From: faust@asds.enet.dec.com (Stephen R Faust)
Newsgroups: rec.photo
Subject: What will it really take to replace FILM!
Date: 23 Dec 92 16:11:12 GMT
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation



Hearing all  the  talk  about how electronic imaging will replace film in the
next 10 years  of so, I starting thinking of what it will take technically to
do this.  This would give me a better idea of how long it will really take to
make the switch. So, anyone have any input on the following?

We would need the technology at minimum to be able to;

    Capture an image of approximately  150MB  in  1/1000 of a second, with 24
    bit color.  This would mean  that  we  would  need 150MB of memory in the
    camera.  (more depending on the  quality  level..what  would  it  take to
    capture a technically equivalent image to a 35mm image).  Currently, they
    are    getting  acceptable  results  with  140MB  images  for    magazine
    reproduction, which is poor compared to obtainable results on film/paper.

    A pick up device, CCD, or equiv, that is  capable  of  capturing some odd
    million number of pixels, which is close to reasonable quality  (150M or
    more).

    We would need a processor fast enough  to  write  150MB  of image data to
    some disk or media, so that the camera will be ready for the next shot in
    a reasonable amount of time.  Maybe not 5 times per second (as in a motor
    drive   of  5FSP),  but  something  less  than  a  second  to    satisify
    sports/action/nature photographers, etc.  What would it take in processor
    and speed to do this (much more than what we have today.)

    We would need to be able to store a minimum of  20  or  so  images on the
    media (thats around 3 gigabytes - more depending on resolution).

    This would have to  be able to be hand held, less than a few pounds, or a
    2 pound camera, with an  additional  3  pounds or so on a seperate module
    that someone can wear on a belt, etc.


Currently,  the  technology  that we use today to get magazine quality images
gives us a file of around 150MB by scanning film.  This takes  a  few minutes
to do, and is far from being hand held, or even being able to  do this in the
field.  The speed  increase is very significant!  As is the pickup device and
memory requirements.  I can see the memory and storage requirements being met
in maybe 10 years or so, but the pickup device and  the  speed required to do
al this is a lot further off.  And even when we  get  there,  we  would still
have to shrink it down to a managable size, get it to run  on  a  minimum  of
power (ie, AA cells or similar), and have some small disks that can store  it
all.   This doesnt even take into account the devices that would be needed to
finally print  the  image  onto paper at a quality level that equals film and
paper.

I think film will be in wide use for the next 20-30 years, with the exception
of  the home market.  Any professional applications will use film, then  scan
to electronic forms for  photo-mechanical  printing,  manipulations,  etc.  I
believe that the two forms  will  coexist  rather nicely, and complement each
other.  Film will still be the capturing mechanism, and electronic means will
start taking over the darkroom tasks in  the professional field.  In the home
market, I can see film phasing out much  sooner  based  on  the lower quality
standards (ie, most people are happy with their family photos on 3.5x5 prints
from low quality P&S lenses), but still not for 10 years or more.

So, what do  you feel is technically required to obtain this, and how far off
do you think it is.    Is 150MB enough to get a high quailty image capable of
35mm quality (I think is not, but dont know for sure).  Can we have CCD units
or  similar  which  can  capture  what modern  leneses  can  deliver?    What
type/speed processor can  capture  and  write all the data to memory in less
than 1/1000 of a  second,  and  to disk in less than maybe a 1/2 second?  How
long to shrink all this down to a hand held and managable size?

I dont want to start a rat hole over when  imaging  is  gong to replace film,
but feel that a technical discussion on the technology needed, and  when  the
technology  might  be  available would allow us to come up with a  reasonable
projection based on facts, no fiction or opinion.


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Stephen R Faust                                      faust@asds.enet.dec.com
Digital Equipment Corp.                          Networks and Communications
Stow MA                                                        (508)496-9063
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Newsgroups: rec.photo