Multiple projector edge blending for increased resolution.

This was a cool demo where they used a canon digital camera to capture high res images of the projectors overlaps and then use that to correct the images to product one larger resolution projector image.

I have seen other systems that can edge blend projector images but they required more accurate placement of the projectors and the edge blends were predetermined.

http://www.zaxel.com

Read about Zaxtar

Video Matchmoving

In cinematography, match moving is a visual-effects technique that allows the insertion of computer graphics into live-action footage with correct position, scale, orientation, and motion relative to the photographed objects in the shot. The term is used loosely to refer to several different ways of extracting motion information from a motion picture, particularly camera movement. Match moving is related to rotoscoping and photogrammetry. It is sometimes referred to as motion tracking.

This is an incredible demo.



2D3

boujou

There is a free demo Version of Boujou available here. The pay for version cost $10,000 USD

Another similar software package:
Syntheyes Also very expensive.

Wikipedia on Match_moving

Virtual Sets

You can click to see the high res images.

This is the state of the art in Chroma-key / Bluescreen.  A computer generate set is place not just behind but around the actors.

When you pan, zoom and dolly the cameras the set moves in a realistic way relative to the actors.

Pay particular attention to the glass table.  That's what's amazing is it's transparent and yet shows the virtual set behind it.

http://www.brainstorm.es/

There are using mechanical encoders to track camera motion.

There are now mechanisms to do this entirely in software but it's usually a post production and not live.


You can probably do something like this in Adobe after effects using Motion tracking and chroma-key but it wouldn't quite be the same.

Mini-toslink S/PDIF audio

Many laptops are starting to support mini-toslink.

 

I think this is the coolest thing because it supports legacy analog stereo audio, as in your old head phone jack, 1/8 mini, and also spdif optical digital audio using the same connector.

It can send up to 125 Mbit/s of perfect digital audio.
5.1 Surround sound, Dolby Digital Plus, TrueHD, and DTS HD audio streams.

Up to 48 kHz sample rates with 24 bit digital audio.

As good as any professional could ask for.

The connector on the left is a mini-toslink to toslink optical adapter, and on the right is a 1/8 mini analog audio jack.

Notice the transparent plastic optical pipe in the center.

More info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TOSLINK
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRS_connector
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mini-TOSLINK

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spdif

This one is interesting, some poor guy had the end connector break off.
http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/apple-desktops/65625-mini-toslink-broke-inside-audio-jack.html

3D Video Capture with Kinect

I have been meaning to write about the Kinect for some time now. It's very cool and one of the most exciting things to happen in a long time. It's from Microsoft but it's really technology developed from a small Israeli company PrimeSense.



By combining the color and the depth image captured by the Microsoft Kinect, one can project the color image back out into space and create a "holographic" representation of the persons or objects that were captured.

No project page yet, but it will go up on my regular web site, http://idav.ucdavis.edu/~okreylos/ResDev


2 Kinects 1 Box

Two Kinects join forces to create better 3D video, blow our minds

Microsoft Kinect web site

Holographic 3D Digital Projection Explained

Musion a company in the UK is selling a system to do "Live Stage telepresence"

There technique is based on the very old Pepper Ghost effect.

The new part is they use a patented an "eyeliner foil", made of very tightly stretched, thin, transparent Mylar plastic foil set at a 45 deg angle.

For more info see the following links:

Holographic 3D Digital Projection Explained

http://www.musion.co.uk/watch_setup_video.html


US Patent 5865519

http://www.musion.co.uk/pdf/USPatent5865519.pdf

History of Peppers ghost

http://www.eyeliner3d.com/

World’s Smallest Video and Voice Recorder

Not sure if the claim is true, but small and low cost.

BluSens looks like in importer for Chinese gear. So even though their listed as the manufacturer it may not be, as I don't see this camera listed on the web site.

Still at $29 for a no frills sd card video recorder, this is very cool.

Recording Definition: High Definition
Flash Memory Card: miniSD
Computer Interface: USB
Resolution: 720x480 30 fps
Color: Black

 $29 from tigerdirect.com

Tandberg Attempts To Patent Open Source Code

From Slashdot

"As if the current situation with software patents wasn't bad enough, it appears a new phenomenon is emerging: companies are watching the commit logs of open source projects for ideas to patent. In this case, Tandberg filed a patent that was step-by-step identical to an algorithm developed by the x264 project — a mere two months after the original commit. The particular algorithm is a useful performance optimization in a wide variety of video encoders, including Theora."

VGA interfacing AVR microcontrollers

VGA interfacing AVR microcontrollers
[Lucidscience] demonstrates how to push data to a VGA monitor from your AVR microcontroller.

It turns out that it is pretty simple.

http://hackaday.com/2010/11/23/vga-interfacing-avr-microcontrollers/

Nokia Superbreakout

Nokia Superbreakout

If you like LCDs and microcontrollers chances are you have used a Nokia 6100 Display. Turns out there are many other displays that are cheaper, better and just more fun. Here are a few other Nokia displays running on a universal breakout board. More at rossum.posterous.com

Synthetic views create virtual cameras.

This is something I have been thinking about and wanting to do for the past 15 years. Well someone finally did it.

The idea is to place a number of cameras around a stadium. These camera are sent to an image processing system that constructs a real time 3D model of the live action with texture maps.

This is then fed to a high end graphics card that can generate a 3D view of live action from any view point.

These KDDI's solution is taking some shortcut and the images look like cardboard cutouts playing on the field. Still I think the main idea comes across.

