Mega video enables virtual window

The human visual system sifts through an enormous amount of data. Computer displays are less than life-like because they don't present as much data. The challenge in providing a display that matches the resolution of the human visual system is being able to handle an enormous amount of information in real-time.

Researchers from Imaging Solutions Group and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Ames Research Center have put together a camera and display system that displays full-motion video at nearly human-visual-system resolution.

The system could provide a virtual window for various military, aerospace, security and entertainment applications. The system's method of capturing and displaying data could also be adapted to improve data transmission and storage, according to the researchers.

The system's camera provides a video frame rate of 30 frames per second at 8.3 million pixels, or four times the resolution of today's high-definition television systems. The system uses 24-bit color and includes an IBM 9.2-megapixel liquid crystal display. The system allows a person with 20/20 vision standing half a meter away from the screen to see a view that is arguably equivalent to looking through a window, according to the researchers.

The researchers are working on finding compression schemes that will allow them to stream the video signal over networks.

The camera can be used practically in six to nine months, according to the researchers. The researchers presented the work at the Society for Information Display (SID) International Symposium 2004 in Seattle, Washington, May 23 to 28.