Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2003/08/21
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At 7:06 AM -0700 8/21/03, langhans wrote:
>A question.
>
>If a camera says it is 5 MP, does it count a pixel as RGB or does an RGB
>pixel count as three pixels, one red, one green and one blue? I know the
>Foveon chip has the RBG info in the same sensor spot while other chips have
>a pattern of sensors to record what ends up as a pixel. If I set up my
>monitor to be 800x600, I think I understand that to be 800 R, 800G and 800 B
>phosphors across, so I will see 800 full color spots of resolution.
>
>Aram
A 5Mp camera has 5 million sensors; 2.5 million green and 1.25
million each of red and blue. You will wind up with a file of 5
million pixels, and each one will have its unique set of Red, Green
and Blue values. That's what the camera algorithms do with the raw
Bayer pattern data.
If you set your (CRT) monitor to 800x600, you have 800 times 600
pixels which can be made up of various combinations of R, G, and B
phosphors, as the dot pitch determines the highest 'native'
resolution, but the resolution you set is usually independent of
that. LCD monitors are usually used at their optimum, ie highest
resolution, as they don't handle the 'smudging' required for lower
resolutions as well as CRT's. Conversely, the CRT's propensity for a
slightly softer image means that often text and other things
requiring sharp edges are not sufficiently sharp at their highest
resolution.
- --
* Henning J. Wulff
/|\ Wulff Photography & Design
/###\ mailto:henningw@archiphoto.com
|[ ]| http://www.archiphoto.com
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