I want to be able to do with with enough quality and resolution that we could do this for the Superbowl. Football would never been the same. A high end professional studio solution, not just a run on your PC end user solution.




3D Free Viewpoint Video in Sports Stadium

KDDI R&D Laboratories has developed the world's first technology for synthesizing and displaying 3D video of stadium sports in real time, from any angle chosen by the viewer. This technology was exhibited at CEATEC JAPAN 2010.

"Until now, the viewing angle for live soccer has only been changeable by switching between camera positions. This technology provides a new video experience, by offering views from angles where cameras can't be installed, such as the middle of the pitch or in the air."

"This screen shows the stadium as seen by eight HD cameras, and these are synthesized pictures from places where cameras aren't installed, including aerial views, and shots from in among the players. On the other hand, this screen shows pictures from a single high-resolution camera, of the sort used for 4K rather than HD. This system creates pictures from any angle chosen by the viewer. Because the camera has such a high resolution, there's relatively little loss of picture quality even if it zooms right in among the action."

This technology uses a unique method to enable high-speed estimation of players' positions on the field in 3D. It utilizes the fact that when soccer is broadcast, the image consists simply of players and a background.

"What viewers mainly want to see is the players. So we thought of technology for synthesizing pictures that look natural, by cutting out just the parts with players, and putting them against a plane. Then, the plane is transformed, in line with the direction or angle the viewer has chosen. The pictures you're seeing now are being synthesized in real time using a single PC. So if you have a PC at home, this kind of 3D processing can be viewed immediately on a 3D TV."

KDDI has also developed server technology that stores stadium 4K video content taken from many angles, then extracts and delivers pictures at high speed with low processing load. This achieves a real-time delivery system for pictures from any angle chosen by the viewer.

Pioneer Network Vision Head Up Display

At CEATEC JAPAN 2010, Pioneer presented a next-generation in-car display device, the Network Vision Head-Up Display.

A laser projector, using red, green, and blue laser light sources projects information, in full color onto the windscreen, overlaid on the drivers field of vision. The aim of the Network Vision HUD is to provide safe, convenient access to content by networking with a smartphone. In this way, the display can access navigation services, traffic news, and electric vehicle services, as well as recommendations for each user's favorite content.

"In terms of technology, this display is a laser projector, with an RGB laser light-source module. It forms a small screen and uses a special-purpose combiner, which is a half-mirror, to enlarge the picture and project it in mid-air. This achieves a big-screen display, which hasn't been possible with HUDs before. The screen size is equivalent to 25 inches. Because the light source is a laser, this display achieves high brightness, high contrast, and full color - features that distinguish it from previous HUDs."

This Network Vision HUD is based on Pioneer's laser module technology, which was originally developed for DVD and Blu-ray drives, and Pioneer's own SmartLoop service platform, developed through its experience in the car navigation business.

"Here, we're demonstrating the SmartLoop shared traffic-news service. For example, information about congestion, sent from other cars, can be shown on the HUD. And as an application for EVs, we're also demonstrating how this display can navigate to the least crowded charging station within the driving distance remaining on the battery."

Pioneer is currently developing this display, with the aim of market launch in 2012.

Hitachi Laser Micro-Projector

Hitachi Laser Micro-Projector

This projector works by scanning laser light in two dimensions, using an MEMS mirror. It can be made compact and energy-efficient, so it's expected to be used in mobile phones and digital cameras.

"Because this projector has a laser as the light source, it doesn't involve the concept of a focal point. So a feature of this projector is that it's always in focus, regardless of the projection distance. This enables it to show pictures even when tilted, like this. Also, the picture gradation is achieved by controlling the laser output. For example, in black areas, no electrical output is used, so this projector is very energy-efficient."

Because the projector is focus-free, it can project onto spherical surfaces. With an ordinary projector, the edges of the picture would be out of focus or distorted, but with this one, there's no blurring or distortion. It can also project onto complex shapes, so it's expected to be used for digital signage.

"This projector works by combining the light from red, green, and blue lasers, and directing it onto an MEMS mirror. The light is scanned by moving the MEMS mirror. So this is a scanning projector; the scanning method is very similar to that used in a CRT."

ViewSonic introduces glasses-free 3D camcorder

ViewSonic 3DV5 is a pock-sized device capable of capturing images in 3D.  I can produce 720p HD video images in both 2D and 3D, and will capture JPEG still images. 

The camera features a 2.4-inch monitor that will display 3D images that are viewable without glasses.
In addition, viewers can watch 3D recordings on standard computer monitors using special passive red/cyan glasses that ship with camcorder.

The content is also viewable on Nvidia 3D enabled PCs using Nvidia 3D kit glasses, and on most new 3D TVs using glasses supplied with that equipment.


10MB of internal memory
SD/SDHC card slot with support for up to 32GB cards
mini HDMI output and USB port
MP4 format
4x digital zoom
stereo microphone. 
$180 suggested retail



More at: Twice.com

Video & Audio recording in the browser.

Well I have been researching capture audio and video in a web application.

The one thing I want to do is avoid having users install native applications on the users PC to run.

In addition the thought of having to write and maintain 3 different version of the application, one for Windows, another for OS X and yet another for Linux is not very appealing.

Each OS has it's own different development tools and libraries and so it would require 3 different code trees.

I had hopes for the SDL library which I have had success in making a video player with a  single code base that compiles and run on all three OS's.   Unfortunately SDL can not capture audio or video, it's really intended for game developers.

So I have found some more attractive alternative that run in the browser.

First I will mention Mozilla Labs, Rainbow which I have a lot of hopes for but it's not ready for Prime time.

