Translate

Tuesday, September 8, 2015

New Concept camera in the works from Canon



Check out this news blurb about a cinema concept camera in the works from Canon:

https://www.cinema5d.com/canon-announce-8k-concept-cinema-camera/

That red line around the lens is an indication that this is part of Canon's luxury - best line of lenses.

In my opinion the discussion about it being 8k is important. It is an indicator of the camera's range of ability, and the article talks about 300 pixels per inch [summarizing] -approaching the limit of human visibilty-.

It is the same difference between a 2 watt audio amplifier and a 500 watt audio amplifier.

The 2 watt will be audible but probably won't reproduce great sound at all ends of its range of audio volume. The 500 watt unit will probably have better electronics in it, if the engineer that designed it was looking to build quality, and a better sound through most of its range of volume.

What this means is that even on smaller displays, like a smartphone, you will have a better picture, even if your smartphone has a poor display.

And if you have an 8k capable unit, you'll get near film quality resolution.

Keep in mind the eye, and the human brain, combined, is the ultimate resolver.

Read this for visual acuity of the human eye,

https://www.nde-ed.org/EducationResources/CommunityCollege/PenetrantTest/Introduction/visualacuity.htm

I like the part about 180,000 rods per square MILLIMETER at the fovea.

That is about 116 million rods per square inch if my math is right, or about 387 thousand rods per pixel.

The eye then brings a lot of definition, or resolution, to each pixel.

And keep in mind, a pixel on a monitor is easy to see when one goes out. A pixel on a camera pickup is pretty small and may go un-noticed without careful examination.

Film on the other hand works at the chemical level. You can't get much smaller than a molecule of silver halide, which coats film.

Therefore to say this camera is reaching the limits of human visibility is an interesting comment. If I had to tell the difference between one rod being one color and another rod being another color I don't suppose I could tell the difference.

The question is what is the limit of human visibility? How small does a pixel have to be before the human eye and the brain together can't tell the difference between one pixel and the pixel next to it?

-Chuck