Better than 72 dpi at DVinfo.net

Brian Patterson · September 14th, 2003, 10:55 PM

Is there a way to increase the quality of the still that the VX can take? The stills captured on the memory stick only come in 72 dpi.

Imran Zaidi · September 14th, 2003, 11:24 PM

The actual dpi is of no consequence when dealing with digital images. You have images of a certain size, and regardless of whether you're using a cheap pen-cam or an uber-expensive digital SLR, you're capturing at 72dpi. It's just a print reference (the 'i' is inch which of course is meaningless on a monitor). It's the actual overall pixel count that matters.

DPI only matters in the eventual print output of your image. For example, in photoshop you would resample it to 300dpi and make sure the print output is of the size you desire, and voila, you'll get a hi-rez, printable image that will print well, depending, of course, on the source number of megapixels. If you only have a 600 pixel wide image, the image would only produce well in print at 2 inches wide. Maybe 3 (which would be 200 dpi, which is the very lowest you want to go for print output).

For best 8x10 output, you'd want to have 3 Megapixels or better. The VX2000, sadly, like most DV cams, not only has a very low pixel count, but the quality of the stills just never, ever compare to real digital still-only cams.

September 14th, 2003, 10:55 PM	#1
Brian Patterson Regular Crew Join Date: May 2003 Posts: 51	Better than 72 dpi Is there a way to increase the quality of the still that the VX can take? The stills captured on the memory stick only come in 72 dpi.

September 14th, 2003, 11:24 PM	#2
Imran Zaidi Trustee Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Orlando, FL Posts: 1,315	The actual dpi is of no consequence when dealing with digital images. You have images of a certain size, and regardless of whether you're using a cheap pen-cam or an uber-expensive digital SLR, you're capturing at 72dpi. It's just a print reference (the 'i' is inch which of course is meaningless on a monitor). It's the actual overall pixel count that matters. DPI only matters in the eventual print output of your image. For example, in photoshop you would resample it to 300dpi and make sure the print output is of the size you desire, and voila, you'll get a hi-rez, printable image that will print well, depending, of course, on the source number of megapixels. If you only have a 600 pixel wide image, the image would only produce well in print at 2 inches wide. Maybe 3 (which would be 200 dpi, which is the very lowest you want to go for print output). For best 8x10 output, you'd want to have 3 Megapixels or better. The VX2000, sadly, like most DV cams, not only has a very low pixel count, but the quality of the stills just never, ever compare to real digital still-only cams.