"The Rainbow add-on for Firefox is an early developer prototype that enables web developers to access local video and audio recording capabilities using just a few lines of JavaScript."

The other 2 options is Flash and Java.  Both of these work quite well and are mature.

Flash requires writing code in actionscript. 
There may be opensource compilers available but before it required buying the macromedia tools. 

Java also provides a good solution, but capturing is poorly documented.

C# and Active X may also be able to do this, but it's Microsoft only solution that will only work in MSIE.

3D TVs Not Selling3D TVs Not Selling

Huge Shocker — 3D TVs Not Selling
From: Slashdot

"It comes as no surprise to the vast majority of us who haven't rushed out to buy a 3D TV, but according to a DisplaySearch report consumers aren't doing their part to make 2010 the year of 3D TV, says blogger Peter Smith. And the stats are even worse than Smith imagined they'd be: 'DisplaySearch estimates that 3.2 million 3D TVs will be shipped in 2010. Note, that's shipped, not sold. 3.2 million equates to 2% of all flat panel displays shipped (as far as I can ascertain, that's worldwide shipments). So yeah, there are not many 3D TVs being shipped this year. But wait, that's not the end of the bad news. In Western Europe (the only region where they offered this data point) sales of 3D glasses are less than 1 per 3D set sold. In other words, a lot of Western Europeans who buy a TV with 3D capability don't even bother to buy the glasses to use that feature.'"

More amazing Digital Video Mapping

The 600 Years from the macula on Vimeo.

Digital Video Mapping during 600 years anniversary of the astrological tower clock situated at Old Town Square in center of Prague. Mapping: The Macula  Coworking animators: Michal Kotek Lukáš Duběda Sound: data-live  Production: Tomato...

Transparent conductors

Transparent Conductors are a critical part of LCD's, O-LED, epaper, eink and many other displays.
It also needed for  solar cells, and electroluminescent displays.

Indium tin oxide (ITO)

pedot - Orgacon

aluminum doped zinc oxide

stannous chloride - re: Jeri Ellsworth http://www.teralab.co.uk/Experiments/Conductive_Glass/Conductive_Glass_Page1.htm



http://www.madehow.com/Volume-1/Liquid-Crystal-Display-LCD.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquid_crystal_display

http://plc.cwru.edu/tutorial/enhanced/files/textbook.htm



Orgacon is the tradename for PEDOT

http://www.agfa.com/en/sp/solutions/orgacon_electronic_materials/index.jsp

 http://www.qprox.co.k...r/OrgaconEL350_datasheet.pdf

Legacy Sound Blaster Audio Support

Many old programs and games for DOS require old sound cards. Sound Blaster being the most common.

There is a Sound Blaster Emulator for Windows Available in the open source world just for this purpose.

The VDMSound Project

Microsoft's Strategy has shifted, so what!

on ZDNET: Microsoft: Our strategy with Silverlight has shifted

Who gives a rat's ass.   The only reason I use Silverlight is because Netflix requires it.

I really don't have much patients for Artificial Complexity.
Streaming really isn't that hard, I had full screen full motion working great in 1996.
Meanwhile Microsoft with one press release killed any interest Investor had in us because they would say, "how can you compete against Microsoft".   Well I watch the next 5 years go by, Microsoft never delivered and my technology had reached HDTV levels by 2001.

Still no one could get it out to the public till Macromedia Flash did it in stealth mode in 2002, and it's not streaming, it's a progressive download.
By keeping is secret they were able to get people to install the Video player while no one even knew it could play video.



Even then it took YouTube in 2005 to get the public's attention and get final general acknowledged that the Internet is indeed ready for Video.

Here we are 14 years after 1996 when I was demoing it at my little company in Los Angeles, Digital Video Technology and Internet Broadcast Systems and it's only this year I am finally seeing thing progress to where I was in 2001, 9 years go. And that's streaming HDTV which is now the rage.

I just feel like Microsoft has been nothing but an obstruction. Not enabling the technology yet blocking others with working technology from forward progress because everyone is "waiting" for Microsoft's grand solution.

Well we saw it. Yawn. Oh yea DRM.

I was grabbing 1080p HD movies from the internet using Bit Torrent back in 2001 and it took 9 years for the Industry to offer it legitimately.

Then I see broadcasters trying to pull shows off Hulu and try to put up pay-walls.

Meanwhile I get shows on Bit Torrent, many even a week earlier then the US Broadcast, posted most likely by UK viewers.
Even same day I get show 2 hours before they are broadcast in California because they air in New York 3 hour earlier.

I get a 1 hour show in about 10 to 20 minutes using bit torrent.

The worst part is bit torrent isn't even all that good of a protocol.

The World has changed. I am sorry telco's and cable companies, but those that own wires are just pipes in the future.

Telco's saw the first wave with Voip and it's variations like skype, google talk etc, where they can't own your Phone any more.

Soon Cell Carriers will get hit with it too. It's inevitable just wireless pipes.

I can already root my droid cell and make it in to a Wifi access point. Then using a wireless Ethernet bridge from Linksys in to a Cisco encrypted VPN box and Cisco IP phone, presto awesome phone service in to my employers voip network. It's works just as well as the old Ma Bell phone service, maybe better even.

Oh and it's super secure! Why can't my cell sound that clear in the first place! Only problem is it's a mess of wires and boxes.

Cisco, now there is one of the few companies that actually knows what there doing. At least for making boxes anyhow. Cisco could also be so much more.

