Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2000/04/09

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Subject: RE: [Leica] Analog vs. digital (long and barely OT)
From: Austin Franklin <austin@darkroom.com>
Date: Sun, 9 Apr 2000 21:04:28 -0400

> Physics is a discipline that describes, but doesn't really "govern"
> anything.

Well, not according to the dictionary definitions.  Governed is defined as 
"control, influence or determine, be the predominating influence".  Physics 
is defined as "the science of dealing with the properties of matter and 
energy".   So, given one needs to get the geometries of the diodes smaller 
in order to pack them more densely, that would, by definition, be governed 
by physics.

Over the past years, in the engineering community, it is routinely 
discussed that physics has governed the semiconductor market, and allowed 
higher densities of transistors to be put on the same size piece of 
silicon...because the transistors are created smaller.

> The fact that lenses work, and deliver photons to film, which captures 
them,
> means that the photon density and detector spacing is not a current 
physical
> limitation.

I disagree.  If the sensor can only be made only so dense with the current 
process being used, ie, 1200 pixels per inch, then that's the highest 
density you can have, until a new process is devised that allows them to be 
packed closer together.

If the lense has a "resolution" of, say, 11,500 'DPI' on a 35mm film plane, 
that is almost 10x what you need for the 1200 PPI sensor, so that lense 
would be overkill.  Point is, the sensor spacing is the physical limitation 
in being able to get higher density CCDs that would work with your Lietz 
lenses, and capture (somewhat) the same image quality as your 35mm film 
can.