3D数码摄像机已不遥远？！

几乎所有的平板电视厂商都期待着3D电视崛起所带来的新商机。数码摄像机厂商也对3D拍照/摄像功能在未来几年的发展抱有同样的期望。

位于加州Santa Clara的芯片厂商Ambarella公司看准了这一趋势，专注于低功耗、高清晰视频压缩与图形处理解决方案。Ambarella于本周一(11月22日)发布了一款名为S3D的3D视频预处理芯片。S3D被设计用于搭配Ambarella自己的相机片上系统，例如上个月推出的A5(1080P分辨率30帧摄像)和A7(1080P分辨率60帧摄像)。Ambarella公司表示，这样的组合开启了Full HD 1080P 3D摄像与高分辨率3D拍照的大门。

S3D与A5/A7相机片上系统组合的目标是带来定价低于200美元的3D数码摄像机，以适应消费市场的需求。Ambarella营销与企业开发副总裁Chris Day表示，这种摄像机拍出的3D视频“在3D电视上看起来非常好”。

Ambarella的3D相机解决方案也支持通过机身上的3D LCD显示屏显示3D视频和照片。

Ambarella的3D视频预处理芯片连接两块标准的CMOS图像传感器，将两块传感器获得的视频流合二为一。合并后的视频流再由A5或A7相机片上系统进行处理。

S3D有很多视频处理电路，没有任何形式的CPU。视频预处理器由相机片上系统进行控制。

Chris Day表示，S3D可以进行很多“聪明的拉升处理”。Day不愿意详细解释S3D在哪些细节上超越其它产品，只说成象质量是3D视频预处理器所面临的最大挑战，“很显然，当两条视频流合二为一的时候必然有所损失。我们最看重的便是保持视频质量”。

低功耗是Amberalla数码相机方案的另一个标志。S3D视频预处理器加上A5和DDR3内存的总功耗大约为1W。S3D、A7和DDR3内存的总功耗为1.5W。

到目前为止，Ambarella的重点在数码摄像机市场，而不是Zoran主宰的数码相机市场。随着越来越多的数码相机获得高清视频录制功能，两类产品的界限开始模糊起来，为Ambarella提供了进军数码相机市场的机会。但Zoran是一个强劲的对手，据称有数亿台相机采用了Zoran的相机片上系统解决方案。Zoran上个月发布了新的COACH 12数码摄像处理器，将“用于大量知名品牌的新型高清摄像机，包括一些支持无线联网和3D摄像的机型”。

点击进入第二页：3D摄像市场未来会有多大？

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3D摄像市场未来会有多大？

不过，3D摄像/拍照这种“有了更好”的功能到底能占据多大的市场还有待观察。

IDC研究经理Chris Chute估计支持3D拍摄功能的数码相机(能够通过两个镜头捕捉立体图像或视频)在2010年的出货量将达到25万。这个数字在2014年将达到600万台，届时将占整个数码相机市场的5%。IDC的数字仅包括相机，不包括摄像机。

Chris Chute补充说：“富士胶片是唯一一家支持这一领域的厂商，不过在摄像领域也有其它厂商”。In-Stat公司首席分析师Michelle Abraham表示松下、台湾Aiptek、优派都已经推出3D摄像机。

当问及3D摄像机最重要的功能是什么的时候，Chute指出：“通过自动3D LCD显示屏立即看到拍摄内容是必需的。能够在其它显示设备上观看所拍摄的3D视频也很重要”。不过后第二点现在成了抑制数码摄像机发展的问题，因为3D电视出货量依然很小，必须佩戴眼镜进行观看也阻碍了这块市场的发展。

In-Stat公司的Abraham则强调说：“在消费市场，定价非常重要。视频质量也很重要，有些消费者说3D让自己头昏脑胀。更好的视频质量可以减少这种情况的发生”。

Ambarella现在已经有了可以工作的S3D样片，量产将在2011年第一季度开始。

点击进入参考原文：3-D digital video cameras on the horizon? by Junko Yoshida

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3-D digital video cameras on the horizon?