There is no reason a Cable company couldn't offer Full Cable service to anyone anywhere on the planet using vanilla Internet. And their wires are just become nothing more than an Internet Bandwidth service.

I have already seen people to high speed channel surfing and live video over the net. Heck I implemented something like it if for a CCTV DVR I architected for VCT Vision.

I can listen to many radio stations from anywhere in the world, yet my local TV channel is limited to just the local area. Why!

Why can't I watch streaming shows from HBO?

These companies are so locked up in legal contracts that it's inviting, no begging, for someone like Apple and Google to come in and take over there Industry.

I am just waiting for a real player to come in produce high quality shows for Internet consumption. And I don't mean posting on youtube.

Meanwhile I have watched so many Set Top Box companies build cool boxes with all sorts of neat tricks, and bite the dust. I have participated in 3 first hand, and must have met so many other people also did the same. Must be almost 100 by now.

Most recently was the founder of Prismiq Inc. You should hear his horror story. Millions wasted on an beautiful front end and back end solutions only to find out the industry has no intention of pulling it's head out of it's ass.

Worst yet I could have told him the outcome from my experiences in 1994 through 1997 trying to pitch the big players.

In 1996 CNN did a news story where they showed my product "Livecam" and then trade markets and send me a cease and desist letter.

I had friends that did an amazing video over IP trial back in 1993, something like 50000 households video on demand. USA Video. You should hear the horror stories.

It's like listening to war veterans about how we where just cannon fodder.

Seem about once a month I have someone contact me wanting to do a set top box play or video over cell phone play. One little piece of advice, Don't do it!

Diminished Reality

Well you've heard of Augmented Reality where computer generate objects are place in to images of the real world. Well now there is Diminished Reality where things in the real word can be removed and hidden.



PopSci Article: Voodoo Software Removes Objects From Video In Real Time


Wait till this technology is integrated in to augmented reality HUD's (Head Up Displays) in 10 to 20 years.

If the clip above doesn't blow you mind check out these videos.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTBS7s_17B4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5vIXX1cBkA

At this point it's become obvious that without a certifiable solid "chain of evidence" CCTV video can not be trusted.

Altering video footage has become child's play if you have the right software.

3dfx Voodoo Graphic Card Emulation Coming To DOSBox

From Slashdot:

"One of the forthcoming versions of the best PC-with-DOS emulator out there should include a very important architectural novelty, ie the software implementation of the historical Voodoo Graphics chipset created by 3dfx Interactive in the Nineties. "Kekko", the programmer working on the project with the aid of the DOSBox crew and the coding-capable VOGONS users, says that his aim is the complete and faithful emulation of SST-1, the first Voodoo chipset marketed in 1996 inside the first 3D graphics accelerated cards on the PC."

The Android Invasion

from Slashdot:

The Android Invasion Cometh; Is Resistance Futile?
"Last month, we learned from Gartner that Android will probably be the number-two worldwide mobile OS this year, and may lead the pack by 2014. With Android's growing use as the OS embedded in phones, in tablets, in set-top boxes, and in LCD HDTVs, it seems like the Linux-based OS could end up dominating the entire non-PC consumer device operating system space. What do Slashdot readers think: Is resistance futile?"


From a developer friend of mine in India in talking about a Set Top Box project:

I think i got a detailed idea on how to implement a proof of concept device. One of the reasons of dropping it was the integration complexity of the opensource libs esp the signaling (we were planning to use tapioca). At the end we were almost decided to use Android as the base platform to develop.  I had Android running on the beagleboard as well. If we develop video calling interfaces(ie in Java and C++) in Android SDK it can be a hit.

I think skype is getting integrated with LCD tvs now. had seen an article http://www.skype.com/intl/en-us/get-skype/on-your-tv/ . 

Video is gaining traction in India. I have even saw a shop which exclusively sells video surveillance equipment in my home town. PVR for indian market seems ineteresting.

Short demo of how to publish your phone app
    http://gotoandlearn.com/play.php?id=131

http://developer.android.com/index.html

 I really need to learn Android development.  I have a Droid X, Android is lightyears ahead of Symbian. 

Anti-paparazzi Glasses

I was experimenting with something similar years ago to see what it would take to defeat CCTV cameras, High Power IR sources work great in that it doesn't attract attention of people looking with the naked eye, but defeats the cameras.

Chi-Mei Displays LQ035NC111

Check out this cool little color display.

http://www.horizontechnology.com/products/displays/Chi-Mei/LQ035NC111

3.5" 320x240 LCD Display

DataSheet

I can't help but be impressed as hell with these types of little demos.

Google TV: The Future of Interactive Television?

Google TV: The Future of Interactive Television?

from ABC





First, Google revolutionized Web searches -- now it's trying to reinvent the way you watch TV.

Inside a top-secret lab in Silicon Valley, programmers are putting the finishing touches on a new product called Google TV. The company says this new device will take all the best features of watching television, surfing the Web, playing online games, and connecting with friends on Twitter and Facebook, and combine them into a single experience.

It is "a new way to think about television," said Google Senior Product Manager Rishi Chandra. "Basically what we're trying to do here is take all that content that you already watch today on television, and add all that other content that you get on the web today, that you normally can't get on your TV."

With Google TV, users can channel-surf between traditional TV shows, websites, online video, social media, and eventually programs recorded on a DVR, all with just a few clicks of the remote. (The DVR function has not yet been worked out with all major cable and satellite providers.)

