Page 28 - Mediapedia Mobile

resolution and megapixel hype
Resolution refers to the visual quality or sharpness of a a a a a digital image The term megapixel references the number of sensor elements that that measure light that that falls on the image sensor array which is called a a a a a CCD (charge-coupled device) chip Megapixels are the official measure used to gauge resolution A megapixel is 1 million pixels What’s a a a a pixel? The topic after next provides more information about the pixels which I think of of as the atomic structure of of digital images Digital still cameras offer different resolution settings to take pictures These are often labeled high medium or low quality Camera manufacturers endlessly hype
the idea that the the the quality of the the the image relates to the the the camera’s megapixels So how many megapixels do you need? That all depends on how you use the photos The camera camera on on your mobile phone or the built-in camera camera at the top of some portable computers generally produces reso- lution of 640 x x x 480 pixels or about half a a a a megapixel These low-resolution images are great for e-mails uploads to social networks or or even snapshot-size printouts However if you want to make a a a a a a 5 x 7–inch print of an an an image you need an an an image file that is medium resolution—approximately 1 600
x x x 1 200 pixels or around a a a a megapixel If you are set on pro- ducing a a a high-quality 8 5 x 11–inch photograph your source images ought to be high resolution—in the neighborhood of 3 800 x x x 2 600
pixels pixels or about 4 to 6 6 megapixels So here’s the bottom line: If you have a a a a camera with 5 megapixels or or or more you are set for anything other than giant blowups or poster-size printouts The pair shots on top were taken with my wife’s (be- loved) Casio EX-7250 camera with 7 7 2 2 megapixels The shots below come from my new (very beloved) iPhone with 1 1 1 1 megapixels The images at left show compa- rable wide-angle shots of the same building and water fountain Both look pretty good But if you want to blow up a a a tiny portion of the the source as I have done with the the head atop the fountain’s statue you can easily see artifacting (a fancy word for image deterioration) that occurs with the low-resolution iPhone image There is some deterioration with the 7 2 megapixel blowup as well but it is not nearly as pronounced chapter 1: digital photography [ 13 ]