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Smart HD Binoculars (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Pileatus
- Start date
perseid28
Well-known member
Interesting. I'm sure they have their uses, but birding probably isn't one of them. If nothing else, a $479 binocular with a 4-16x zoom doesn't promise much for optics. I'm curious as to why a velocity feature was added to binoculars; most of the time I struggle to get a steady image while standing still!
Hmmmm? Potential ethics problems here, no? They sell gun cameras.:smoke:
http://www.atncorp.com/smart-hd-gun-camera
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Somebody get a pair and do a review. Frank?
I agree but I think the technology may have a future. Besides, in a few years if people don't see digital images on a screen they won't believe it's real! Also, some of what I see in top of the line camera displays is better than I ever expected.
Velocity...I assume, is about damping factor and how too much
stabilization can keep you from following a bird on the move.
If you can't get a steady picture through stabilized binoculars while holding
still, you need to return the binoculars...or call an ambulance :t:
When I follow birds around, I just use 7x35 10-degrees that are sharp
90% of the field. Works great, no batteries.
I can't get into binoculars with electronics. So many things with
electronics are dead at auction, even without battery drool.
Haha....yes, they look like Lego binoculars or something...or for a Wii.
Still, if I were an old auntie taking a nephew on a European art tour, they might be fun.
Indeed.
Which raises a mystery: how did they actually become non-working,
and will that happen under your ownership? Many old mechanicals
work great with just surface cleaning. A third need an internal cleaning.
Some are busted. But they seem to fare a lot better over time than
electrically electronically-aided ones.
Our Gas fridge lasted 30 years. Now they last 6 to 8 years if we are lucky.
My nephew destroyed a talking clock in one hour from new.
My singing fish which works when you walk past sometimes now starts up when switched off.
A Minolta talking camera started talking non stop and I had to chuck it in the rubbish bin. Must be fun if it carries on in a landfill site.
Yet I have a Binatone green LED clock that has been working non stop for 45 years.
Mostly electronics fail.
P.S.
However, my Canon compact camera took almost 200,000 individual photos, and I only stopped using it because the battery door hinge was worn and wouldn't close tight.
Some other makes are designed to fail at 13 months.
My nephew destroyed a talking clock in one hour from new.
My singing fish which works when you walk past sometimes now starts up when switched off.
A Minolta talking camera started talking non stop and I had to chuck it in the rubbish bin. Must be fun if it carries on in a landfill site.
Yet I have a Binatone green LED clock that has been working non stop for 45 years.
Mostly electronics fail.
P.S.
However, my Canon compact camera took almost 200,000 individual photos, and I only stopped using it because the battery door hinge was worn and wouldn't close tight.
Some other makes are designed to fail at 13 months.
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I think binoculars are where cameras were twenty years ago.
Top reasons that electronics fail:
Alkaline batteries. These things are ubiquitous and used by everybody and their brother. But, after a while, they leak. When they leak, your electronics are toast. If you value your electronics, use lithium batteries. They are much more expensive, but they don't leak and won't ruin your valuable electronics.
Moisture. People inevitably get their electronics wet, either in the rain, in the bathroom, poolside, you name it. Even very humid environments can lead to corrosion and/or shorting. Seaside residents have a tough time of it (think I read a statistics somewhere that half of the population lives within 50 miles of a coastal shoreline).
Poor-quality electronics. Cheap/poorly-made capacitors and resistors fail. When they fail, electronics fail. A couple years ago, my electronics-engineer brother was building 15" lcd screens for airplane cockpits that cost about $700. I asked him how they were different from the 15" lcd screens that I could go buy from a computer store for $75. He simply said that his didn't fail. They were designed to be waterproof, shockproof, dustproof, bombproof, pressure-proof, etc. Point is, electronics can be made quite reliable if you're willing to pay.
---
Btw, a good thorough cleaning of electronics with some contact cleaner will go a long way to ensuring their longevity. There is one type of contact cleaner for new electronics, to protect them and make them last longer. There is another type that is made for old electronics, with scratchy volume dials, etc. Take apart that old radio, spray some contact cleaner on the volume pot, and it will work like new again.
Example: Here is a reputable contact cleaner...
http://www.amazon.com/Hosa-Cable-De...id=1459862143&sr=8-4&keywords=contact+cleaner
The red can cleans the electronics. The blue can protects the electronics from corrosion.
Top reasons that electronics fail:
Alkaline batteries. These things are ubiquitous and used by everybody and their brother. But, after a while, they leak. When they leak, your electronics are toast. If you value your electronics, use lithium batteries. They are much more expensive, but they don't leak and won't ruin your valuable electronics.
Moisture. People inevitably get their electronics wet, either in the rain, in the bathroom, poolside, you name it. Even very humid environments can lead to corrosion and/or shorting. Seaside residents have a tough time of it (think I read a statistics somewhere that half of the population lives within 50 miles of a coastal shoreline).
