Sony spies Eye toy for PS3
Hip, hip, array
Sony will bring the PlayStation 3 version of its Eye web and gaming cam to market this summer time. The T-shaped unit has a bigger microphone than image grabber, thanks to a noise-cancelling four-microphone array.
Why take four microphones into a video chat when you can take one? The new Eye can compare the signals from each of the four sound pick-ups to help it filter out environmental noise and enhance what the speaker is saying. We haven't heard how well it works with the Eye, but microphone arrays in laptops certainly make a big difference to sound quality.
The PS3 Eye has manually switched two-mode lens: one for close-ups, the other for "full-body" shots. Oo-er, missus. Sony claimed the camera works well in low-light conditions - though we'd always suggest plenty of illumination - and has slow-mo and time-lapse shooting modes too.
Sounds good, but the resolution's a little weak: 640 x 480 at 60fps, though you can go to an unecessarily large 120fps if you're willing to drop the resolution to 320 x 240. HD this boy is not.
Sony UK said the Eye will hit store shelves this summer. How much the add-on will cost was not revealed.
Related review
Sony PlayStation 3COMMENTS
Illumination
Having worked with the old eyetoy at university I would advise moderate illumination since the old one was very prone to 'fade to white' effects with no more light than was provided by the strip lights on in a lab.
The room shouldn't be too dark but if it glitches try turning off a light or two. Assuming it's based on the old one (which used an ov519 chipset as I recall)
Niot particularly stylish though, is it?
I can understand why the microphone array is so much bigger than the lens and that it's all on a pivot so it can be directed at the action but does it really have to look like an old Logitech webcam with an elextric razor head stuck on the top?
Maybe in the style of a certain mouse manufacturer this could be called the Razer Head? Just a thought...
