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Chpater 3. Resolution, File Formats and Storage. Introduction . There are two factors that determine the quality of the picture you take; The resolution of your camera The type of file you save it in
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Chpater 3 Resolution, File Formats and Storage
Introduction • There are two factors that determine the quality of the picture you take; • The resolution of your camera • The type of file you save it in • Both of these factors determine the number of images you can store on the memory card in your camrea.
Pixels • The digital image you take is made up of pixels. • The word pixel is a contraction of the term picture element • The digital image you capture is made up of millions of individual small squares (pixels) • To the human eye they may look smooth but close up you can see the individual squares.
Pixels • Each pixel in the image has a numerical value of between 0 and 255 and is made up of three color channels • For example a pixel could be 37-red, 76-green and 125-blue and it would then look like this . • If it were 162 red, 27 green, 12 blue it would look like this. • This system will produce 16 million different colors
Resolution • The term "Resolution", when used to describe a digital camera refers to the size of the digital image the camera produces. • The resolution of a camera is expressed in megapixels. • The image on the following pages show a representation of the image size verses megapixels.
Advantage of Higher Resolutions • More resolution means better print quality. • It gives you an advantage if you need to crop the image. • Cropping is when you only use part of the image for the final print • You have an advantage when creating larger prints • The more you have to start with the less likely it is for defects to appear.
Digital File Formats • There are three file formats used for storing digital images • JPEG • TIFF • RAW • Except in high end digital cameras the file format used for storage is JPEG.
TIFF • TIFF (Tagged Image File Format) is a high-resolution file format . • TIFF files don’t lose image file information when they are saved during the compression process. • A tiff file also takes longer time to write to a memory card. • Most new Cameras do not support the TIFF format.
RAW • RAW file format is the uncompressed, unprocessed data file captured by the camera's image sensor, before any in-camera processing has been applied. • In this sense, an image saved in the RAW file format is the digital equivalent to the (exposed but as yet unprocessed) film negative. • The fascination with RAW is that it seems to magically give you the ability to "correct your mistakes.“ • Only certain image editing software will open and work with the RAW format.
JPEG • The name comes from Joint Photographic Experts Group, the organization that created the format. • JPEG images can contain 16.7 million colors (24-bit color information) • JPED compression uses lossy compression algorithm this means that JPEG cast off some image information. • However, this compression if set right is not perceptible to the human eye
JPEG • JPEG compression is set by a scale from 0 to 100. • 100 is the least amount of compression and 0 is the most. • Digital cameras can change the amount of compression by using the quality setting.
Setting the Image Quality • It is always best to set the camera for the largest image size and the highest picture quality. • That way you will have more to work with when you use your image editing software. • The only exception to this rule is if you are running out of space on your storage card.
Storage Cards • There are a number of types of storage cards • Compact Flash • XD Picture Card • Memory Stick • Smart Media • Secure Data