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: Mike Quinn <mlquinn@san.rr.com>
Date: Sun, 09 Apr 2000 13:13:45 -0700

Physics is a discipline that describes, but doesn't really "govern"
anything. I think these limitations are better viewed as "engineering
constraints". They can be described by physical equations, but they are
manufacturing or economic limitations rather than those postulated by
physics (which tend to occur at the quantum and individual photon level
rather than at the manufacturing level).

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. Translating that detector storage to electrical signals is an
engineering or manufacturing problem that can be (and has been) approached
and solved in many ways. So far the economic solutions are kind of big.

But you are right that manufacturing and economic constraints are real, and
certainly important if we are interested in commercial products.

Mike Quinn

Austin Franklin wrote:

> Our current level of technology is governed BY physics (amongst other
> things).  Diodes have physical limitations governed by physics.  You can
> only make a diode so small, and you can only package them so close
> together, and you can only make a wire so small (to connect the diodes to
> the periphery of the array), etc.  Yes, physics does govern electronics
> miniaturization.  It also is responsible for the "structure" that is used
> to record light on film.  They can only be so small...