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Picture Quality
Ah...you knew this was coming didn't you? Anyway,
most of the snapshots you've seen in this review are actually
captured with the camera itself. Already impressed? Well, here's
some more for your perusal.
High Resolution
Mode
Click for actual sized snapshot
The High Resolution mode isn't really what it
seems to be. The camera is actually a 350K pixel camera.
So, if you do a little calculation, 1024 x 768 equals 786,432
pixels. That's more then double the actual number of pixels
supported by the camera! So, how does the camera achieve the
resolution of 1024 x 768? I suggest you click on the picture above
for the full sized snapshot first before continuing.
A crop of the High Resolution snapshot
As you can see, the image is a little blurry. In
addition, at the resolution of 1024 x 768, the snapshot takes
quite long to capture. With a jerky hand, any shots you take will
become even more blurred. The image above was captured with the
help of a makeshift 'tripod'.
The blur captures and the slow image processing
time suggest the use of some software image
enlargement/enhancement algorithms, which is similar to the way
scanners achieve ultra-high resolutions. However, because it's
ultra-sensitive to movements, the camera needs to be absolutely
still when capturing in High Resolution mode. Therefore, a tripod
is a must when capturing in this mode unless you have a surgeon's
steady hands!
Anyway, since we're still discussing the High
Resolution mode, I'd like to point out that the 10 seconds delay
mode only works with the High Resolution mode. I wonder why it was
not implemented as an independent mode that can be used with any
resolution. That would have made the camera a lot more flexible.
Personally, I do not really like the High
Resolution mode as it does not give me the visual quality that a
1024x768 image should have. It would have been nice to scale down
a 1024x768 snapshot to a lower 800x600 resolution, rather then
blowing up a 640x480.
Normal
Resolution Mode
Click for actual sized snapshot
The normal mode, however, is a more usable mode.
As you can see from the picture, it is sharper and looks better.
The processing time for capturing a 640x480 snapshot is also a lot
faster. As such, slight movements of the camera are forgivable,
unlike with the High Resolution mode.
During the field test, I mostly captured pictures
in Normal Mode as it has proven to be the best and most usable
mode.
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