In a message dated 8/14/98 12:08:11 PM Eastern Daylight Time, wincros@xxxxxxx
writes:
<< I saw an ad for a Sony Hi-8 camcorder with "digital zoom". The picture
showed a camcorder which obviously did not have a zoom lens. Does anyone
know what this is and how it works? Does it have implications for Oly? >>
I believe that these work by generating a digital image from the CCD and then
digitally manipulating the image. The image scale changes, but resolution
doesn't (the number of pixels doesn't change). kind of like the zoom features
incorporated in some of the simple PC "Paint" packages, that let you
manipulate individual pixels. I've seen camcorders with zoom lenses and
digital zoom features that claim zoom ratios of 30:1 or even 60:1. This might
be a 10:1 zoom lens and a 3:1 or 6:1 digital zoom. I can't imagine this kind
of technology having a significant impact on still photography until the pixel
counts go up significantly higher than they are now. Moving images can hide a
multitude of sins, but a still photo is subject to more intense scrutiny. I
believe that CCD technology is to the point where detectors are available that
have more pixels than can really be reproduced by NTSC or PAL video, which
makes digital zoom more viable. I think we all know that digital still cameras
aren't at that point yet.
Paul Schings
Coventry, RI
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