At the MWC in Barcelona, Ricoh unveiled their latest Theta camera that can stream live broadcasts in 360 for 24 hours (it was originally announced in January):
The camera outputs video through either HDMI or USB, and it’ll need constant AC power adapter to continuously livestream up to 24 hours of footage. The camera records onto a micro SD card to help reduce the size of the device, which is almost the same size as its Theta predecessors, although if you’re recording 2K spherical video, we’d advise a very high-capacity card. (Engadget)
The company has recently announced the Ricoh R Developer kit. This is a camera that can capture video footage in 360-degree format, but unlike its other 360-degree products, this camera can livestream 2K footage at 30fps, which is actually very watchable and it can even stitch together the footage in real time as it takes place. (Ubergizmo)
Full press release:
Announced at CES 2017, RICOH R Development Kit delivers up 24 hours of fully spherical live streams
BARCELONA, Spain and TOKYO, February 27, 2017
(Mobile World Congress 2017, Hall 8.0 J3)Ricoh today announced it is taking pre-orders of the RICOH R Development Kit, featuring the industry’s first camera capable of delivering up to 24 continuous hours of fully spherical, 360-degree live video streams. Showcased at Mobile World Congress 2017, the camera can be pre-ordered from http://ricohR.ricoh, with shipments scheduled to start in May 2017. The sales price will be $499.
Using Ricoh’s fully spherical imaging technology, the RICOH R Development Kit can live-stream fully spherical, 360-degree images in 2K resolution at 30 frames per second. Unique to RICOH R technology is the stitching of video within the camera in real time to the Equirectangular Projection Format, which is the standard format for fully spherical images. Video is then output via HDMI® or USB, and-by using an AC power adapter- continuous, live streaming up to 24 hours is possible. The camera records onto a micro SD card, which enables the body to be extremely thin and lightweight.
The RICOH R Development Kit consists of the camera, camera stand, downloadable software development kit (SDK), plus image-control tools and source code. Using the camera’s open API and the “RICOH R Console” image-control tool source code available through GitHub, the camera can be controlled via USB, which will enable its use in a variety of environments and industries such as telepresence and computer vision.
Specifications:
Video quality 1920 x 960, Equirectangular Projection Format, 30 fps
Video out connector Micro HDMI[(R)] Type-D, Micro USB
Full HD, 59.94i
HDMI[(R)] video out Actual size mode (1920 x 960 + 120), Full HD mode
UVC 1.5/H.264, 29.97 fps
USB video out[*1] Actual size mode (1920 x 960 + 120), Full HD mode
Audio out Built-in monaural microphone
Video recording media MicroSD card up to 32GB
Video file format MP4
Video recording Normal mode approx. 30 minutes
time[*2] Extended mode approx. 60 minutes
External power input USB Micro B
AC adapter Uses a USB AC adapter of 5 V/1.5 A or greater
Usage temperature 0 degree Celsius to 40 degrees Celsius[*7]
range[*3*4*5*6]
External dimensions[*8] 46 mm (W) x 118 mm (H) x 23 mm (D)
Weight 125g
What's in the box Stand, carrying case, and USB cable x2
