Technology Corner
In this area we'll air new devices or items that may be of interest to those that like new technology and toys, etc.
- USB Flash Drive
- Digital Cameras and resolution - useful reading for those either thinking of buying a camera or wishing to learn a little more on the subject.
- If you're looking for a printer that turns out good quality prints and prints that last - check out Wilhelm Research Inc and there are some interesting articles that you can download too.
- New drives that burns CDs & DVDs - and labels them, using light-sensitive CDs or DVDs and a modified laser is coming from HP so read the article
USB flash drives
USB flash drives (UFD) are expected to become the number one removable
solid-state storage format in 2005.
These new USB storage devices currently start at 1Gb for around £15 with larger capacities quickly coming on line and dropping in price.
If you're interested why not run a search for "USB Flash Drive" in one of the search engines you use and see what it shows up?
Remember, there are both USB and USB2 versions out there and hence whilst the former will read on the latter hen it doesn't work in reverse, hence be aware of what version your current PC has otherwise you may need to purchase a new USB2 card for your PC.
This new USB flash drive market forecast is provided by industry analysts such as Gartner Dataquest1, Semico Research and Web-Feet Research. This data, available on the UFDA web site shows that between 67 and 120 million USB flash drives are expected to ship in 2005, producing 2 to 3 billion dollars in revenues worldwide.
"The USB Flash Drive Alliance has made significant progress towards its goal to establish the USB flash drive category and educate consumers about these easy-to-use devices," said Steffen Hellmold, president of the UFDA. "The analysts' forecasts support our strong belief that USB flash drives are positioned to become the number one removable solid-state storage format by next year surpassing Secure Digital (SD) cards and Memory Stick®2 cards. Given the projected growth of the USB flash drives and the planned USB flash drive software innovations from Microsoft, the USB flash drive category is poised to explode."
Microsoft announced its intention to introduce new software and tools that fully take advantage of the multiple functions and features USB flash drives have to offer.
"Microsoft is committed to supporting USB flash drives in our software products, and through our work with industry partners on optimized interaction of software and hardware, we are building new functionality that dramatically enhances the user experience," said Tom Phillips, general manager of the Windows Hardware Experience Group at Microsoft Corp. "Microsoft is looking to the UFDA to help drive the understanding of benefits that USB flash drives provide customers through its programs that continue to educate consumers about both the current and the future benefits of USB flash drives."
Gartner is expecting the USB flash drive market to continue its significant growth in existing and new applications and markets. "According to our latest research, we forecast that the USB flash drive will lead all removable solid-state storage formats in terms of Revenue, Units and Megabyte shipments for calendar year 2005," said Joseph Unsworth, senior analyst for Gartner Dataquest.
About the USB Flash Drive Alliance
The USB Flash Drive Alliance (UFDA) was formed to educate consumers about
the benefits of these portable, easy-to-use, powerful devices. A USB
flash drive is about the size of a pack of gum, requires no additional
software or connectors, and is powerful enough to store up to 2 GB
of data - providing consumers and businesses with a fast and easy way
to store and transport digital information. Sponsor members of the
UFDA include Genesys Logic, Kingston Technology, Lexar Media, Inc.,
Phison Electronics Corp., PNY Technologies, Inc. and Samsung Semiconductor,
Inc. Associate members are Add On Technology, Alcor Micro, Corp., Crucial
Technology, DataFab, GlobalWare Solutions, Inc., Infineon Technologies
Flash GmbH & Co. KG, Memory Experts International, Microsoft Corp.,
Peripheral Enhancements Corporation, SimpleTech, Inc., and Viking Interworks.
For more information about UFDA, please refer to its Web site at www.usbflashdrive.org.
Digital Cameras - Megapixels vs noise!
We need to keep the noise down!
"More megapixels may mean better quality, but they also mean an increase in image noise" says Gordon Laing, of PCW Magazine.
If you only know one thing when shopping for a new digital camera, it's the number of megapixels, right? As the figure which defines the amount of detail captured, it's become the primary measure of quality for digital cameras, but, like so many things, it's not that simple, as having more megapixels can sometimes reduce your overall picture quality.
This sounds hard to believe. After all, more megapixels means more detail and being able to make bigger enlargements or severe crops without losing quality. But take a close look at digital camera images and you'll notice numerous randomly coloured specks, especially in areas of flat colour. This is mostly due to electronic noise on the sensor and could get worse with higher resolutions.
Here's why: each sensor has a grid of light-sensitive elements which act like buckets for light. After the exposure, the amount of light captured in each element is proportionately converted into electrical charge, then amplified and digitised. Noise becomes a problem when there's insufficient light captured for a decent signal. This gets worse with smaller elements which are less sensitive.