Junko Yoshida

With most flat panel TV vendors expecting to see new growth opportunities blossom from 3-D TV, the likelihood grows that 3-D image/video capturing capabilities will become a nice-to-have feature for digital video camera suppliers in the next several years.

Anticipating the trend, Ambarella, Inc., a Santa Clara, Calif.-based chip vendor that specializes in low-power, high-definition video compression and image processing solutions, unveiled Monday (Nov. 22nd) a 3-D video pre-processor, called S3D. Designed to work with Ambarella's camera SoCs such as A5 (enables 1080P30 resolution) or A7 (enables 1080P60 resolution) – announced last month, the combination will enable full HD 1080p 3-D video recording and high-resolution 3-D photography, according to the company.

The goal of the combined S3D with Ambarella's A5 or A7 camera SoCs is to enable a consumer-friendly 3-D digital video camera – priced at less than $200 – capable of shooting 3-D video "that looks really good on 3-D TV," said Chris Day, vice president, marketing and business development at Ambarella.

Ambarella's 3-D camera solution also supports the display of 3D video and still images on the camera's 3D LCD display.

Ambarella's 3-D video pre-processor, which connects to two standard CMOS image sensors, will combine two video streams into one. Then, the video stream will be processed by the A5 or A7 camera SoCs.

S3D, consisting of many video logics, contains no CPU of any sort. Instead, the video pre-processor is under the control of the camera SoC, according to Ambarella's Day.

S3D is designed to perform a lot of "clever scaling," said Day. Declining to detail what makes S3D superior to others, Day simply noted that quality is the biggest challenge in such a 3-D video pre-processor. "Obviously, when you combine two video streams into one, something has to give. Preserving the video quality was our number one priority."

Low power consumption is also touted as a hallmark of Amberalla's digital camera solutions. Combined with S3D vide pre-processor with A5 and DDR3 memory, power consumption is approximately 1W, according to Day. The combination of S3D, A7 and DDR3 memory consumes about 1.5 W, he added.

Thus far, Ambarella's focus has been on the digital video camera market, rather than digital still cameras (DSC) whose market Zoran dominates. As more digital still cameras add HD video recording capabilities, the boundaries between the two have already begun blurring, creating an opportunity for Ambarella to enter the DSC market. But that said, Zoran is a formidable competitor. Zoran, who claims its camera SoC solutions are installed in hundreds of millions of digital cameras, announced last month that the new COACH 12 family of digital video processors is "powering a host of new HD camcorders under well-known brands, including wireless Internet connected and 3-D video camera models."

How big a market will 3-D video cameras become?

However, still remaining to be seen is exactly how big a "nice-to-have" feature 3-D video/image capturing might become on the digital video camera market of the future.

Chris Chute, research manager at IDC, estimated that 250,000 digital cameras featuring 3-D (with two lens assemblies for capturing stereoscopic images and video) will have shipped in 2010. That number "will grow to around 6 million units in 2014, or five percent of the digital camera market," he projected. IDC's numbers only cover cameras -- not camcorders, according to Chute.

He added, "Right now, Fujifilm is the only vendor supporting this segment, although there are others in the camcorder space." Those offering 3D-equipped camcorders include Panasonic, Aiptek of Taiwan and Viewsonic, according to Michelle Abraham, principal analyst at In-Stat.

Asked about the most important elements for 3D cameras, IDC's Chute pointed out "the ability to view content instantly on the device via auto stereoscopic LCD. This feature is an absolute requirement." He then added, "Also important is the ability to view on other displays." However, he called it also "an inhibitor," since 3D TV shipments remain quite small and the requirement to wear glasses is also an inhibitor.

In-Stat's Abraham, on the other hand, noted that "price will be important as it always is in consumer products." She added, "Video quality will be as well [important] especially with some consumers saying 3D gives them headaches or nausea. The better the quality the less likely that is to happen."

Ambarella today has a working chip of S3D, whose volume production starts in the first quarter of 2011.