thursday-streaming-rights

LEIA 3D - Light field display - Holographic display module

https://www.leia3d.com/


“There has been very little innovation in the basic physics for making 3-D images since early in the 20th century. This new display is transforming a technology that’s been around for 100 years.” – MIT Tech Review


They have developed an holographic technology that makes it possible to deliver collaborative 3D experiences through an interactive display with no eye wear required.

Every standard LCD display has a component called a backlight. A backlight is comprised of an LED light source and light guide, which directs light toward the display’s pixels. Once light passes through them images appear on the display as the LCD selectively blocks varying amounts of light at each pixel.

LEIA 3D’s technology replaces the standard light guide with a much more sophisticated one that has nanoscale gratings. Our new light guide delivers more control over the direction that light travels before it reaches the pixel array, and can direct a single ray of light to a single given pixel on the display.



This diffractive “multiview backlight” allows the projection of different images in different directions of space with smooth, gradual transitions between views. The result is content that looks 3D from any viewpoint, by any number of viewers, with a seamless sense of parallax—without the breaks, ghost images, or “bad spots” that are commonly experienced in lenticular displays. The visual experience is remarkable and provides a much wider field of view with the ability to update content at video rate.

PRODUCT SPECS:

• 64 views (8×8) full-parallax, field of view (FOV) of 60deg
• 200×200 pixels per view, total LCD resolution 1600×1600
• 8bit monochrome output (color can be adjusted, default is white)
• HDMI video input at 60fps, tiled or swizzled view supported.
• powered directly via USB cable, no battery needed
• Capacitive “Hover-Touch” panel, senses your fingers in proximity to the display and lets you interact with holograms without touching the screen (Haptics not available with this model.)
• Gyro / Accelerometer

Not So Super Streaming – We Can Do MUCH Better…..

A little post Superbowl rant.


http://www.anvato.com/about/blog/not-so-super-streaming-we-can-do-much-better/

As we look historically at and plan for future events of this same ilk, we see some common themes.  Extensive preparation is one.  Redundancy is another.  Lately, the native ability to switch content delivery networks (CDNs) on the fly, so that your event has multiple paths to its viewers is key.  Some of the aforementioned part failures happened because of a variety of things.  From a visibility standpoint, these snafus tend to happen when audiences are largest, which drives the incorrect perception that streaming and OTT technology isn’t ready to handle the largest global events. Hogwash.

So as you nurse your post-Super Bowl heartburn and headache, realize that the reason your Apple TV app, web browser and phone couldn’t play last night’s stream was because someone or a group of people didn’t plan well and think through their design – not that the technology and infrastructure were unable to handle the load.  There’s always next year.

–Matt Smith, Chief Evangelist, Anvato

Light Field Imaging: The Future of VR-AR-MR

Published on Nov 24, 2015

 Presented by the VES Vision Committee. Presentation by Jon Karafin, Head of Light Field Video for Lytro, followed by a Q&A with all presenters moderated by Scott Squires, VES. View Parts 1-3, as well as an amazing 360 video of the Panel with all presenters at

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkK8iVS5ZZ7TsRbdPIviKymxlGmf3t9qW


https://www.visualeffectssociety.com/events/event/event-light-field-imaging-future-vr-ar-mr-los-angeles



 










Event - Light Field Imaging: The Future of VR-AR-MR (Los Angeles)

When:
Tue Nov 17, 2015
6:30pm to 9:30pm
Type:
event


(Image from Light Field Capture device – Photo provided by Lytro)

Light Field Imaging is a technology designed to capture and re-create light rays in a three dimensional scene. It has applications in entertainment, consumer devices, industrial applications and medical imaging. The presentations will cover the latest research in this technology which promises to revolutionize virtual, augmented and mixed reality.

Check out videos of the event at the links below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Raw-VVmaXbg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftZd6h-RaHE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LLHMpbIJNA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PVok9nUxME

Watch 360 degree video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbP9hsdnVmg&list=PLkK8iVS5ZZ7TsRbdPIviKymxlGmf3t9qW&index=5

Principal Speakers:

Paul Debevec, Chief Visual Officer, USC Institute for Creative Technologies, will present the latest technologies being developed at USC ICT on light fields and photoreal virtual actors for Virtual Reality. He will cover the areas of high-resolution face scanning, real-time photoreal digital characters, and light field capture and playback for creating breathtaking realistic and interactive VR content.

Mark Bolas, Director for Mixed Reality Research at USC Institute for Creative Technologies, will describe the MxR Lab and Studio’s recent work on: Discovering Near Field VR Stop Motion with a Touch of Light Fields and a Dash of Redirection which won the Best VR/AR competition at SIGGRAPH 2015.

Jules Urbach, Founder & CEO of OTOY will discuss OTOY’s cutting edge light field rendering toolset and platform.

