=?UTF-8?B?IkrDqXLDtG1lIE0uIEJlcmdlciI=?= <jeberger@free.fr> wrote:
> Samuel Benge wrote:
> > the microlens array sheets still aren't being developed.
> >
>  Yes they are: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lytro

For cameras, yes, but what about integral imaging applications such as 3D
displays or "magic" cards? Last I heard, mass production of the sheets for
inexpensive products is still a ways off.

>  I've had the occasion to play a little with one of these and I was
> rather disappointed: the resulting resolution was very poor and the
> possibilities of the provided software were pretty limited and far
> from the demos they show on their web site :(

If integral imaging is any indication of what one can expect from those cameras,
I'm not surprised. It takes a very large source image to produce an end result.
In integral imaging, the final resolution (what you see) is directly
proportional to the number of sub-regions on the source image. The /angular/
resolution depends on the resolution of each sub-region of the source image. So,
if you want an image with an apparent pixel resolution of 1024x1024, and with an
angular resolution of 256x256 (65536 distinct points of view), your source image
needs to be 262144x262144 pixels. And that's just for an image that falls way
below print standards.

Still, the technology itself is very promising. Surveillance systems ala Blade
Runner (tweaking the view to see around objects) don't seem all that outlandish
anymore.

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