RED’s Hydrogen gets the hands-on treatment
If RED piqued your interest with its vague promises of a holographic pocket digital cinema phone (what does that even mean?!), you’ll be interested to hear that YouTuber Marques Brownlee (AKA MKBHD) has gotten his hands on a prototype and was favorably impressed.
It’s a beast of a phone, with a ridged, industrial design like that of the company’s cameras and accessories. Of course, being a prototype, it doesn’t really work — this one is more of a mockup to show the phone in its naked state. And although it may not be for everyone, I appreciate that its creators are doing something other than a featureless lozenge.
And then there’s a second prototype that shows what the device might look like when it’s actually ready for some video-takin’:
A third prototype, equipped with the so-called holographic display, is shown mostly off-camera, and Brownlee, though he says he was merely at a loss for words, doesn’t seem particularly blown away. It’s easy to imagine why: small glasses-free 3D displays came and went not because they didn’t work but because they aren’t compelling. If this is just a high-fidelity version of a technology that failed for a dozen reasons, it’s hard to muster any enthusiasm.
Brownlee’s a RED fan, though, so I think he’s keeping the faith. He says we can expect more about the Hydrogen in the next month or so.