Cameras, Printers & Scanners News - Page 8

CES 2016 - Razer unveiled its new Blade Stealth ultrabook gaming PC at CES, but alongside that announcement was their new Stargazer webcam.

Razer teamed with Intel on Stargazer, including Intel's impressive RealSense 3D technology inside of it. The Stargazer is capable of capturing 720p at 60FPS, as well as 1080p at 30FPS, with a noise-cancelling, dual-array microphone. It's powered by the Intel RealSense SR300 camera, which brings 3D to the table.

Intel's RealSense SR300 camera is capable of Windows Hello support, so you can use your face to log into Windows 10. Razer is more excited about the Dynamic Background Removal capability, where you can filter out the entire image except for the person. This might not sound like much, but for Twitch streamers, this is going to be huge - you can filter out everything around you, so you're picking up just your body, and have that overlayed on your stream or YouTube video.

CES 2016 - Nikon has just unveiled its first 360-degree action camera, with the weirdly named KeyMission 360 at the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

Nikon's new KeyMission 360 camera shoots 360-degree video in 4K, with Nikon calling it the first in a new "family" of action cameras. The KeyMission 360 features a square shape, with it being bigger than the GoPro Hero Session 4, reports The Verge. It has lenses on the front and back, and is shockproof 2m (7ft) and waterproof to 30m (100ft).

The KeyMission 360 has electronic stabilization reduction, but Nikon has been shy with pricing, availability, battery life, and the field of view of each lens. We should find out more in the coming months on the KeyMission 360.

360-degree video continues to grow, with Panorics announcing that it has launched its fully immersive 360-degree video camera system, PTRig. PTRig houses three GoPro cameras, shooting insane 5700x2850 videos in 360x180 degrees.

Panorics' PTRig can shoot its spherical video using three GoPro Hero3 or Hero4 cameras, and thanks to their small size and weight, the ability to change out camera settings without removing the GoPro cameras is a great thing to see. Some of the first PTRig's have been met with positive reviews, with Chief Video Producer for Planet360, Alex Ugryumov using his PTRig "in the air, on a boat, on a car", with Ugryumov saying that "compared to other holders I used, it performs much better: less parallax, better and easier stitching, convenient to charge the cameras".

Panorics' CEO, Alex Boch, explains: "With over $1 billion invested in VR already and more than 30 million virtual reality headsets on the market by 2020, availability of immersive video content is going to be key to the whole industry exponential growth. VR is expanding rapidly and there won't be any industry not affected by its growth. We are very excited to be a part of a new VR era and Panorics works hard on developing innovative 360 video products".

Light has just unveiled their latest L16 camera, which features an impressive 16 camera sensors on the front, each capturing 13-megapixel images. When a photo is taken on the Light L16, it comes out as a huge 52-megapixel image.

The L16's 16 separate camera sensors are divided into three groups, which each having a lens of a different focal length. There are five cameras with 35mm effective focal length lenses, five with 70mm modules, and six with 150mm modules. Light then uses some impressive software and stitching tools, which allows the L16 to zoom through an effective range of 35mm to 150mm without any moving parts or adjustable lenses.

It's an impressive feat, considering the camera sensor on each of the 16 cameras being 13 megapixels. With the L16 being a little thicker than a smartphone, and the stitching of photos to make a huge 52-megapixel photo being a huge tick on its side of awesomeness. Another great feature with the Light L16 is that the focus of the photos can be adjusted after the shot has been taken, making it similar to the Lytro camera. But, the L16 is capable of shooting 4K video which is something the Lytro can't do.

Canon has just hit a huge milestone, with its new 250-megapixel APS-H CMOS sensor that has set a new world record for resolution in its size. The new sensor is capable of shooting images at a mindblowing 19,580 x 12,600.

The 250-megapixel sensor is so powerful, that Canon says it can distinguish lettering on the side of a plane from 18km (11 miles) away. The new APS-H sensor is bigger than APS-C, but smaller than full frame, and is "primarily used on Canon's legacy EOS-1D line of DSLRs", reports The Verge.

Canon's new super-powered sensor has a quick signal readout speed of 1.25 billion pixels per second, with the Japanese giant saying that it has good noise performance even with the immense pixel count. Not only can the 250-megapixel camera shoot those insane 19,580 x 12,600 images, but it can also shoot video that is around 30x sharper than 4K, albeit at 5FPS. Canon says that the technology can be used in "specialized surveillance and crime prevention tools, ultra-high-resolution measuring instruments and other industrial equipment, and the field of visual expression".