Blu-ray Is Cracked

From Slashdot:

HDCP Master Key Is Legitimate; Blu-ray Is Cracked

"Intel has confirmed that the leaked HDCP master key protecting millions of Blu-ray discs and devices that was posted to the Web this week is legitimate. The disclosure means, in effect, that all Blu-ray discs can now be unlocked and copied. HDCP (High Definition Content Protection), which was created by Intel and is administered by Digital Content Protection LLP, is the content encryption scheme that protects data, typically movies, as they pass across a DVI or an HDMI cable. According to an Intel official, the most likely scenario for a hacker would be to create a computer chip with the master key embedded it, that could be used to decode Blu-ray discs."

Open Source VLC Media Player Coming To iPad

From Slashdot:
The people behind VLC, quite probably the most useful media player available right now, have submitted an iPod version to the Apple software police. VLC — which is rightfully famous for having a go at playing just about any kind of audio or video file you care to throw at it — should appear some time next week, if it makes it through the often unfathomable approval process implemented by Apple. The Open Source Video Lan Client has been tweaked to run on the iPod by software developer Applidium

High Dynamic Range (HDR) video

HDR Video A Reality

HDR Demonstration Using Two Canon 5D mark II’s from Soviet Montage
Press Release

HDR Video A Reality
Soviet Montage Productions releases information on the first true High Dynamic Range (HDR) video using DSLRs
San Francisco, CA, September 9, 2010: Soviet Montage Productions demonstrated today the first true HDR video sourced from multiple exposures. Unlike HDR timelapse videos that only capture a few frames per minute, true HDR video can capture 24 or more frames per second of multiple exposure footage. Using common DSLRs, the team was able to composite multiple HD video streams into a single video with an exposure gamut much greater than any on the market today. They are currently using this technology to produce an upcoming film.
Benefits of Motion HDR

HDR imaging is an effect achieved by taking multiple disparate exposures of a subject and combining them to create images of a higher exposure range. It is an increasingly popular technique for still photography, so much so that it has recently been deployed as a native application on Apple’s iPhone. Until now, however, the technique was too intensive and complex for motion. Soviet Montage Productions believes they have solved the issue with a method that produces stunning–and affordable–true HDR for film and video.
The merits of true HDR video are various. The most obvious benefit is having an exposure variation in a scene that more closely matches the human eye–think of filming your friend with a sunset at his or her back, your friend’s face being as perfectly captured as the landscape behind them. HDR video also has the advantage of reduced lighting needs. Finally, the creative control of multiple exposures, including multiple focus points and color control, is unparalleled with true HDR video.
“I believe HDR will give filmmakers greater flexibility not only in the effects they can create but also in the environments they can shoot in” said Alaric Cole, one of the members of the production team, “undoubtedly, it will become a commonplace technique in the near future. ”
Contact:

See also:
http://www.sovietmontage.com/2010/09/09/hdr-video-a-reality/
http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/10/09/09/2342218/HDR-Video-a-Reality

Apple's 2010 iPod, Apple TV Event

Steve Jobs gave his iPod keynote this morning.
The new Apple TV –– a tiny set-top box –– is priced at $99, down from $229.  1/4th the size, no purchases — only rentals. 99 cents for TV rentals (Disney, News Corp, ABC & Fox), Netflix on Demand built in.
Movies will cost $2.99 to $4.99 to rent.

Wired
PCmag
SFGate
Reuters: Factbox: Apple TV versus Google TV

US Spends $11M To Kick-Start Video Search

From Slashdot:

"The US military is inundated with video from airborne unmanned aircraft, remote monitoring systems and security outposts. In an effort to speed up the processing and analyzing of all this video, researchers at Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) this week awarded an almost $11 million contract to open source software vendor Kitware to help develop what DARPA calls its Video and Image Retrieval and Analysis Tool (VIRAT) program."

Giving an IR transmitter some strength

Good article on hack a day

Hong Kong China Sourcing Fair/Security products

Hong Kong China Sourcing Fair/Security products
Oct 12-15, 2010

http://www.chinasourcingfair.com

Linda Huang                                                           

 Sales manager   

                                                               .   

 ShenZhen    Wekomp Technology Co.,Ltd                                                                      

                                                                                                         

Tel.:086-755-89366102                                                                          www.wekomp.com

Mob: +86-13640946210                                                                                                      

Fax : +86-755-86028818                                                   

Msn:lindawek@hotmail.com                                                   

Mail : linda@wekomp.com

Sky:lindaeinnov                                                      

 www.wekomp.com

Netflix Comes to the iPhone and iPod Touch

Netflix announced Thursday the release of a free Netflix application for the iPhone and iPod Touch that allows streaming of movies over Wi-Fi or a 3G cellphone connection.

This has been expected since April when Engadget fisrt wrote about it.

Netflix is becomming ubiquitous with its streaming offering not only supporting Windows and Mac, but a number of BlueRay player, set top boxes, game consoles such as the Xbox, PS 3 and Wii.

It's based on Microsoft's Silverlight which is very heavily DRM oriented.

As such there is NO Linux support! Microsoft did share most of the Silverlight code as Moonlight but without DRM support so Netflix will not play on it.

Netflix is basically following Microsoft's Silverlight support on to these different platforms. I think this strategy is to allow Microsoft to easily add support to devices based on Linux such as many BlueRay players while not allowing open source Linux Desktops to compete. This also will allow them to support large a hardware base as Adobe's flash player which now dominates Internet video streaming.

When you consider that Apple is not allowing flash on it's iPhone and iPad, and that Steve Jobs is openly speaking out against Adobe Flash it could actually place Microsoft at and advantage over Adobe in the Internet streaming market.

* Personally I think watching TV on the iPod is the killer app.

