Technical questions about digital cameras?

Question

1) With respect to the viewing screen what does TFT - LCD mean? Does that mean that it has a modern colour viewing screen, where you can view the photos you have taken?

2) Megapixels - What is a reasonable amount of megapixels to get a clear picture?

3) What does "Pictbridge compatible" mean?

4)I want a memory that can store about 70 pics at a time or more. What size memory do I need? 12MB or more?

Answer 1

1. this refers to the type of screen on the back for viewing pics - all cameras basically have the same style of screen

2. min 3pix will work , if you want to print large pics (8x10 or larger) then min 5mpix woudl work
depends on your budget

3. means that if you plug into t a compatible docking station or printer it allows you to print right form the camera

4. suggest no less than 256mb and for the moeny worth buying 1gb (memory is getting very inexpensive and gives lots of room )

suggets Canon, Nikon camera - they have the best features, best price for feature and long history in the camera business .

Answer 2

1) Technically TFT = Thin Film Transistor and LCD = Liquid Crystal Display. As you suspect nobody cares because it all adds up to a nice clear modern bright display

2) At approx 5MP you are approaching the quality of 35mm film. After that you are either talking about very large prints, or being able to crop aggressively. Most consumer cameras now are in the 6 - 8 MP range, no nothing to worry about unless you are very serious.

3) Pictbridge is a standard that allows you to plug the camera into compatible printers without a computer and print shots directly from the camera. I own a desktop and a laptop so I really do not care about this feature.

4) How many pictures fit on a card? I wish I had a dollar for every time I have been asked this question. It all depends on the amount of megapixels and how much compression the camera does of the recorded pictures. So this is a little difficult to state with certainty. In my real world experience with modern cameras, you would be safer with 256MB to ensure you fit 70 photos. But goodness they are getting so cheap now why not splurge on a 1GB or 2GB card? That way when you go on holidays, you have a better chance of fitting all the pictures you want.

Hope this helps!

Answer 3

1) TFT = Thin Film Transistor
LCD = liquid crystal display

TFT is what is used in most monitors and laptop screens, and is quite good. There is newer technology for screens, but these are rare, so TFT is a good choice.

2) Megapixels. It depends on what you want to use your photos for. If you don't need to print any larger than A4/8x10 size, then anything from 5 megapixels is fine. You really don't need a lot of megapixels for consumer level photography. I would probably recommend around the 6MP mark these days for non-professional cameras.

3) Pictbridge. This means the camera can be plugged directly into Pictbridge compatible printers (eg. Canon Pixma range) with a USB cable so you can print directly to paper without the need of a computer

5) The more megapixels you have, the larger the file size of the photos (at full resolution). I would suggest at least a 512MB card these days, as they are so cheap and will give you plenty of storage. Or else get a 256MB to save a little bit money (don't go below this, as you will find it too small).

Answer 4

1- TFT =thin film transister LCD=liqid crystal display Its a good display but the more important aspects are screen resolution size and how well it can be seen in bright light

2- Megapixels my 3.2 MP camera was capable of doing good 8x10 pics but was unable to do much cropping. 5and up should give you plenty of cropping room.

3- pictbrige just means that the camera is capable of printing directly to a pictbrige compatable printer without using a computer. However I would suggest using a computer so you can easily store the pictures and make it easier to see how well the picture came out and making ajustments easier.

4- 12mb is not much for memory. It really depends on the number of megapixels the camera has to the size of the file it produces and which file format you use TIFF, JPEG(most common but there are several resolutions to choose from choose the highest in your camera is my recomendation), RAW
my 8mp camera has a 1GB memory card and can get 256 pics in the highest resolution JPEG format.
With the price of memory going so low today I would recomend at least 256mb and if you plan on doing high speed sequntial shooting and your camera can take it you might want to invest in some high speed memory so you won't have the lag between picture taking.

Answer 5

Ok...


TFT - LCD is Thin Film Transistor-Liquid Crystal Display which is a type of screen on the back which gives better image quality, so you can see your pics instantly.

Megapixels - I used to use 4mp, which gave me up to A4 prints, however, if I wanted to crop them I lost quality when I blew them up to big sizes. I now use 8mp but that sometimes gives me "noisy" pics (a slightly grainy appearance) so I would best for up to A4 prints is 5-6mp. However, you may want more if you want bigger prints.

Pictbridge compatible - means the camera has the technology to connect directly to a compatible printer without a computer.

Memory - it depends on the number of megapixels and the quality setting you use. However, 12MB is not enough, you would be lucky to get more than about 6 pics. You probably need a minimum of 256mb, but it may well be better to buy more, as its really annoying running out.

Hope this helps!

Answer 6

LCD means Liquid Crystal Display
TFT means Thin Film Transistor Liquid Crystal Display
TFT is like the flat computer monitors flat screen tv's
CRT( big ugly and almost always beige colour) computer monitors
Memory Card is personal choice, but for the price go for the largest you can afford.
12mb card is what you would get has a freebie with new device, very limited storage size
Pictbridge images can be sent straight to printer

Answer 7

if you go to howstuffworks.com
it will explain all your questions

Answer 8

agrees with above.