Comments on: Refocusing digital photos after the fact http://www.hojohnlee.com/weblog/archives/2005/11/22/refocusing-digital-photos-after-the-fact/ Fri, 05 Dec 2008 01:42:54 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=1.5.2 Comment on Refocusing digital photos after the fact by: hjl http://www.hojohnlee.com/weblog/archives/2005/11/22/refocusing-digital-photos-after-the-fact/#comment-394 Wed, 23 Nov 2005 17:31:20 +0000 http://www.hojohnlee.com/weblog/archives/2005/11/22/refocusing-digital-photos-after-the-fact/#comment-394 I did notice that the output resolution is determined by the microlens array, not the underlying sensor. I didn't spend enough time to get a sense of the tradeoffs between the cost, size, optical performance, and sensor noise, though. In particular, I have no idea how much the lens array currently costs, or how quickly they might improve. Another thought I had was whether the scenes that had enough lighting to support the microarray system could be shot at a small enough aperture to cover a greater depth of field instead. This wouldn't help for artistic composition, but would be a consideration for security and surveillance applications. I did notice that the output resolution is determined by the microlens array, not the underlying sensor. I didn’t spend enough time to get a sense of the tradeoffs between the cost, size, optical performance, and sensor noise, though. In particular, I have no idea how much the lens array currently costs, or how quickly they might improve.

Another thought I had was whether the scenes that had enough lighting to support the microarray system could be shot at a small enough aperture to cover a greater depth of field instead. This wouldn’t help for artistic composition, but would be a consideration for security and surveillance applications.

]]> Comment on Refocusing digital photos after the fact by: AndyF http://www.hojohnlee.com/weblog/archives/2005/11/22/refocusing-digital-photos-after-the-fact/#comment-393 Wed, 23 Nov 2005 17:11:50 +0000 http://www.hojohnlee.com/weblog/archives/2005/11/22/refocusing-digital-photos-after-the-fact/#comment-393 There is a resolution tradeoff that will keep this out of mainstream cameras for a while. The resolution of the resulting image will be the resolution of one imaged microlens. Given consumers' obsession with resolution, to the point of paying for more even when it does not noticably improve image quality, I don't see this being marketable until we have a huge surplus of pixels. (Ren Ng gave a talk on this at HP Labs this summer). There is a resolution tradeoff that will keep this out of mainstream cameras for a while. The resolution of the resulting image will be the resolution of one imaged microlens. Given consumers’ obsession with resolution, to the point of paying for more even when it does not noticably improve image quality, I don’t see this being marketable until we have a huge surplus of pixels.

(Ren Ng gave a talk on this at HP Labs this summer).

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