I have disconnected my Cable TV a while ago and live off Netflix, Hulu and BitTorrent for most of my viewing pleasure.


Netflix iPhone App Video

Real-Time, Detailed Face Tracking On a Nokia N900

from Slashdot:
"Researchers at the University of Manchester this week revealed a detailed face tracker that runs in real-time on the Nokia N900 mobile phone. Unlike existing mobile face trackers (video) that give an approximate position and scale of the face, Manchester's embedded Active Appearance Model accurately tracks a number of landmarks on and around the face such as the eyes, nose, mouth and jawline. The extra level of detail that this provides potentially indicates who the user is, where they are looking and how they are feeling. The face tracker was developed as part of a face- and voice-verification system for controlling access to mobile internet applications such as e-mail, social networking and on-line banking."



This prototype from the University of Manchester (UK) shows an Active Appearance Model tracking 22 facial features (superimposed in yellow and red) in real-time on a Nokia N900 mobile phone. This demo was developed for the EU-funded 'Mobile Biometrics' (MoBio) project as part of a face verification system for access control (e.g. instead of a password to access your social networking profile) on mobile devices such as smartphones.

For more information on this video, see http://personalpages.manchester.ac.uk... or contact philip.tresadern@manchester.ac.uk

For more information on the MoBio project, visit http://www.mobioproject.org

MPEG LA Announces Permanent Royalty Moratorium For H264

MPEG LA has announced that free h264 content (vs. paid h264 content which will still have royalties) will be royalty free forever. With ubiquitous h264 support on mobile devices, personal computers and all other types of media devices, this assures that h264 will remain the de facto standard for video playback for the foreseeable future."

See: Slashdot Discussion

How To Index and Search a Video By Emotion

This is rather disturbing implications, it could optimize video for it's addictive effects.
Maybe this is just a little to intimate. 


Also there is no reason this couldn't be done with just a web-cam. 

From Slashdot:

"Here's a a demonstration video of EmoRate, a software program that uses the Emotiv 14-electrode EEG headset to record your emotions via your facial expressions. In the video you'll see EmoRate record my emotions while I watch a YouTube video, then index that video by emotion, and then navigate that video by simply by remembering a feeling. The web page for EmoRate explains how I used Emotiv's SDK to build the software program, and how I trained the system by watching emotionally evocative videos on YouTube while wearing the headset."

120-megapixel CMOS sensor

 Canon's newly developed CMOS sensor,
featuring approx. 120 megapixels

The sensor is the so-called APS-H size and measures 29.2-mm by 20.2-mm and contains 13,280 by 9,184 pixels (121.96 million pixels).


Most DLSRs use one of 3 different sensor sizes: APS-H (Canon only), APS-C and Full Frame.  Generally speaking the larger the sensor the less digital noise.   

According to the press release, the sensor can output 9.5fps HD frames from any subsection of the sensor.


The sensor also supports full high-definition video (1,920 x 1,080 pixels) output. The sensor can output full HD video from any approximately one-sixtieth-sized section of its total surface area.

Canon's highest-resolution commercial CMOS sensor of the same size contains about 16.1 million pixels, the company said. Therefore the newly developed sensor features a pixel count that is nearly 7.5 times larger and offers a 2.4-fold improvement in resolution.

As CMOS sensors increase in resolution high pixel counts can result in problems with bandwidth getting signals off chip, large pin counts and signal delays and minor deviations in timing. By modifying the method employed to control the readout circuit timing, Canon has achieved a maximum output speed of approximately 9.5 frames per second on the latest sensor, supporting the continuous shooting of ultra-high-resolution images.

* I am thinking you can build an all digital PTZ with something like this. One with no moving parts. 

Consumer Electronics Control (CEC) protocol.

CEC is a 1-wire bus running on the HDMI interface providing automatic control in HDMI-interfaced systems.

It's based on AV.link known as the CENELEC EN 50157-1 standard also known under the trade names nexTViewLink, SmartLink, Q-Link, EasyLink.  AV.link was used on the old SCART (EIA Multiport) connectors.


CEC will connect up to 10 Audio Visual [AV] devices. 

PCWorld: The Secret Feature on Your HDTV: HDMI CEC
 From Hackaday:

The CEC protocol is a 1-wire serial bus built into the HDMI standard. The solution he settled up required one solder connection on the motherboard as well as the internal USB translator module seen above. That translator box, called the RainShadow, is a PIC 18F87J50 controlled board that translates incoming commands from the USB connection and sends them out as CEC hex codes. A bit of code writing and [Valkyrie-MT] is in business. You can see in the video after the break that it’s not just controlling audio, he can now control the entire entertainment center including turning on the TV and setting it to the appropriate input.

From Wikipedia:

Consumer Electronics Control (CEC) is a one-wire bidirectional serial bus that uses the industry-standard AV.link protocol to perform remote control functions. CEC wiring is mandatory, although implementation of CEC in a product is optional The feature is designed to allow the user to command and control multiple CEC-enabled boxes with one remote control and for individual CEC-enabled devices to command and control each other without user intervention.

