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Rune Austefjord · March 23rd, 2007, 12:41 PM

Just watched Las Vegas, season 1, episode 5.
They zoomed in and enhanced surveillance camera footage from a nightclub, enough to see the markings on pills dropping into a drink.
Just thought to myself, this is of course just TV magic, they can't create video resolution where the information isn't there in the first place.
But just wondering, how high resolution are those state of the art cameras. To achive the enhancement they used in the show they'd have to use at least a 4K camera.

Jim Andrada · March 24th, 2007, 09:38 AM

I have no idea how much reolution they can get from surveillance cameras, but a long time ago (a LONG time ago) around 1960 I was in the satellite tracking business working for the Air Force research labs and we were just starting to get photographs from orbit and even at that time you could see parking lot lines and tell if a person was riding a bike or a motorcycle and maybe even get a good guess as to whether the person was male or female. And things have improveda bit since then.

That said, I doubt you could read the markings on a pill with a surveillance camera that cost less than medium size jumbo jet.

Adam Bray · March 30th, 2007, 02:18 AM

My understanding is they can read serial numbers off of bills on the table. But markings on a pill, I don't think so.

March 23rd, 2007, 12:41 PM	#1
Rune Austefjord Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Bergen, Norway Posts: 43	Las Vegas ceilingcams Just watched Las Vegas, season 1, episode 5. They zoomed in and enhanced surveillance camera footage from a nightclub, enough to see the markings on pills dropping into a drink. Just thought to myself, this is of course just TV magic, they can't create video resolution where the information isn't there in the first place. But just wondering, how high resolution are those state of the art cameras. To achive the enhancement they used in the show they'd have to use at least a 4K camera.

March 24th, 2007, 09:38 AM	#2
Jim Andrada Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Tucson AZ Posts: 2,211	I have no idea how much reolution they can get from surveillance cameras, but a long time ago (a LONG time ago) around 1960 I was in the satellite tracking business working for the Air Force research labs and we were just starting to get photographs from orbit and even at that time you could see parking lot lines and tell if a person was riding a bike or a motorcycle and maybe even get a good guess as to whether the person was male or female. And things have improveda bit since then. That said, I doubt you could read the markings on a pill with a surveillance camera that cost less than medium size jumbo jet.

March 30th, 2007, 02:18 AM	#3
Adam Bray Major Player Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Houston/Austin Posts: 394	My understanding is they can read serial numbers off of bills on the table. But markings on a pill, I don't think so.