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9 Last Words

And that ends the project. Many other things could have been covered; several ideas that I wanted to pursue include:

• displaying stereo video at SVGA/XVGA rates;

• finding or developing a display method that didn't require camera synchronization;

• Anaglyphic video: mixing the video instead of multiplexing fields, and using color filters to provide video that can be viewed with colored glasses;

• saving the video in an mpeg or avi file;

• actually using the stereo module in an radio-controlled vehicle;

• finding filter material to allow outdoor (sunlight) operation;

• implementing R/C servo motor controls for focus, camera separation, X-Y axis movements independent of vehicle direction, antenna rotation, etc.;

• racing other R/C vehicles on a miniature racetrack - the closest thing to driving at Watkins Glen, or Daytona Beach. Or armored tanks meeting on a sandlot battlefield. 3D Battlebots, anyone?

• SVGA video

Displaying stereo video at 120 frames per second requires a different VGA converter. What I believe is happening during SVGA conversion is this: a video field is converted to digital, stored in memory, and then read back out - twice - at double the rate. This means the same field, say the left camera, would be displayed twice before the other camera video would be displayed. So the technique used here will not work. However, the necessary circuit modification is not complicated. First, the shutter control circuit would need to be changed so that the left/right control signal would alternate on every other frame, and a control added to select two adjacent (identical) frames to be displayed during each shutter period. But then the problem disappears altogether if a head-mounted display is used instead of an SVGA monitor and shutter glasses.

• Stereo Video movies

AVToolbox also sells a device that converts the video signal to digital and sends it to a PC over the USB bus. Unfortunately, it won't work with my laptop. But there are plenty of frame grabbers available for the desktop or tower PC. Creating a video file would then require some method of controlling shutter glasses. Perhaps the driver software accompanying the glasses could be used (and allow the glasses to be used in the manner they were intended).

• Anaglyphic video

Mixing two video streams, as opposed to multiplexing them, should allow the full video signal to be used, and there would be no annoying 60-cycle flicker.

I hope I've done the job of providing you with useful, practical information that will enable you to try out your own experimentation with stereoscopic 3D video. If you have any questions, suggestions or corrections, please contact me at pete@petesprojects.com.

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