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Re: [OM] E1, 4/3 format and Foveon

Subject: Re: [OM] E1, 4/3 format and Foveon
From: Andrew Dacey <frugal@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Wed, 25 Jun 2003 10:09:51 -0300
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Hughes" <hi100@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "Olympus List" <olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, June 25, 2003 6:16 AM
Subject: [OM] E1, 4/3 format and Foveon

> Somebody on this list mentioned that the Foveon sensor has a low pixel
count. This is not really
> true, since Foveon counts a vertically stacked R+G+B "pixel" as one pixel
while everybody else
> counts their R,G,B pixels individually. What is stored to disk is usually
interpolated data still
> further muddying the "resolution".  For illustration a 3Meg Foveon chip
would have 9Meg sensor
> pixels in everybody elses counting system, so they are at the higher end
of resolution/pixel
> count. I would hate to be in Foveon's marketing dept and have to explain
this everyday!

The problem with this argument is that pixel count accounts for more than
one thing. If you are concerned with the colour fidelity, then the argument
holds water. Because each pixel captures full RGB, it is equivalent to a
sensor with 3x the number of pixels that only captures R, G, or B with each
pixel and then interpolates the results.

However, the other issue with pixel count is how big a print you can get
without it looking pixelated (or having to result to interpolation). The
larger pixel count image can be enlarged much larger than the smaller pixel
count image. It's also not a linear change either as the larger print would
be viewed from further away so a lower ppi print is still acceptable
(compared to a smaller print).

Now where most users aren't likely to be printing over 8x10, it's probably
not a big issue for most people.

Andrew "frugal" Dacey
frugal@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.tildefrugal.net/


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