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The Options
1. Phototainer
Having purchased a "Phototainer", portable hard disk with LCD
display, I decided to make an attachment that would allow me to
view stereo pairs taken by my digital camera fitted with a
beam-splitter. The attachment also allow me to view side by
side stereo
images prepared on my computer. Anaglyphs can be viewed
without the attachment of course.
Figure 1.
shows the 'Phototainer' closed ready for slipping in you pocket.
It measures 90mm x 140mm x 30mm and is fitted with a 30Gb hard
disk. The device can also take a Compact Flash card or
microdrive for downloading images. USB is provided for
uploading and downloding images via your PC., and a Video out is
also provided for playback through a TV. The integral
firmware permits files in several image formats as well as music
and video format.
Figure 2.
shows the device opened to reveal a high resolution LED display
72mm x 52mm, this is ideal for the format resulting from using a
beam splitter with a digital camera.
Figure 3.
Here we have the viewing hood that I made from black craft card.
The lens is constructed from a rectangular magnifying glass
purchased from a local photographers.
Experimenting with this showed that the 2x
magnification of the glass was OK but in order to get the stereo
viewing axis correct with a single glass, I needed, in simple
terms, to cut the lens into two pieces and rejoin them by the
outer (thin) edges bringing what was the right side of the lens to
the left side. The resulting prismatic tow-in works well,
even though the ocular separation is only 35mm.
To describe this process further will require
diagrams which I hope to prepare in due course.
Figure 4.
The viewing hood slips over the LCD of the Phototainer and
providing a focal distance of 150mm. In use, viewing takes
place with the eyes at around 100mm from the eyepiece, in a
similar way to the Loreo postcard viewer.
The Phototainer has a built-in slideshow
feature which means that you can have a hands free presentation of
well over 1,000 images if so desired. Images can grouped in
folders as you would on a computer.
I have found that images of 800 x 600 pixels
(dpi) provide satisfactory results considering the limitations of
the LCD display.
2. Twinned
iMirror
The iMirror Pocket Multimedia Centre is a
small device capable of playing videos, music and photos. It
also has a built in FM radio and comes with 2 Gb of inbuilt memory
plus an addition 1 Gb memory card and USB lead. Having a
2.4" diagonal viewing width and a resolution of 320 x 240 pixels.
Two of these devices can sit side by side in any traditional
stereo viewer; I chose to use a Loreo viewer and mounted the two
iMirrors on a 6" x 3" card with Velcro. I fixed a piano
hinge onto the card adding some trim and an actuator to trigger
the relevant button on the top of each iMirror.
Figure 5.
The
Loreo Classic DeLuxe Stereo Viewer
is available from The Widescreen Centre
www.widescreen-centre.co.uk
at around £20 and is seen here with
the dismountable card carrying the two iMirrors, costing £75 each,
in position. The card onto which the iMirrors are mounted is
in fact made of plastic, rather than cardboard; this I made by
cutting-up a DVD case. There are six buttons on the top of
each iMirror and only one pair of them is needed to sequence a
slide show or trigger a movie. For more details, take a look
at Digital Deals
www.digitaldealsuk.com
Figure 6.
Here you can see the card removed with two
location strips glued beneath the mounted iMirrors. The
iMirrors have not been modified in any way.
It should be noted that Digital Deals have a
wide range of alternative devices to the ones that I chose.
It should be possible to build a ViewMagic based viewer with larger
digital displays such as those used for digital picture frames -
don't hold your breath!
2. Digital Picture Frame.
There is now a great variety
of digital picture frames available, some with high enough
resolution to view through a magnifying glass and some with a 16x9
aspect ratio, ideal for viewing digital copies of your Realist
format slides. A good choice of optics for making your own
digital viewer is the Loreo Classic available here -
http://www.widescreen-centre.co.uk/Products/LOREO_CLASSIC_DeLuxe_Stereo_.html
This viewer is designed for 6" x 4" cards
and works well with a 7" picture frame. The card carrier of
the Loreo Classic viewer can be readily removed making way for
mounting an home-made adaptor that carries the digital picture
frame. The viewer can be restored to it's original purpose.
Any question? Please contact
barry@aldous.net
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