Digital cameras take on the Web

Article Abstract:

Enhancements in digital camera technology have increased the versatility and usability of many products, and the Internet and multimedia applications have improved the range of utility for digitalk cameras. A digital camera's image-sensor processor determines the quality of its photograph, and only higher-end models offer the control most photographers have come to expect from cameras. The quality of resolution is most important to a camera's functionality, and 640-by-480 pixels and 24-bit color depth are the high-end standards. Users should determine a camera's ability to take pictures in a minimum of light and ensure that their cameras have the lowest possible f-stop ratings. Users should also consider the extent of their memory requirements and the need for special features such as an integral LCD before purchasing their digital cameras.

Photographic equipment and supplies, Digital cameras, Digital camera

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MPEG cards smooth video pixels

Article Abstract:

A directory of MPEG (Motion Picture Experts Group) decoder cards is presented, which includes products that decode MPEG 1 data streams. The market for the cards, which are priced around $200, is growing because MPEG is currently considered to be the optimal digital video compression system. The simplest cards reproduce a 352-by-240 resolution image, but nearly all cards can manipulate the raw MPEG picture to produce other resolutions. The ability to blow up images is the most significant difference in the quality of different MPEG boards and is dependent on which chips are utilized. Differences between add-in cards, such as filtering, number of colors and scaling methods, become more apparent when the MPEG image is scaled to fill the screen, but in a quarter-screen format, MPEG images look almost identical.

Printed circuit boards, Standard, Standardization, Graphics accelerator/display board, Display adapters

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MPEG 2 die for

Article Abstract:

The cost of MPEG 2 encoders has plummeted in recent years to $495 for software-only and $5,000 for real-time hardware solutions. Most MPEG 2 encoders can also handle MPEG 1. Most decoding systems run fine on off-the-shelf Pentium MMX and Pentium II workstations. Software encoders are inexpensive, but take a long time to run. Top-quality encoding requires a multiple-pass encoder, in which the data is analyzed, then encoded. MPEG 2 has been adopted for DVD, DVD-ROM and forthcoming HDTV sets. It can handle resolutions of 1,920 by 1,080 at 30 frames per second. C-Cube Microsystems' single-chip MPEG 2 codec will cost a scant $50 by 1999 or 2000, one analyst predicts. While the chief MPEG 2 customers today are in satellite television, tumbling prices are expected to bring MPEG to the consumer market.

Other Computer Peripheral Equipment Manufacturing, Computer Auxiliary Eqp NEC, Computer peripherals, Video processing equipment, Video capture boards

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