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namibj · 2020-08-14 07:22:53+00:00

What we have today is called "teleprompter", and not even particularly recent. With some slight pre-distortion and a tilted monitor it should also handle the focus issue a classic teleprompter setup has. Basically, you just place a half-reflective mirror at a 45 degree angle, lay the screen flat facing up (I propose a slight back-tilt "so the camera can see better", but you loose contrast due to viewing angle, which would ideally be corrected by the LCD), and look at the camera that's behind the mirror, while being able to view the screen in the mirror.

MikeTV | karma | avg karma · | 2017-09-27 16:43:11+00:00

Several mirrorless and pro compacts at least have focus peaking built in. Not perfect, but something that can be worked with.

maxkiener | karma 84 | avg karma 1.65 · | 2015-01-28 12:41:16

Good Points. Maybe something like a Lytro-Focus-slider could be implemented.

Front/back and Flash can be adjusted on the panel I the left.

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gomox | karma 2192 | avg karma 4.04 · | 2018-08-13 15:17:35+00:00

It's plausible that the computer would be in focus at that location as it is at the same distance from the camera as the main subject in the picture (and therefore shares the focus plane).

The transition is too hard though, and the screen illumination is ridiculous.

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frostburg | karma 1388 | avg karma 2.58 · | 2018-08-02 13:03:16

That's asking the camera to try to focus, not setting the focus remotely. I'd like the thing to work as a software focus puller for video.

tswicegood | karma 7119 | avg karma 14.8 · | 2012-06-01 15:58:57+00:00

Eye based window/input focus. I've been wanting this for years.

quesera | karma 6030 | avg karma 2.56 · | 2023-01-23 14:44:06

This also works when trying to focus on a distant object through a screened window.

crims0n | karma | avg karma · | 2023-05-16 09:46:22

How would that work when you just want to glance at another window but not bring it into focus?

colordrops | karma 16845 | avg karma 2.8 · | 2017-03-10 07:28:57+00:00

Isn't that what they are offering though? How else would you be able to focus at different lengths?

koolba | karma 34224 | avg karma 5.09 · | 2019-08-30 17:10:50

Wouldn't that only work when it has focus?

sib | karma 2211 | avg karma 2.15 · | 2021-12-23 14:26:34

Wow - didn't know about this preferential focus feature. Sounds extremely useful...

smudgy | karma 170 | avg karma 3.09 · | 2022-02-11 04:56:53

I swear there was a Retro Encabulator like video for computers on Youtube where the focus wasn't a thing but a productivity software (or something like it).

For the life of me I couldn't ever find it after watching it once.

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cfn | karma 757 | avg karma 1.96 · | 2022-03-25 04:04:12

Canon has an app for that. Actually, a couple of apps for Android and iPhone. They also have desktop apps (mac and pc) that I use to control everything from focus to shutter speed, etc. Very useful to nail the focus on a large screen for reprography work.

cududa | karma 3787 | avg karma 3.39 · | 2018-02-12 05:32:17+00:00

Couldn’t you just hook the wayland compositor to detect where focus is and eat up all those inputs?

rubyist5eva | karma 1522 | avg karma 1.28 · | 2022-04-14 14:57:33

Honestly, I could see this working really well for lots of things which require deep focus. Even for programming without external distractions part of me thinks this would be absolutely wonderful.

nfoz | karma 2650 | avg karma 2.89 · | 2013-11-06 22:34:47+00:00

I do think that's better. But I'm concerned that if focus changes have a visible effect, that could also be disconcerting to a user. I think I'd have to try it out.

ElFitz | karma 2006 | avg karma 2.3 · | 2023-05-30 06:06:23

Perhaps the "focus mode" different home screens feature could do the trick?

mi100hael | karma 3593 | avg karma 4.11 · | 2017-09-27 15:12:15+00:00

I also wish split prism focusing screens were at least easier to get your hands on, if not the default. Makes it 10x easier to quickly tell when a subject is in focus instead of squinting & hoping.

capableweb | karma 37790 | avg karma 4.15 · | 2023-01-09 03:40:07

Auto-focus seems like one of the lesser useful features for webcam (or rather, the use case of a webcam seems to not require auto-focus that much) since the object distance remains largely the same for the duration of the video call, at least the video calls I'm usually in.

Maybe people have a different setup that I, but I usually remain the same distance away from my monitor at most times.

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bengale | karma 1567 | avg karma 2.45 · | 2024-03-03 11:49:33

There are a few system options in focus states but not this. I’d like to see them expand it for more of these low distraction techniques.