Hasta La Gadget!

At Inter Bee 2018, Panasonic is introducing the first camera equipped with an “Organic” 8K sensor (36M pixel, 60 FPS), which should push the light sensitivity and dynamic range farther than existing CMOS sensors.

Ubergizmo spotted this technology back in 2013 when the research was first announced, and products should arrive onto the market in “fall 2019” in the form of the AK-SHB 810 camera, according to Panasonic. The “organic” word comes from the fact that the sensor uses an organic thin film to convert photons to electrons.

According to its creators, the theoretical advantages of this new Panasonic image sensor can be summarized in a few key points:

• The organic sensor uses a global shutter, like expensive CCD sensor. That’s unlike common smartphones or DSLR CMOS sensors which rely on a rolling shutter as a trick to gather a little bit more light. For a quick rolling shutter explanation, watch the video below
• The sensor has a higher light sensitivity (100X in theory), which is great for low-light captures
• The sensor has a higher dynamic range for extremely high-contrast scenes

Global shutters are extremely important when taking pictures of fast-moving scenes because it will prevent distortions that are proportional to the speed at which things move, thus greatly improving image quality in these conditions. Panasonic does point out a large caveat: this works only for shutter speeds higher than 1/120: that means it can be used in bright lighting only. For slower shutter speeds, it will fall back to a rolling shutter mode.

+1

The higher dynamic range is obtained by improving the light to electric conversion and the subsequent charge storage. When a sensor pixel can hold more charge, it means that it can perceive a higher brightness without capping: its upper (dynamic) range is expanded.

Finally, the sensor has a neutral density (ND) filter, which makes it possible to reduce the brightness without altering color hues, and without requiring changing the camera’s aperture or shutter speed. This extra flexibility is one more tool that would give the camera software an opportunity to improve image quality.

It’s not clear how big the sensor is, and how fast this technology could trickle down into devices we care more about like smartphones or compact cameras. However, this is one of the exciting reasons to attend “pro” shows like Inter Bee where such technologies are introduced and where we can meet with engineers that have designed the system.

Panasonic World’s First Organic 8K Sensor , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.

The Democrat’s longshot strategy relies on a statute that’s never been used in such a high-stakes contest.

Can you believe that there have been SIX Sharknado movies already? Count ’em! Six terrible movies. They’re all about being completely terrible with over-the-top shark action and horrible CGI. But for some reason that I will never understand, they are modern cult classics. But guess what? Sharknado has a VR video game too.

No joke. It’s called Sharknado VR: Eye of the Storm and is developed and published by Autumn VR. The game was actually announced back in August at the premiere of Sharknado 6 in LA. It’s a first-person shooter where you get to use a bunch of cool weapons like chainsaws in order to kick some shark butt.

“In ‘Sharknado VR: Eye of the Storm,’ players find themselves in the middle of the gory action as they battle freak, fin-filled weather phenomena…players fight through familiar scenarios and scenes from the “Sharknado” movies, in locales from LA to NYC to Kansas and more. “Sharknado” wranglers will save soaking-wet bystanders while dodging and clashing with sharks, jellyfish and barracudas, and even come across awesome Easter eggs along the way.”

The game actually looks better than the movies. Sharknado VR: Eye of the Storm is available right now on Steam if you need some shark killing action in your life. It will cost you $18.99, and will be coming to PSVR later in the year.

[via Mike Shouts]

As you stand in the produce aisle of the local grocery store weighing bananas, few have wondered exactly how we come by the pounds, kilograms, ounces, and grams that are used to measure the weight of something around the world. As it turns out, deciding on a standard way to know that a kilogram is a kilogram is very difficult. … Continue reading

Bad Robot has revealed two more sci-fi projects. Food company General Mills, of all companies, wants to get in on the cinematic universe trend. John Marrs’ The One is heading to Netflix. Plus, what to expect from the DC/CW slate soon, and more Twilight Zone casting. Spoilers get!

Read more…