Jon Karafin, Head of Light Field Video for Lytro, a company which develops light field cameras will discuss light field technologies and their application in visual effects workflows, cinematography and virtual reality as well as the next generation of state-of-the-art capture systems

Moderator: Scott Squires, VES, Academy Tech Award Winning Visual Effects Supervisor and Developer

Next-Generation Video Encoding Techniques for 360 Video and VR

An interesting way to preprocess equirectangular 360-degree videos in order to reduce their file size.

ESP8266 Transmits Television on Channel 3 | Hackaday

http://hackaday.com/2016/01/31/tv-transmitter-uses-esp8266/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ESP8266

he ESP8266 WiFi Module is a self contained SOC with integrated TCP/IP protocol stack that can give any microcontroller access to your WiFi network. The ESP8266 is capable of either hosting an application or offloading all Wi-Fi networking functions from another application processor. Each ESP8266 module comes pre-programmed with an AT command set firmware, meaning, you can simply hook this up to your Arduino device and get about as much WiFi-ability as a WiFi Shield offers (and that’s just out of the box)! The ESP8266 module is an extremely cost effective board with a huge, and ever growing, community.

This module has a powerful enough on-board processing and storage capability that allows it to be integrated with the sensors and other application specific devices through its GPIOs with minimal development up-front and minimal loading during runtime. Its high degree of on-chip integration allows for minimal external circuitry, including the front-end module, is designed to occupy minimal PCB area. The ESP8266 supports APSD for VoIP applications and Bluetooth co-existance interfaces, it contains a self-calibrated RF allowing it to work under all operating conditions, and requires no external RF parts.

There is an almost limitless fountain of information available for the ESP8266, all of which has been provided by amazing community support. In the Documents section below you will find many resources to aid you in using the ESP8266, even instructions on how to transforming this module into an IoT (Internet of Things) solution!

https://www.sparkfun.com/products/13678

http://espressif.com/

"No Cost" License Plate Readers Are Turning Texas Police into Mobile Debt Collectors and Data Miners | Electronic Frontier Foundation

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2016/01/no-cost-license-plate-readers-are-turning-texas-police-mobile-debt-collectors-and

Vigilant Solutions, one of the country’s largest brokers of vehicle surveillance technology, is offering a hell of a deal to law enforcement agencies in Texas: a whole suite of automated license plate reader (ALPR) equipment and access to the company’s massive databases and analytical tools—and it won’t cost the agency a dime.

Even though the technology is marketed as budget neutral, that doesn’t mean no one has to pay. Instead, Texas police fund it by gouging people who have outstanding court fines and handing Vigilant all of the data they gather on drivers for nearly unlimited commercial use.

ALPR refers to high-speed camera networks that capture license plate images, convert the plate numbers into machine-readable text, geotag and time-stamp the information, and store it all in database systems. EFF has long been concerned with this technology, because ALPRs typically capture sensitive location information on all drivers—not just criminal suspects—and, in aggregate, the information can reveal personal information, such as where you go to church, what doctors you visit, and where you sleep at night.

Vigilant is leveraging H.B. 121, a new Texas law passed in 2015 that allows officers to install credit and debit card readers in their patrol vehicles to take payment on the spot for unpaid court fines, also known as capias warrants. When the law passed, Texas legislators argued that not only would it help local government with their budgets, it would also benefit the public and police. As the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Allen Fletcher, wrote in his official statement of intent:

[T]he option of making such a payment at the time of arrest could avoid contributing to already crowded jails, save time for arresting officers, and relieve minor offenders suddenly informed of an uncollected payment when pulled over for a routine moving violation from the burden of dealing with an impounded vehicle and the potential inconvenience of finding someone to supervise a child because of an unexpected arrest. 

This is the Darkest Material Known to Man

This is the Darkest Material Known to Man

Vantablack is a material that is so dark, our eyes can’t see any of its contours.

http://futurism.com/videos/darkest-material-known-man/

Focus tunable lenses

http://www.optotune.com/technology/focus-tunable-lenses

Optotune’s focus tunable lenses are shape-changing lenses based on a combination of optical fluids and a polymer membrane. The core element consists of a container, which is filled with an optical liquid and sealed off with a thin, elastic polymer membrane. A circular ring that pushes onto the center of the membrane shapes the tunable lens. The deflection of the membrane and with that the radius of the lens can be changed by pushing the ring towards the membrane or by exerting a pressure to the outer part of the membrane or by pumping liquid into or out of the container.

Working principle of Optotune’s manual lens ML-20-35, which achieves a lens shape ranging from concave to flat to convex. The ring that forms the lens is pushed towards the container, thus filling the lens with liquid

Optotune uses electroactive polymers (EAPs) as an electrostatic actuator for its series of laser speckle reducers. These so-called "artificial muscles" can undergo a large amount of deformation while sustaining large forces. While today's piezoelectric actuators only deform by a fraction of a percent, EAPs can exhibit a strain of up to 380%. There are different types of EAPs. Optotune has specialized in dielectric electroactive polymers (DEAPs) as described below. A detailed discussion on all types of EAPs can be found here.

