resolution

The 52 Week Photography and Business Challenge

Remember when I wrote "Dear New Photographer..." a few months ago? One of the big points I emphasized was valuing your photography and business skills.

Every year, on New Year's Day, the Internet is swarming with shiny new 52 Week Projects or 365 Week Projects directed specifically to photographers. And don't get me wrong -- I love these projects! The idea behind them is to get people shooting more, and shooting more outside their own comfort zone.

Quick and Dirty Explanation of Color Depth: What It is and Why You Should Care

Whether it's photography or video quality we're talking about, the discussion almost always revolves around some aspect of resolution. The number of megapixels, or the pixel density, or the pixel size (last one doesn't necessarily have anything to do with resolution, but you get the gist).

One spec that doesn't get a lot of headline time is color depth, and so we were thrilled when we stumbled across this quick and straight-forward explanation of what exactly color depth is by Techquickie.

Sigma Tests Show the Foveon Sensor Can Out-Resolve Conventional 36MP Shooters

Sigma took a unique approach when it worked together with its sensor subsidiary, Foveon Inc., to build the newest version of Foveon sensor found in the DP Quattro camera.

Using technology that captures light simultaneously across three separate layers of sensors -- one each for blue, red, and green -- Sigma claims that, while smaller, the sensor is actually capable of out-resolving a 36-megapixel full frame sensor similar to those found in the Nikon D800E and Sony A7r.

Apple Patent Shows Off Unique Use of OIS for “Super Resolution” Photos

Coming from Apple Insider is a discovery of an interesting patent application by Apple. The application, aptly titled “Super-resolution based on optical image stabilization” explains in words and graphics a way in which an optical image stabilization (OIS) system can be used to capture a series of images at variable angles, then combine them together to create a high-resolution file.

Samsung’s Latest Display Options Include a 4K, Billion-Color Model for $700

In the world of photography, one of the most vital components is the display on which you view and post-process your images. And while many of us are holding out for the day 'retina' displays become the norm on a larger scale, it's not quite the reality, yet.

However, Samsung is giving us a bit of an introduction to it, if you will, with three new display models the company is releasing in the coming weeks.

Answering the Unanswerable: What is the Resolution of the Human Eye?

What is the resolution of the human eye? You might think it's a straight forward question with a straight forward answer. We have a certain number of photon collecting cells in our retina much like an image sensor right? So we should be able to pull a 'megapixel' count of sorts out of there.

Well, actually, it's not nearly that simple. And in the video above, video blogger Michael Stevens (aka. Vsauce) explains why, before ultimately answering the question anyway.

SnappyCam 3 Screen 1

SnappyCam Lets iPhone Users Capture 20FPS at Full Resolution

Take a look at that stock camera app on your iPhone. Does a fair job, doesn't it? Then SnappyCam Pro 3.0 lands on it and makes you realize how truly slow the stock app takes photos. For your reference, it's about 3-to-6 images per second at full resolution (assuming you're using an iPhone 5).

SnappyCam, on the other hand, is able to take 20 full-resolution images per second on the iPhone 5. You read that right, a whopping 20 frames per second. It's all thanks to John Papandriopoulos (who has a Ph.D. in electrical engineering) and his frustration with what he thought to be "inadequate" camera applications (we're looking at you, stock camera app).

12 Megapixels in a Phone? Try 1000 Pixels in Hanging Lights

From most angles, it looks like a bunch of lights flickering at random. But stand in just the right spot, and you’ll perceive moving bodies. Jim Campbell’s installation for Light Show – a new exhibition at the Hayward Gallery in London – is a powerful antidote to the high-tech obsession with performance, the endless competition to pack more megapixels into a smaller screen or sensor. It also provides fresh insight into human vision.

There Are Giant Camera Resolution Test Charts Scattered Across the US

When people test cameras and lenses for resolution, they commonly use special resolution test charts that are filled with black bars of varying lengths and thicknesses. They're kind of like eye charts, except for cameras instead of eyeballs, and with lines instead of letters.

Well, did you know that in dozens of locations around the United States, there are gigantic resolution test charts on the ground?

Canon 24-70mm f/2.8 Mark II Trounces the Mark I in Sharpness

Despite its girth, weight, and price, Canon's original 24-70mm f/2.8L is a highly-regarded general-purposes lens. When the followup Mark II version was announced back in February, the higher-price tag, similar specs, and lack of IS had many photographers scratching their heads. Then the reviews started coming out.

Dropbox iOS App Now Downloads Full-Resolution Photos from the Cloud

If you've been using Dropbox as a photo backup solution and the official iOS app for accessing your images in the cloud, you may have noticed that downloading photos to your device didn't give you the exact files that you wanted. Instead of beaming the full-resolution images to your Camera Roll, the app would shrink photos to a much smaller size to speed up downloading times. A 14MP 4592x3056 photo would only be saved at 960x638, for example.

This week, Dropbox finally updated the app and removed the resolution ceiling from downloads. Now you can save your entire photos from your backup to your iOS device without seeing it pass under a shrink ray.