Trade names for CEC are Anynet (Samsung); Aquos Link (Sharp); BRAVIA Sync (Sony); HDMI-CEC (Hitachi); Kuro Link (Pioneer); CE-Link and Regza Link (Toshiba); RIHD (Remote Interactive over HDMI) (Onkyo); SimpLink (LG); HDAVI Control, EZ-Sync, and VIERA Link (Panasonic); EasyLink (Philips); and NetCommand for HDMI (Mitsubishi)

HDMI Connector Pinout

Pin Number	Signal Name	Pin Number	Signal Name
1	TMDS Data 2+	20	SHELL
2	TMDS Data 2 Shield	19	Hot Plug Detect
3	TMDS Data 2-	18	+5V Power
4	TMDS Data 1+	17	Ground
5	TMDS Data 1 Shield	16	DDC Data
6	TMDS Data 1-	15	DDC Clock
7	TMDS Data 0+	14	No Connect
8	TMDS Data 0 Shield	13	CEC
9	TMDS Data 0-	12	TMDS Clock-
10	TMDS Clock+	11	TMDS Clock Shield

Update:
http://www.kwikwai.com/

3D video illusion.

3D Illusion brought to you by VideoBash.com

This is one of the best demo's of Digital Video Mapping I have yet to see.

Here is another clip of this building.

Samsung was introduced a large-scale commercial 3D-Outdoor projection in the Netherlands, was demonstrated at the Beurs van Berlage in Amsterdam this past May.

This is very similar to some of the tricks Disney and other were doing with PANI projectors but with still images. They take images of the building and then compensate in the projected image for the difference in the surface colors, texture, reflectivity and distances they where projecting on to. (Example)



Here are some other examples of video mapping.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UAVFod6bXg

Canon Abandons SED TV Hopes

From Slashdot:

"Canon has decided to liquidate a subsidiary developing a flat-panel display technology called SED, effectively bringing to an end once high hopes that the screens would replace LCD panels and plasma displays in living room TVs. Development of SED (surface-condition electron-emitter display) screens began in 1986 at Canon and was joined in 1999 by Toshiba. SEDs combine elements of both CRT (cathode ray tube) and LCD (liquid crystal display) technologies. As with CRTs, electrons hit a phosphor-coated screen to emit light. But instead of being shot from an electron gun, electrons are drawn out of an emitter through a slit that is only a few nanometers wide. The result is a picture that is as bright as a CRT and does not suffer a time lag sometimes seen on LCD panels with rapidly moving images."

Video quality less important when you’re enjoying what you’re watching

From ScienceBlog: Video quality less important when you’re enjoying what you’re watching

"Rice University researchers say new studies show that if you like what you're watching, you're less likely to notice the difference in video quality of the TV show, Internet video or mobile movie clip, putting a lie to some of the more extravagant marketing claims of electronics manufacturers. 'If you're at home watching and enjoying a movie, we found that you're probably not going to notice or even concern yourself with how many pixels the video is or if the data is being compressed,' said the lead researcher. 'This strong relationship holds across a wide range of encoding levels and movie content when that content is viewed under longer and more naturalistic viewing conditions.'"

THX and BluFocus join forces to certify the quality of 3-D content

THX and BluFocus, the latter of which is a Blu-ray testing company, are joining forces on a certification program for 3-D content. The program involves evaluating audio-video quality, Blu-ray player interoperability and even the effects of 3-D on viewers.

I posted a link a while back Why Bad 3D, Not 3D Glasses, Gives You Headaches this move could help keep  headache causing 3D content from spoiling the market.

“The long-term success of 3D in the home depends heavily on content producers and consumer electronics manufacturers delivering a comfortable and compelling experience for today’s first wave of consumer adopters,” said Rick Dean, senior vice president at THX.

THX®-BluFocus 3D certification sets authoring and production guidelines and testing procedures for evaluating 3D Audio-Video quality, 3D Blu-ray disc and player Interoperability, and the physiological effects of 3D on home viewers.

Read more at:
*http://hdguru.com/thx-announces-a-3d-content-certification-program/2145/
*http://www.homemediamagazine.com/high-def/thx-blufocus-partner-3d-bd-quality-control-20254

ChromaKey

ChromaKey,the technology of combining images, is widely used in the movie Videos, TV production. As a "key" color is most often used green and blue only by the fact that these colors are not found in the spectrum of complexion and hair.

Video Barbie

Barbie Video Girl Doll

• 320x240 Video camera is Windows/MAC compatible
• internal memory (256MB) stores 27 minutes in AVI format.
• Comes with pink USB plug-in cord
• Add music, graphics, and special effects with free Video Girl™ editing software www.barbie.com/videogirl (editing software for Windows only)

This seems like the ultimate weapon to catch child molesters.

Why Bad 3D, Not 3D Glasses, Gives You Headaches

From Slashdot:

"The most common complaint about 3D is that the glasses give you a headache, but that's not actually true, according to the man who teaches the pros how to make better 3D. Speaking at the BBC in London, Buzz Hays, chief instructor for the Sony 3D Technology Center in Culver City, California, explained: 'It's not the technology's fault, it's really the content that can cause these problems. It's easy to make 3D but it's hard to make it good — and by "good" I mean taking care to make sure that this isn't going to cause eyestrain.' He went on to detail some of the mistakes made by inexperienced 3D film makers, from poor composition of shots, through uncomfortable convergence settings, to overuse of on-set monitors without viewing their content on a big screen. But the biggest admission Buzz made was that not even the 'experts' know all the tricks yet, which is why 3D should only get better from here. In the same seminar, Buzz also explained why 3D glasses are here to stay — at least for the next few years."

