no,I meant 3D picture. sorry about that.

Same idea.

The 3DS has two front mounted cameras that allow it to shoot stereoscopic images that replicate the way humans perceive depth when those images are viewed through a 3D display.

The 3D display on the 3DS uses a parallax barrier to replicate the perspective shift between the two cameras. In short, it displays both a "left eye" and a "right eye" image simultaneously, both of which are slightly skewed off the center point of the image being viewed. The closer an object is to the camera plane/lens, the greater the perceived effect. Conversely, objects that are far enough from the camera will show little to imperceptible perspective shift, effectively flattening the image (making it look 2D).

If you understand that, then you understand how the illusion of depth perception works and how 3D photos work.

Any device with two cameras spaced apart to approximate the distance between human eyes can shoot "3D" or stereoscopic images. Of course the other half of 3D photography comes in having a display that can show stereoscopic images which is why 3D images shot on the 3DS will only be viewable on the 3DS 3D screen until someone writes an application that allows those images to be exported and viewed on an external 3D display. It should be noted that the resolution of 3DS stereoscopic photos are extremely limited (640x480 max), meaning they would look either extremely cropped or extremely blurry on a 1080p 3D HDTV.

(above) i've never seen a 3DS picture as of yet but i imagine it'd be something like that; i've seen that picture about 3-4 years ago

3DS photo would be optimized to display on the 3DS. Why would it have to go 1080p? You'd have to spend a few hundred dollars for a standalone camera for something as high as 1080p.

I sure as hell won't buy the 3DS if it comes with 1080p camera mode and cost $500.

A 3D image file basically merges two seperate images as a single file to be viewed in 3D

Check this out: - - - - - You gotta cross your eyes to see 3D in this case but using a 3DS there's no need

^^ The bacteria was shot with a microscopic camera twice, each time shifted by a small amount (like the two camera in the front of a 3DS)

more

Ok, I think I might have it now...hopefully. 

I can see the pillow on my bed. My pillow is in the middle of the bed...I know that the pillow is closer to me than the other pillow where I sleep at the top of my bed...3DS works the same way correct?

Example: I am in my living room and I take a picture of my little brother who is standing in front of me. A table is behind him about a 1/2 a foot away. The 3DS will show depth and my little brother will be closer to the screen and the table will be in the background right? With a normal camera you could see that he was standing in front of a table but it would all be flat and you wouldn't be able to see any space/depth between them. Is that right?

close object still gave depth though, but the further you are, the less noticable.

the t-rex gif up there would correspond to a close object.

The point is you can only view 3D photos you shoot on the 3DS.

The hypothetical situation in which you could view them anywhere else would be entirely dependent upon Nintendo adding the ability to export 3DS photo file format images.

As for why you would want to view them on a higher resolution display (1080p being the current standard, even for current entry level HDTVs and monitors), the question that should be asked is why anyone would want to view their photos on a low res external 3D display.

The only reason why the 3DS doesn't need to shoot 2K images (1920x1080) is because Nintendo presumably doesn't intend for 3DS users to view their 3D photos on anything but the 3DS and its 400x320 display.

And FYI, a pair of 2K cameras wouldn't double the price of the 3DS.