There are two ways you can increase the resolution of a sensor: keep the elements the same size and increase the sensor area, or keep the sensor the same size and shrink the elements to squeeze more in. It's clear the latter will be susceptible to greater noise, yet due to manufacturing costs and optical designs, it's a common approach for new sensors.
The first 3megapixel cameras employed a 1 / 1.8in sensor which measured 8.93mm across its diagonal and kept noise reasonably under control. When 4megapixel cameras arrived, though, their sensors were almost all the same size as previous 3megapixel models, thereby employing smaller elements with higher noise levels. Fortunately when the first 5megapixel cameras were launched, the sensors were increased to the 2/3in size with an l 1mm diagonal and roughly the same size elements (and therefore noise levels) of original 3megapixel sensors.
Sadly the subsequent generations of 5megapixel cameras switched to a 1 / 1.8in sensor identical in size to the original 3megapixel sensors. New 8megapixel all-in-ones also use the same 2/3in sensor size as the first Smegapixel models. Both cases demand smaller elements to squeeze these higher resolutions into the same space, and therefore suffer from greater potential noise. While the industry often claims superior manufacturing techniques and postprocessing eliminate the problem, I'd argue new sensitivity settings reveal it as a genuine concern.
All digital cameras can increase their sensitivity, but at the cost of greater noise. Decreasing the sensitivity has the opposite effect and lowers noise levels. And what's this? Many new cameras with high resolutions and relatively small sensors now offer low sensitivity options such as 50 or 64 ISO; indeed these are present on all the new 8megapixel cameras.
Admittedly these low sensitivities seem to do the trick. I've found shooting at 50 or 64 ISO on the new 8megapixel cameras produces relatively low-noise images. Increase to 100 ISO though and noise begins to creep in - by the time you're at 200 ISO it's seriously affecting the picture.
The trouble is, it's rarely practical to shoot at 50 or 64 ISO, especially in the overcast UK, where 200 ISO is usually more appropriate. You are, of course, welcome to shoot at lower sensitivities, but you'll need more light: four times more if it's the difference between 50 and 200 ISO and if your optics can't gather it, you'll need a longer exposure which increases the risk of camera shake.
And therein lies the rub. Unless you have bright conditions, a steady hand or don't mind carrying a tripod, these low sensitivities are impractical, yet necessary to keep noise levels under check.
With noise becoming a personal issue, I upgraded to a digital SLR, which may only have 6megapixels, but features a sensor measuring 30mm across its diagonal. Compare that to the 11 mm diagonal of the sensor in 8megapixel all-in-ones and difference in pixel size is monumental. At 400 ISO, this bigger sensor produces roughly the same noise levels as 8megapixel models do at 64 ISO. At lower sensitivities, the bigger sensor produces incomparably smooth pictures. This is why 6megapixels worked out better than eight. I may capture less detail, but the improvement on noise levels, not to mention flexibility of shooting at higher sensitivities is far preferable.
Of course digital SLRs are only an option at the high end of the market. Compact consumer digital cameras will always have smaller sensors and therefore noise as a greater concern, especially as resolutions increase.
While many users won't notice noise on their images, I fear it's being compromised in favour of higher resolutions. And does the average photographer really need five or more megapixels?
Sadly, higher resolutions have become a marketing numbers game and are coming at the cost of greater noise. If you're concerned, look carefully at the sensor size of your next digital camera, as megapixels aren't the be-all and end-all of image quality. Either that or join me in a prayer for a long, bright summer.
New drive burns CDs & DVDs - and labels them!
HP has announced a new labeling system that lets you burn silkscreen-quality labels directly onto specially coated CDs and DVDs using a modified disk drive with an extended-range laser.
Users of the Lightscribe system simply create a CD or DVD as normal, flip it over in the drive tray, and draw a permanent label onto the photo-sensitive surface surface. Software to produce the designs is expected to be announced shortly.
HP intends to license the technology to various manufacturers of CD and DVD drives as well as media suppliers and software houses. Lightscribe-enabled drives, software and disks are expected to ship later this year. HP hopes the technology will bypass the limitations of conventional labeling methods such as the marker pen, which has the obvious drawback of producing unprofessional and potentially illegible designs.Sticky labels give discs a less amateurish look, but can destabilize a disc's rotation at higher speeds and increase vibration leading to misinterpretation of data.
Lightscribe was first conceived by an HP engineer, and developed further through the collaborative efforts of HP's Imaging and Optical storage divisions.
The technology was first unveiled in Europe at HP's Labs 2004 event in Kos, Greece, where the company also revealed its second-generation Media Center PC. This latest incarnation features a redesigned chassis with a removable 200Gb USB hard drive.
Significant emphasis has been placed on reducing the amount of external wiring required to connect the PC to audio and video components, wireless networking, and the sharing of files between different users.For more information go to www.hp.com and type Lightscribe in the Search: box.
