For Those Who May Have Missed It...

[Sillyname]

http://www.nucoretech.com

Go here and look at the Products page. Read about it and be as amazed as I am. 4 Megapixel stills! 1.3 Megapixel per frame video! Color processing that fixes the 3CCD -vs- 1CCD problem! AND! 3x to 5x more battery life! Let's see which companies fight over this, now!

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Deep is not the root word of depression.

[Dr Mordrid]

Sounds impressive for stills alright. I can't wait to have this in my photo studio.

As for the video though, 12 bit @30fps ? Hmmm...

Dr. Mordrid

[mgu2]

The analog front end has a 12-bit DAC. It certainly does not process all color channels at the same time. They should say that the video is 30fps, 36-bit color.

[Sillyname]

I thought 12-bit was the standard?

[mgu2]

It was standard on Amiga back in 1985. It had a pallette of 4096 colors. Today, it would be rather funny to see pictures made by a product using only 4-bit color channels (RGB).

[Sillyname]

Then perhaps we are mistaken? It could possibly be the memory addressing of the processor itself, not accounting for processing speed...

Theoretically, a 286 running at 1 THz can beat a P3 running at 1 GHz.

[Sillyname]

Oh, I'm kinda right. They have a typo. 12-bit refers to digital processing of the image. 850 line Hitachis have 13-bit digital processing. Don't ask me why the odd number.

12-bit digital processing could be taken to mean 12-bit resolution because the resolution of what it is that is being processed goes with the "apparent" quality of the processor. A 12-bit processor.

I think we are perhaps mistaking resolution in an "image sense" with resolution in a "data accuracy sense".

Such loose terminology should not exist on a data sheet, I agree. It's kinda like the videogame console wars leaving average consumers scratching their heads over the meaning of 32 and 64-bit systems, with a total disregard for processing speed and hardware algorithms.

[This message has been edited by Sillyname (edited 26 September 2000).]

[KRSESQ]

A 286 at 1 THz???

That's what I call SERIOUS overclocking!

[mgu2]

From the site:

NDX-1250 Analog Front-End

The NDX-1250 is a complete CCD and CMOS sensor image digitizer that includes a high-speed differential correlated double
sampler (CDS), black-level auto-calibration circuitry, a programmable gain amplifier (PGA), and a 12-bit analog-to-digital
converter (ADC).



It is pretty clear where the 12-bit video comes from. Obviously, one ADC cannot convert three analog RGB signals. The conversion has to be done three times per pixel (=36-bit output).

[Sillyname]

I forgot where I read it, but I believe either the XL-1 or the VX1000 has a 10-bit A/D converter.

Here's an example of a professional camera being described with similar lingo:
http://www.hitachidenshi.ca/Z-2000_features.html

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Deep is not the root word of depression.

[This message has been edited by Sillyname (edited 27 September 2000).]