VISUALIZATION

Fakespace Systems Inc. today announced the availability of the Beacon 8MP, a stereoscopic projection system with an unprecedented 8.85 megapixel native resolution. The incredible spatial detail possible with the Beacon 8MP is ideal for terascale data and image critical applications such as scientific research, vehicle design reviews and geophysical interpretation and drill planning. Two of these projectors will be used to create a 10’ x 10’, 14 megapixel display at the Virtual Reality Applications Center (VRAC) of Iowa State University during the Human Computer Interaction Forum, April 12, 2006. The Beacon 8MP uses patent-pending shutter technology developed by Fakespace to produce active stereo image quality and ultra-high resolution without the need to tile multiple projectors of lesser resolutions. At the core of Beacon 8MP projector are two light engines that each display 4096 x 2160 resolution and 5,000 lumens of brightness. Electronic shutters placed in front of each light engine alternate on and off in rapid succession to generate separate left eye and right eye images. When the Beacon shutters are synchronized with electronic shutter glasses, high quality active stereo images can be viewed. Active stereo at this native resolution cannot currently be achieved any other way. The Beacon 8MP eliminates the artifacts of projector blending and tiling for continuous detail across the entire projected image. If active stereo-capable DLP projectors were used to create this resolution, up to six DLP projectors would be required, and they would have to edge matched into a tiled array. Edge matching results in visible lines between projectors that are acceptable for some applications, such as automotive styling. Also, uneven brightness and colors appear across the entire image due to hot-spotting of multiple projectors. An alternative to this is edge blending, which would require up to twelve DLP projectors. While edge blending eliminates the visible line between projectors, a reduction in pixels results due to the overlap of projectors. Further, electronic and/or optical blending technologies can still introduce visible brightness and contrast artifacts that require periodic maintenance. Fakespace also offers the new 8.85 megapixel resolution in a polarized (passive) stereoscopic configuration, where light weight paper or plastic glasses can be used. However, the Beacon technology creates significant advantages for applications where image quality is imperative. The alternate light engine shuttering presents just one image for each eye on the screen at one time. There isn’t any possibility of crosstalk (ghosting) which can occur with polarized systems where both left and right eye images are on the screen all the time. Crosstalk is very fatiguing for the viewer and reduces the amount of time viewers can work in immersive environments. Further, image contrast improves when only one image is on the screen at a time. Beacon 8MP has incredible potential for spatially complex, 3D images used in critical review sessions such as for vehicle design,” said Kurt Hoffmeister, Vice President of Engineering for Fakespace Systems. “Imagine the possibility of creating a fully immersive room environment that displays over one hundred million pixels.”