Poor-quality electronics. Cheap/poorly-made capacitors and resistors fail. When they fail, electronics fail. A couple years ago, my electronics-engineer brother was building 15" lcd screens for airplane cockpits that cost about $700. I asked him how they were different from the 15" lcd screens that I could go buy from a computer store for $75. He simply said that his didn't fail. They were designed to be waterproof, shockproof, dustproof, bombproof, pressure-proof, etc. Point is, electronics can be made quite reliable if you're willing to pay.
---
Btw, a good thorough cleaning of electronics with some contact cleaner will go a long way to ensuring their longevity. There is one type of contact cleaner for new electronics, to protect them and make them last longer. There is another type that is made for old electronics, with scratchy volume dials, etc. Take apart that old radio, spray some contact cleaner on the volume pot, and it will work like new again.
Example: Here is a reputable contact cleaner...
http://www.amazon.com/Hosa-Cable-De...id=1459862143&sr=8-4&keywords=contact+cleaner
The red can cleans the electronics. The blue can protects the electronics from corrosion.
dalat
...
I tried to find the resolution of the screens in the eyepieces.
I assume it is what they call "micro display". With 960x540 (=518'400 dots), this is mediocre at best, no one will be happy looking through these.
There are already much better camera viewfinders on the market. E.g. my Lumix FZ-200 has 1,312,000 dots, which gives and acceptable view for a camera, but is still far from the view a cheap optical binocular gives.
Many cameras now have electronic viewfinders with more than 2 million dots, and the best ones on the market even more than 3 million (e.g. the Leica Q has 3.68 million dots). I'm not sure how close these are to an optical image. But any attempt at a digital binocular surely should make use of the best EVF available on the market, otherwise it just doesn't make sense.
I assume it is what they call "micro display". With 960x540 (=518'400 dots), this is mediocre at best, no one will be happy looking through these.
There are already much better camera viewfinders on the market. E.g. my Lumix FZ-200 has 1,312,000 dots, which gives and acceptable view for a camera, but is still far from the view a cheap optical binocular gives.
Many cameras now have electronic viewfinders with more than 2 million dots, and the best ones on the market even more than 3 million (e.g. the Leica Q has 3.68 million dots). I'm not sure how close these are to an optical image. But any attempt at a digital binocular surely should make use of the best EVF available on the market, otherwise it just doesn't make sense.
4k TV is 3840x2160, or 8.3mp
8k TV is 7680x4320, or 33.2mp
There are those who say that 8k is approaching/exceeding the resolution of human vision, but then it depends on the size of the display. 8k probably makes no sense on a 32-inch TV screen, but will it approximate/exceed human vision at that resolution and size? What about on a 1-inch display?...
A good computer screen can exceed 200ppi (pixels per inch). The iPad (and Nexus 9) have resolutions of 281ppi. Modern smartphones are even better:
iPhone 6s - 326ppi
iPhone 6s+ - 401ppi
Samsung Galaxy S5 - 432ppi
Samsung Galaxy S7 - 577ppi
I'm sure the display quality is limited much more by the source (camera sensor size/resolution) in these systems. I put size first because there is a huge trade-off in sensor sizes. Larger sensors gather much more light and have much less image noise, but also need much larger lens/glass to fill the sensor. An 8x binocular with full-frame sensors would likely have oculars equivalent to 400mm lenses on full-frame cameras. Smaller sensors will eventually become much more useable as processor speeds increase, but that is still in the distant future, especially with slower development of "smart" binoculars due to very limited market. You will see it in smartphones first, then small enthusiast cameras, then small DSLRs, then regular DSLRs, then maybe binos. :þ
8k TV is 7680x4320, or 33.2mp
There are those who say that 8k is approaching/exceeding the resolution of human vision, but then it depends on the size of the display. 8k probably makes no sense on a 32-inch TV screen, but will it approximate/exceed human vision at that resolution and size? What about on a 1-inch display?...
A good computer screen can exceed 200ppi (pixels per inch). The iPad (and Nexus 9) have resolutions of 281ppi. Modern smartphones are even better:
iPhone 6s - 326ppi
iPhone 6s+ - 401ppi
Samsung Galaxy S5 - 432ppi
Samsung Galaxy S7 - 577ppi
I'm sure the display quality is limited much more by the source (camera sensor size/resolution) in these systems. I put size first because there is a huge trade-off in sensor sizes. Larger sensors gather much more light and have much less image noise, but also need much larger lens/glass to fill the sensor. An 8x binocular with full-frame sensors would likely have oculars equivalent to 400mm lenses on full-frame cameras. Smaller sensors will eventually become much more useable as processor speeds increase, but that is still in the distant future, especially with slower development of "smart" binoculars due to very limited market. You will see it in smartphones first, then small enthusiast cameras, then small DSLRs, then regular DSLRs, then maybe binos. :þ