Matte vs Glossy Monitors

Matte vs Glossy Monitors

https://pcmonitors.info/articles/matte-vs-glossy-monitors/

Great discussion of Screen Surfaces and optical coatings.

The Electrowetting Display

Electrowetting displays are just as capable as the liquid crystal displays in tablets and notebooks, but they are three times more efficient. Johan Feenstra, who heads Samsung's electronic display research center in the Netherlands, explains how they work.


http://spectrum.ieee.org/consumer-electronics/portable-devices/lighter-brighter-displays

Bright, full color e paper under development by Ricoh

This e-paper is currently under development by Ricoh.

It has a unique structure, with layers of a new electrochromic material that turn magenta, yellow, and cyan from their transparent state. In this way, Ricoh's e-paper enables a bright, full-color display, like ordinary paper, which hasn't been possible with e-paper until now.

This prototype is a 3.5-inch, QVGA display, with a pixel density of 113.6 ppi. Its reflectivity is 70%. Compared with current color-filter displays, this e-paper is 2.5 times brighter. It has a color reproduction range of 35%, higher than that of a newspaper, which is 31% in Japan.

"To produce colors, CMY subtractive mixing is ideal, and that's the model used in printing. We've implemented this by coating the panel with layers of yellow, magenta, and cyan. Ordinarily, if you try to use layers like this, you need an electrode driver for each layer. But in this display we're developing, the electrodes are active TFTs. So, we can achieve all colors with a single TFT, by switching the electrodes on the display side."

The material used for the chromic layers is transparent in its oxidized state, but becomes colored when it's reduced. To achieve a color display, rewriting is done three times in the order magenta, yellow, cyan. As the spaces between the electrochromic layers are narrow, at about 2 microns, the result is an ideal color-mixing display.

"The stage we're at right now is, we're checking that this model works with an actual active panel. Regarding the color drive, we haven't refined this yet, so switching takes over a second for each color. But the reaction speed of the chromic material is, ideally, about 100 ms."

"From now on, we'd like to increase the size to 6 inches, then 10 inches. We also want to work on achieving stable driving and faster response."

OGV.JS: AN OGG THEORA AND VORBIS VIDEO DECODER IN JAVASCRIPT

OGV.JS: AN OGG THEORA AND VORBIS VIDEO DECODER IN JAVASCRIPT

http://badassjs.com/post/71980473022/ogvjs-an-ogg-theora-and-vorbis-video-decoder-in

Brion Vibber has been working on ogv.js, an Ogg video player in JavaScript, supporting both audio and video. We've seen video codecs in JavaScript before, such as Broadway (H.264),Route9 (WebM/VP8), and more but mostly without audio support to go along with it. We have audio codecs in JS too, just not combined with video yet. That changes with ogv.js.

Nvidia Brings Computer Vision and Deep Learning to the Embedded World | Hackaday

http://hackaday.com/2015/11/10/nvidia-brings-computer-vision-and-deep-learning-to-the-embedded-world/

Google buys startup Fly Labs - Business Insider

http://www.businessinsider.com/google-buys-fly-labs-that-takes-the-pain-out-of-editing-videos-2015-11

Fwd: A great use for virtual reality headsets.

Perhaps also hinting at possible virtual tourism in the very near future (Oculus Rift is set to be released in 2016).

 

This Robot Will Let Kids In Hospital Explore Zoos Through Virtual Reality

A community called "Robots for Good" has come together to help kids stuck in Great Ormond Street Hospital in London visit the zoo. If the name hasn't given it…

iflscience.com

 

Google Open Spherical Camera API

https://developers.google.com/streetview/open-spherical-camera/

Mechanical television

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechanical_television



http://hackaday.com/2010/04/13/mechanical-scanning-television/

http://www.earlytelevision.org/mechanical_tv.html

http://bs.cyty.com/menschen/e-etzold/archiv/TV/mechanical/scanningdisc.htm

http://www.home1.stofanet.dk/television/

http://www.home1.stofanet.dk/television/pjgn.html

Industrial Perception robot navigating stacks of boxes

Real-time Expression Transfer for Facial Reenactment

http://graphics.stanford.edu/~niessner/thies2015realtime.html

BBC bypasses Linux kernel to make streaming videos flow • The Register

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/10/12/linux_networking_api_showing_its_age/

Light's bizarre -- and a little bit brilliant -- take on camera tech - CNET

http://www.cnet.com/au/news/lights-bizarre-and-a-little-bit-brilliant-take-on-camera-tech/