Round 360: Samsung’s new camera has 17 lenses and shoots 4K 3D videos

Samsung on Wednesday introduced a new high-end camera that can capture and stream high-quality 3D content. Announced at the Samsung Developer Conference (SDC 2017), the 360 Round is touted as the first-of-its-kind device that combines high-quality 360-degree imagery with advanced 3D depth.

Samsung hasn’t announced the price of the 360 Round yet, but claims the device comes with “a reasonable price compared to other professional 360 cameras.” According to Cnet, the 360 Round costs $10,500 which translates to a whopping Rs 6.83 lakh.

The 360 Round has 17 lenses with eight set in stereo pairs — an arrangement that is the basis of 3D photography — and one single lens which combine to deliver 3D video in 4K resolution, 3D stills with depth, and spatial audio. Resembling the form-factor of a spaceship, the Samsung 360 Round comes with IP65 certification for water and dust resistance.

The device has built-in PC software that helps developers control the images as well as manage storage.

“We have developed a product that contains innovative VR features, allowing video producers and broadcast professionals to easily produce high quality 3D content,” said Suk-Jea Hahn, executive vice president of Samsung Electronics’ Global Mobile B2B Team on the 

Samsung’s 360 Round appears to be the successor to Gear 360 which debuted in May this year. The Gear 360, an eyeball-shaped device, could capture 4K video and 360-degree content. The 360 Round, however, seems like a more capable device with support for 3D image content.

Samsung 360 Round: Specifications

The Samsung 360 Round measures 205 x 205 x 76.8mm and weighs 1.93kg. It comes with as many as 17 cameras with f/2.8 aperture and six internal microphones for spatial audio. It also has two external microphone ports. It has LPDDR3 10GB and eMMC 40GB internal memory, expandable up to 256GB via SD card and up to 2TB via SSD.

The device can livestream and record 3D and 2D content in 4096 x 2048 pixels at 30fps. It supports following video formats: MP4 (H.265/ H.264) and 3D: 4k x 2k per eye / 2D: 4k x 2k. Connectivity options include LAN and USB Type-C.

Samsung 360 Round: Availability

The Samsung 360 Round will be available in October in the United States before rolling out in other markets in the coming weeks.