Lytro
Lytro is a startup company founded in 2006 by Ren Ng, Ph.D, a light-field photography researcher at Stanford University[1] that aims to deliver a light field camera for consumers by the end of 2011.[2][3] Unlike the German company Raytrix, the first company to enter the market of plenoptic cameras, targeting industrial and scientific applications of light-field photography, Lytro plans to focus on the consumer market. The company has produced the camera itself rather than licensing technology to an established manufacturer.[4]
In 2011, Lytro demonstrated capability to produce a camera that allows users to change the focus of a picture after the picture is taken.[5] Lytro is developing “a new type of camera that dramatically changes photography for the first time since the 1800s,” according to TechCrunch.[6]
The company's first camera was launched on October 19th, 2011 in 8 GB ($399) and 16 GB ($499) versions, shipping in early 2012.[7]
Company history
While he was a researcher at Stanford, Ng was photographing a friend’s daughter and noticed "it was incredibly difficult to focus the image properly and capture her fleeting smile in just the right way."[8] After completing his Ph.D, Ng decided to use his experience in light field research to “start a company that would produce light field cameras that everyone could enjoy."[8] The company was originally named Refocus Imaging, before launching as Lytro.
Lytro board members include Ben Horowitz, general partner at Andreessen Horowitz; Patrick Chung, partner at NEA; and TiVo cofounder Mike Ramsay,[9] with Charles Chi of Greylock Partners serving as Executive Chairman.[10] Advisors include Intuit cofounder Scott Cook, VMware cofounder Diane Greene, Dolby Labs chairman Peter Gotcher and Sling Media cofounder Blake Krikorian.[9]
Lytro founder Ng is the CEO. Lytro’s Chief Technology Officer Kurt Akeley was a founding member of Silicon Graphics.[10]
Products
Lytro has created a camera which has a matrix of tiny lenses on a sensing chip. [11] These sensors gather light from different sources and directions. The camera itself is a squared-off tube less than five inches long with a lens opening at one end and an LCD touch screen at the other. The first generation of the camera will come in two options one with 8GB of memory and one with 16GB.
Investors
Lytro has raised approximately $50 million to date.[8] Investors include Andreessen Horowitz, Greylock Partners, NEA and K9 Ventures along with individual investors.[9]
Technology
Light field photography (also known as plenoptic photography) captures all the available light in a scene going in every direction.[9] It works by breaking up the main image with a microlens over an image sensor.[12]
Features of a plenoptic camera include:
- Refocusing: Users are able to refocus images after they are taken.[2][9]
- Speed: Because there is no need to focus the lens before taking a picture, a plenoptic camera can capture images more quickly than conventional point-and-shoot digital cameras.[2]
- Low-Resolution: Users will be able to convert Lytro camera's proprietary image into a regular JPEG file. This will result in file 1080 X 1080 pixels - roughly 1.2 megapixels. [13]
- Low-light sensitivity: the ability to adjust focus in post-processing allows the use of larger apertures than are feasible on conventional cameras, thus enabling photography in low-light environments without a flash.[2][9] However, a photographer that was at one of the company's events reported that she was not impressed with how the camera performed in low light.
- 3D images: since a plenoptic camera records depth information (which allows it to focus at variable depths), stereo images can be constructed in software from a single plenoptic image capture.[14][15]
References
- ^ "Lytro Company Fact Sheet". Lytro. http://www.lytro.com/lytro_company_factsheet.pdf. Retrieved 24 June 2011.
- ^ a b c d Fried, Ina. "Meet the Stealthy Start-Up That Aims to Sharpen Focus of Entire Camera Industry". All Things Digital. http://allthingsd.com/20110621/meet-the-stealthy-start-up-that-aims-to-sharpen-focus-of-entire-camera-industry/. Retrieved 24 June 2011.
- ^ A Start-Up's Camera Lets You Take Shots First and Focus Later Steve Lohr, New York Times, 2011 June 21
- ^ Azevedo, Mary Ann (1 July 2011). "Lytro Inc. focused on its light field camera technology". San Jose Business Journal. http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/print-edition/2011/07/01/lytro-focused-on-light-field-camera-tech.html?page=2. Retrieved 20 July 2011.
- ^ Andrew Couts, Digital Trends. "Lytro: The camera that could change photography forever." June 22, 2011. Retrieved July 21, 2011.
- ^ Lacy, Sarah. "Lytro Launches to Transform Photography with $50M in Venture Funds (TCTV)". TechCrunch. http://techcrunch.com/2011/06/21/lytro-launches-to-transform-photography-with-50m-in-venture-funds-tctv/. Retrieved 18 August 2011.
- ^ "Lytro announces Light Field Camera". Digital Photography Review. October 19th, 2011. http://www.dpreview.com/news/1110/11101930lytrocameraannounced.asp.
- ^ a b c Bonnington, Christina. "Ren Ng Shares His Photographic Vision: Shoot Now, Focus Later". WIRED. http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/06/ren-ng-lytro/. Retrieved 18 August 2011.
- ^ a b c d e f Geron, Tomio. "Shoot First, Focus Later With Lytro's New Camera Tech". Forbes. http://www.forbes.com/sites/tomiogeron/2011/06/21/shoot-first-focus-later-with-lytros-new-camera-tech/. Retrieved 19 August 2011.
- ^ a b "About Us". Lytro. http://www.lytro.com/team/charles_chi. Retrieved 19 August 2011.
- ^ Ned Potter, ABC News. "Lytro Light-Field Camera: Shoot First, Ask Questions Later." December 20, 2011. Retrieved December 20, 2011.
- ^ Coldewey, Devin. "Doubts About Lytro’s “Focus Later” Camera". TechCrunch. http://techcrunch.com/2011/07/22/doubts-about-lytros-focus-later-camera/. Retrieved 19 August 2011.
- ^ Goldman, Joshua. "Lytro camera: 5 things to know before you buy". CNET Editor. CNET. http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-20125910-1/lytro-camera-5-things-to-know-before-you-buy/. Retrieved 12/25/2010.
- ^ José Manuel Rodríguez-Ramos (1 April 2011). "3D imaging and wavefront sensing with a plenoptic objective". SPIE. http://spie.org/x47884.xml.
- ^ "Plenoptic lens arrays signal future?". TVB Europe. 23 September 2011. http://www.tvbeurope.com/newsletter-3dmasters-content/full/plenoptic-lens-arrays-signal-future.
External links