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metasailor

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 18, 2009
3
2
I see a lot of mention of the upcoming iPhone 12's 3d depth-sensing camera/sensor, for help with focusing and depth of field etc.

My question that I haven't been able to find answered: will the iPhone 12 be able to take 3d pictures? And even video? That is, true stereo photography - two separate pictures from slightly different angles that are merged to create a 3d picture from reality that can be viewed in VR, printed out into lenticular photographs, etc.

I understand it's a somewhat rarer field of photography, but I'm quite interested in it.

Does anyone have any information on this? Because if the iPhone 12 can do this, I will probably wait to buy a new phone until it's released.
 
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now i see it

macrumors G4
Jan 2, 2002
11,239
24,220
A 3D camera needs to have two identical lenses at least eye distance apart. Viewing a 3D image requires specialized glasses or a special viewer.
The 3D reference to the iPhone 12 is referring (I think) to depth sensing to allow for more accurate AR viewing and possibly portrait mode improvements.
I'm just guessing here, but I'd say it's 100% certain that the next iPhone, or any iPhone in the future won't have a 3D camera that allows depth perception when looking at the final image
 

freeagent

macrumors 6502a
Mar 9, 2020
597
400
That would be super cool. I would have to get one for sure. Too bad my phone would be rendered worthless at that point. Can’t even give it to my wife because now she has an SE. it’s funny how things change in just a few short months. Dammit.
 
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metasailor

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 18, 2009
3
2
A 3D camera needs to have two identical lenses at least eye distance apart. Viewing a 3D image requires specialized glasses or a special viewer.
The 3D reference to the iPhone 12 is referring (I think) to depth sensing to allow for more accurate AR viewing and possibly portrait mode improvements.
I'm just guessing here, but I'd say it's 100% certain that the next iPhone, or any iPhone in the future won't have a 3D camera that allows depth perception when looking at the final image

I agree it seems unlikely that the iPhone 12 will take 3d pictures directly, if only because Apple hasn't been pushing that. :)

But according to a teardown via Forbes, the "LiDAR scanner" will have "two lens-capped modules consisting of a VCSEL transmitter and receiving sensor."


So if that means each module transmits and receives, that does mean 3D photography could be possible.

I do agree it seems unlikely. I'm just not 100% sure yet.

It would be interesting if an app could exploit this also. Use the LiDAR scanning info to map out how the 3d picture should look, and then create a 3D picture from the LiDar info applied to the picture that was taken.

That would aslo mean that LiDAR info could be applied to other pictures as well. So that could mean weird effects like taking a picture of a living room and applying that to the 3D info from a picture of a canyon, or a human body, etc.
 
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JPack

macrumors G5
Mar 27, 2017
13,469
26,072
The same ToF sensor has been available in many other smartphones.

The improvements are limited to things like focusing in low light, portrait video mode, and background replacement.

Keep in mind the ToF sensor is inexpensive and not very accurate, unlike the TrueDepth camera. So in terms of 3D photos, the effect will not be much better than a Live Photo.
 
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tripleburst

macrumors 6502
Sep 19, 2018
378
410
Theoretically it's possible to shoot 3D-like images by software, if you take Facebook's example of converting photos taken in Portrait mode and using the depth of field to give it a pseudo 3D effect. Still not as good as a 3D photo taken with 2 lenses though.
 

EM2013

macrumors 68020
Sep 2, 2013
2,490
2,326
Wasn’t there an old android phone back in the day that took “3D” pictures? Or am I imagining things?
 

freeagent

macrumors 6502a
Mar 9, 2020
597
400
My friends uncle has a camera from the 1800s that shoots stereo photos. Very neat. I don’t see why they or anyone else couldn’t do it. That one Chinese phone can see under your clothes.. so I don’t see why this would be so hard to do. Of course I have no background in engineering.

As a great man once said:

“If I gave you a hammer and sent you off into the woods, how long until you can send me an email?”

Joe Rogan
 

44267547

Cancelled
Jul 12, 2016
37,642
42,494
3D phone will go down in the same rabbit hole that 3D TV did.

Wasn’t Samsung‘s best selling TV last year a 3-D curved television in the 3rd fiscal? I’m pretty sure it was in a Tech podcast when They were questioned about the QLED panels.

Anyways, the way I see a 3-D camera, if the consumer doesn’t understand how to actually manipulate its core functionality, they probably won’t care about it. Let’s take ‘Live Photos‘ for example (Even though that was more of a software tangent), essentially consumers had no idea how to use it and what it was really for, and it’s a forgotten feature.
 

teeshot44

macrumors 65816
Aug 8, 2015
1,120
885
US
Wasn’t Samsung‘s best selling TV last year a 3-D curved television in the 3rd fiscal? I’m pretty sure it was in a Tech podcast when They were questioned about the QLED panels.

From Wiki and other articles including CNet.

"As early as 2013, 3D televisions were being seen as a fad. DirecTV had stopped broadcasting 3D programs in 2012, while ESPN stopped in 2013. ... In January 2017, the last two major television manufacturers still producing 3D televisions, Sony and LG, announced they would stop all 3D support "

Too many complaints of headaches I guess.
 

marty1980

macrumors 6502a
Apr 22, 2011
742
654
Nintendo 3DS. Problem solved 😂

I have a 3D TV in my living room. It uses active shutter glasses. It’s fun every now and then to watch a movie or play an old PS3 game, but we hardly ever use this feature.

It would be cool to have a photo frame on the wall or on my desk that flips through 3D photos. I just don’t see Apple making a 3D display for iPhone or iPad any time soon to support 3D photos or videos. So even if the cameras could take 3D,you wouldn’t be able to see them until yoU move them to another device. So the likelihood is very low that they would add it as an option.

There have been a handful of Android phones with 3D displays over the years

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_3D-enabled_mobile_phones
 
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