Picture-CD and Picture-DVD picture files scanned at film2disk.com are NOT dithered. They are scanned at 4000 dots per inch and saved as high quality TIFF picture files, 1296 x 1947 pixels in size at a color bit depth of 32 (16.7 million colors). Each pixel has a color assigned to it from the 32 bit palette.
As printers become better at reproducing color photographs, your Picture-CD and Picture-DVD picture files will contain more than enough data to support a "true to life" printout.
Dithering occurs when a system cannot output the proper number of colors. Dithering is a term used to describe the approximations made to match the original picture by fooling the human eye.
Programs and operating systems use dithering to approximate any unavailable colors by trying to "mix" the available colors from the palette. It may put a red dot next to a yellow dot to approximate a shade of orange that is not on the computer's color palette.
Monitors and printers do a type of dithering also. Monitors typically display 72 dots per inch (dpi) and most Color InkJet printers output at 300 to 600 dpi. Monitors mix three colors of light, Red, Green, and Blue, to produce each pixel (dot). Color InkJet and Color Laserjet printers mix 4 colors of ink, Black, Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow to simulate the color spectrum.
Here are two examples to demonstrate:
Original 1" x 1" picture scanned at 720 dpi and it's displayed at 100% on your monitor (72 dpi) with 24 bit color depth (16.7 million colors). The 1" x 1" picture is scanned and the output file is 720 x 720 pixels. Display this 720 x 720 pixel picture on your 72 dpi monitor and the resulting picture is 10" x 10" at 100% with no dithering. Change your computer monitor's bit depth to 8 (256 colors), you will see the dithering.
You have a black & white photographic picture file and you send it to a LaserJet printer. LaserJet printers contain only black toner, so to print the gray tones in the picture the printer must do some type of dithering to the picture. The dithering is less obvious with higher resolution printers.
| Midwestern Industries, Inc., 27412 S. Walsh Rd, Manhattan, IL 60442 800-230-44CD 24hrs/day, 757-299-7723 FAX, info@film2disk.com Copyright © 1999-2010 Midwestern Industries, Inc., All Rights Reserved. page last updated: Sunday, 12-Jun-2005 11:59:51 CDT |
page last updated: Sunday, 12-Jun-2005 11:59:51 CDT
