Hey, You! You Can't DO That!
Hey, you! Do you remember those old movies and TV shows where computers used to blow up all the time? All you had to do was enter something wrong, or ask it to compute Pi to the last digit, and suddenly there were sparks and smoke and flames and the thing would blow up. Now, I ask you, when's the last time your PC blew up? I've seen PC's crash all the time, but I've never seen one throw sparks because I typed in the wrong URL. But the writers figured we didn't know any better, so they tried to get away with it.
You don't see computers blowing up much in stories anymore, but there's another techno-flub that I see over and over again, and it makes me want to shoot the TV with an RPG. Which would be a big waste of an RPG. Those things ain't cheap. :cough: Sorry, where was I?
Oh, yeah. Have you ever watched a show, and they're playing a tape from a surveillance camera, and they can't see the suspect's face? Then, in a flash of "brilliance" the detective will ask the technician to zoom in on a pair of sunglasses or some other reflective surface. Like an eyeball. Zoom in close. Real close. And sure enough, after maybe a little "sharpening" there's the killer's face, plain as day.
Hey, you! You can't DO that! Video cameras only record so many lines of resolution. Let's say you've got 512 lines of resolution. Now, the reflection you want is maybe 5% of the screen height. So, about 25 lines high. I don't care how much you magnify that, it's still only 25 pixels of information. You're just making them bigger pixels. It's not like real life, where the more you magnify it, the more there is to see. Once the camera has recorded it, there's only so many lines of information there.
The eyes are halfway up your head, so there's maybe a dozen lines of information to cover the part between your chin and eyebrows. About four lines for the mouth, four lines for the nose, four lines for the eyes. With twelve lines of resolution, you'd have trouble telling the difference between John Kerry and Hilary Clinton.
Hey, you! You just can't do that!
Blog Tag: Opinion Blog Tag: Images Blog Tag: Pumpkin
Posted 10/06/2004 11:19:00 PM
L
On 10/07/2004 12:09 PM, 
Coyote Digital Consulting said...
On 10/07/2004 10:26 PM, magz said...
On 10/08/2004 3:54 PM, vile said...
On 10/13/2004 2:06 PM, Candace said...
4 Comments:
One that I like even better is when they get serveillance footage of a license plate that it at too great of an angle to read but through the amazing powers of computer enhancement the tech guy magically changes the angle of the picture so that they can read the plate number.
har de har dave... i remember when i used ta think if i hit 1 wrong button, not only would my 'pute be irrevocably damaged.. but the door would be kicked in by the 'puter police' who'd procede to break all my typing fingers!
I liked the watercolor effect, havent tried that yet, thanks! And i'm still waitin for yer chickpix....lol
In Blade Runner the photos move like video but Deckard uses his PC to zoom in on a mirror the the end of seeing something. He also gets it to pan around a corner.
Its impossible, but still its COOL.
Yes, yes, yes, Dave!
The CSI TV series enlarges photos and videos all the time. The resolution, the definition, the clarity is absolutely stunning, isn't it? You can read the date on the newspaper that's on the floor, that's smudged and has a footprint on it, that is at a horrendously terrible angle to read in the first place, and that's in the tiniest, itty-bitty section of the backmost right hand corner of the picture.
No problem! Zoom in. A little closer. Now, turn it to the right. Stand it on one edge. And yes, Dave, while they're at it, enlarge the reflection of that guy's face in the sunglasses on the front page. Ah ha! There's our suspect! No doubt about it!
Now all I need is the same tool for my photoediting software and I'll be able to do absolutely "miraculous" work with some of the smaller images that I have.
Yes, in general, some screenwriters need to get a clue about the effects of "pixelization" during the enlargment process.
That being said, it doesn't stop me for one second from trying not to miss a single episode of the original CSI series and CSI:NY.
FYI: Your blog looks mahvelous, absolutely mahvelous! Plus, it's enjoyable to read! ::squeeze::
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