Customer Reviews

Minoru Webcam USB 3D

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Let me start with the obvious:
In the description it is stated:
"3D Mode - Optimized Red/Cyan Anaglyph viewed with Red/Cyan 3D Glasses"

Fortunately this is no longer true. If it was true, I wouldn't even bother to write a review, because the anaglyph as such, has failed, as far back as half a century ago. While it is the simplest and cheapest way to get a peek at what 3D is all about, I wouldn't recommend this product, if that was only 3D mode it is able to do.
Yet, because I have a very long history of dealing with the 3D technology (I got a 3D film camera some four decades ago, a long story and irrelevant) I bought a Minoru 3D just for the heck of it and because I can afford it. The setup was easy, just plug it in to a USB port, run the setup CD and that's it. It automatically showed up in all my software, so there was no problem with the setup. As a matter of routine I immediately checked whether any driver update, and there was. Now the surprise. With the new driver, it is not only anaglyph, but displays in essentially almost all the current (and possibly future) 3D mode, including page flipping, interlaced, etc. Also, the resolutions have a higher range too. It also came as a mild surprise that even the anaglyph is somewhat respectable. Of course, it is a webcam after all, so don't expect Avatar style 3D, if you are broadcasting you sitting in a chair in front of the computer and talking to people. But it works fine, does MORE than the Amazon description indicates it. The 3D is not forced, you can broadcast with it in 2D as well, in which case it acts as a normal, good quality webcam.

Not that it matters too much, but on top of the display screen it looks like a cute little alien of some kind :).

I had only one problem, which I didn't figure out yet. When I downloaded the very latest version of Skype, the picture froze in about 5 seconds, whether I set it to 3D or 2D. I have no idea whether it is a Skype problem or a driver issue, but I uninstalled the new Skype, put back the previous version and everything worked fine again.

Considering that 3D is new and upcoming, I am convinced that it is the future and it is here to stay, I think for the prize Amazon sells it (way below the retail which is almost 90 bucks) it is a reasonable purchase.

This little guy works well on Linux but gets detected as two separate cameras (nice if you are working on Computer Vision algorithms). Frame rate is really slow. 3D is decent but don't expect a real-true 3D.

It certainly does work although the speed of it could be boosted up a little. The video has that "walk on the moon" look were it has trouble following my head and leaves some ghosting. Other that it is fun to take 3D photos and post them on Facebook, forcing everyone to find some red/cyan glasses.....lol

This 3D web cam is a lot of fun, I send my parents the glasses and they enjoyed looking at the children in 3D. The webcam works well without the 3D option and the built in microphone is good quality. I guess that combined with a real 3D screen (not red blue separation) quality would be a lot better.

i am very disappointed with this piece of crap i spent 107 bucks for a barely 3d webcam that just makes my eyes hurt and leaves me seeing in blue and red DONT BUY THIS now i have to go through the return process of sending it back!