Some of you may have seen this robot from IDF on our front page, a robot which not only looks like it's smart, but which can image the world around it in real-time in 3D. This ability comes from the RealSense camera, whose output is on the screen in the background. Intel's RealSense Technology offers 3D scanning and imaging with a wide variety of uses.

The technology is already present in many high-end products from manufacturers ranging from Creative to Dell. It uses a 2D camera and an infrared camera and wide range infrared emitter. It uses a specially designed Intel chip to capture and process the 2D image and infrared data about the image to provide depth to images. There are two main versions, the first is a front facing camera used in video conferencing which can omit anything past a certain depth, and the second is a "world-facing" camera which is capable of things such as producing 3D images. You can even have your picture taken and then printed in 3D, but there is even more the camera can do such as real-time tracking of objects and even things as small as fingers. It allows for effective tracking, even enough for proper gaming as was demonstrated.

Here an Intel employee uses a hacked nerf gun and puts himself in the gameplay with RealSense technology. He is able to move through the game and shoot using this custom rigged apparatus. There are many possibilities that 3D depth sensors can give to a game, just look at the X Box Kinect, but pairing one with a high-quality camera can produce many more possibilities. RealSense is not only excellent for putting yourself in the game, but it is also capable of adding objects into the game.

GPS manufacturer Garmin has launched the VIRB X and VIRB XE next-generation action cameras, available to consumers in Australia.

The VIRB XE is able to record HD video at 1440p/30fps or 1080p/60fps with super slow motion, image stabilization and various zoom levels. Meanwhile, the VIRB X records HD video at 1080p/30fps and 720p/60fps with slow motion and zoom.

Both cameras are waterproof up to 50 meters without an external case, and has the ability to capture crisp underwater shots. Both units support Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, ANT+, G-Metrix, GPS, accelerometer and gyroscope.

The UK may have anywhere from 4 million up to 5.9 million CCTV cameras in use, but many of the cameras are useless and there must be concern so the region doesn't 'sleepwalk' towards becoming a surveillance state, according to UK Surveillance Camera Commissioner Tony Porter.

"You can still maintain the balance of excellent surveillance but not have a propagation of surveillance that is actually useless," Porter recently said on BBC Radio 5. "Surveillance can be an extremely good thing and run well, it's a useful tool for society. But to quote a former information commissioner, 'we should not sleepwalk into a surveillance society.'"

Broken, damaged and older analog cameras aren't effective to enhance public safety and deter crime, Porter also added. In the future, Porter wants better interaction with the public, especially regarding regulation so cameras are not simply being added just for the sake of purchasing and installing new cameras - especially if there is no benefit to the public.

Coming up on the heels of their first thermal camera we reviewed earlier last month, Seek Thermal is releasing their brand new Seek XR which features manual zoom capabilities. The new camera weights only half an ounce but can capture long-wave radiation from as far as 2000 feet.

Seek's patented sensor features a resolution of 206x156 for a total of over 32,000 thermal pixels, which is very high compared to other cameras in the sub $1000 range. Like the first Seek thermal camera, the Seek XR will come in a magnesium case, but feature a custom made chalcogenide lens.

Seek is looking to market their new camera to a more diversified range of users, many of which we depend on every day. Seek Thermal founder Bill Parrish on the Seek XR, "Last year we introduced the first consumer thermal camera, and this new, extended-range camera is based in part on the specific feedback we received from gun experts, law enforcement, boaters and other people excited about thermal imaging." The new Seek XR will come in at only $299 and will be available directly from Seek as well as from Amazon starting this month. The Seek XR will be available for both Android and iOS devices.

SpotCam has just announced its first home monitoring Wi-Fi video solution, with the cloud-based video startup offering 24-hour cloud-based HD playback, for free.

The camera itself captures 720p, or 1280x720, in low bandwidth, with clear night vision thanks to its 12 IR LEDs. It has a 110-degree wide angle view, motion/audio/disconnection event detection, 256-bit SSL encryption, can have its video playback done over the web, or through it's mobile app, and has two-way communication. The SpotCam camera sells for $149, with 24-hour recording for free. As for 3-day, 7-day, and 30-day recording, the following prices apply:

You can grab the SpotCam from Amazon, or Newegg right now.