Image Deblurring using Inertial Measurement Sensors

This is a very impressive paper, the implications for video are large. 
   http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/redmond/groups/ivm/imudeblurring/

Abstract

We present a deblurring algorithm that uses a hardware attachment coupled with a natural image prior to deblur images from consumer cameras. Our approach uses a combination of inexpensive gyroscopes and accelerometers in an energy optimization framework to estimate a blur function from the camera’s acceleration and angular velocity during an exposure. We solve for the camera motion at a high sampling rate during an exposure and infer the latent image using a joint optimization. Our method is completely automatic, handles per-pixel, spatially-varying blur, and out-performs the current leading image-based methods. Our experiments show that it handles large kernels – up to at least 100 pixels, with a typical size of 30 pixels. We also present a method to perform “ground-truth” measurements of camera motion blur. We use this method to validate our hardware and deconvolution approach. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work that uses 6 DOF inertial sensors for dense, per-pixel spatially-varying image deblurring and the first work to gather dense ground-truth measurements for camera-shake blur.

HDMI Labeling Requirements Promise a Stew of Confusion

from Slashdot:
"In many ways HDMI has revolutionized the way we connect devices. By unifying video and audio into a single cable manufacturers have been able to make their products easier to set up than ever before. Until recently there hasn't actually been much difference in HDMI cables. But things are about to get confusing with the introduction of HDMI 1.4. By the 1st of January 2012 manufacturers of products with HDMI ports won't actually be able to call HDMI 1.4 by its real name. In fact, come November 18 this year those selling cables won't be able to use HDMI 1.4 or HDMI 1.3 to delineate between different products. Instead cables that support version 1.4 of the HDMI standard will have to use one of five different labels. The new labels? Well, as this story explains, they're going to cause a new level of confusion for anyone hooking up a home cinema. Add to this the fact that the HDMI organization keeps the details of its specifications secret, and translation between version numbering and marketing-speak will be well nigh impossible."

Nuclear explosion prank, Scare the crap out of your community.

On June 17, 2007, an intrusion incident occurred on Czech Television's Sunday morning programme Panorama, which shows panoramic shots of Prague and various locations across the country, especially mountain resorts. One of the cameras, located in Černý Důl in Krkonoše, had been tampered with on-site and its video stream was replaced with the hackers' own, which contained CGI of a small nuclear explosion in the local landscape, ending in white noise. The broadcast looked authentic enough; the only clue for the viewers was the Web address of the artist group Ztohoven, which had already performed several reality hacking incidents before. Czech Television is currently considering legal action against the group, and tourism workers in the area have expressed their outrage (since the programme serves to promote tourism in the areas shown).

Source Wikipedia

Eye wear.

I remember a time in the 80's when wearing "Shades indoors" was cool and modern, to just flat out futuristic. Think of some of those videos like afrika bambaataa or the movies Tommy and top gun.

The strange irony here is maybe it really was futuristic.

Now we are in an age of contact lenses and lasik. Eye wear is no longer needed for anything but sports, and industrial eye protection.

Yet we find ourselves one again having to wear glasses to watch tv. But this time for totally different reasons.

With the advent of 3D TV will have  people wearing clunky or bizarrely bad attempt of a modern "futuristic look"to be able to decode the 3D.

Even worse then these 50's fashion faux pas that we are now calling modern.

Most of these are LCD Shutter glasses. Where it can turn the lens from clear to black with a small electric current. 
This is the cheapest right now because it uses a standard TV that can display 120 Hz or better. The glasses alternates between each eye turning off the vision in one eye and then the other in sync with the TV.  This is why these glasses are so bulky, it looks like ex-defense contractors designed them to be rugged.


The other technology that I personally prefer is the Polarized lens system.
There are several of them, some that used linear polarizing filters, and some that used circular.
RealD which I think is the best in the the TV space used circular polarization.

The TV has alternating polarization for each line across the screen.
3D content is the interlaced across the screen.

This right now requires a specialize LCD that I think is only made by one company in limited production right now. Several companies sell TV's based on that same LCD screen.

The the linear polarized system it's much like the shutter glasses but the LCD is over the screen rather the on the viewers face.  When view still needs to wear polarized lenses, but these can be light, cheap paper thin plastic sheets.
Like with the shutter glasses, alternate left and right eye pictures are displayed, and the polarization is changed from horizontal to vertical with each alternate frame.

This has the problem that if you tilt your each images from the other eyes image bleeds over.  Generally some always does with this technology as LCD's can not turn the polarization a full 90 deg and high contrast polarizing filters can be expensive.  Circularly polarized still lacks high contrast, but doesn't suffer the head rotation problem.

In the film space, Dolby's system is the ultimate.  I had actually thought of that when I was 20, but concluded that it would cost a fortune and be fragile. They split each color in the spectral bands, an upper and and lower band for each color, and 2 lenses each calibrated to take in upper red green and blue while blocking the lower band.  They'd have to do it with 3 very specialized and high precision band stop filters, make from thin-film dielectric coatings.
It's incredible technology.

Then consider that it's glasses are rugged, and these filters do tend to be very rugged, and yet the Dolby glasses are.
Just an incredible technical achievement.  I have seen the spectral graphs for these things, wow.

I can't imagine what those glasses must be costing them or how much money they must have put in to developing these.

Next I'd like to write about Augmented Reality and the glasses we will end up spending our lives in just to get around.

What an irony that as we evolve we are force to augment ourselves to keep up, at least if you want to be on the top of the pile.














 

Tearing in to flash video.

Get the Flash Decompiler from Trillix
http://www.flash-decompiler.com/

Get the Any Video Converter from AVC Labs
http://www.any-video-converter.com/

AVC also makes an excellent DVD ripper.


Both tools are free to use.

Wearable Display Using a Holographic Optical Element

See: http://www.konicaminolta.com/about/research/core_technology/optical/mgt_001.html