Akira Watanabe, a manager of Olympus Imaging’s SLR planning department stated that 12 megapixels on a digital SLR is good enough for most customers: “Twelve megapixels is, I think, enough for covering most applications most customers need.” In an interview at the Photo Marketing Association (PMA) show he stated, “We have no intention to compete in the megapixel wars for E-System.” The E-System Watanabe is referring to is Olympus’ line of digital SLR cameras. I applaud Watanabe for a breath of fresh air especially because these comments are coming from within a major manufacturer of DSLRs. I agree with him: we really don’t need more pixels, we need the pixels to be better at capturing light.

Olympus is part of the Four Thirds camera system and its E-System digital SLRs have image sensors that are smaller than those in mainstream SLRs from companies like Canon and Nikon. Panasonic also makes DSLRs using the Four Thirds camera system.

Not having to waste time developing ways to cram more pixels into a tiny image sensor, Olympus will focus on more important aspects to a digital SLR system such as dynamic range, color fidelity, higher light sensitivities. If you are not already aware more pixels do not always mean better pictures. On the other hand, the bigger the image sensor the better the pictures will be in general. Similarly the bigger the lens the better the pictures will be too. Given the same optics, same sized image sensor and same image processing algorithms more pixels actually means less picture quality because each pixel is getting less light. Less light means poor image quality.

To be clear, Watanabe’s comments were geared toward mainstream photographers. Most customers will be just fine with 12 megapixels. Professional (as well as hardcore amateur) photographers that need every pixel they can get will require considerably more. With a huge image sensor called full-frame and with a dimension of 36 x 24mm like those found in Canon’s 1D or 5D digital SLRs, you can have considerably more pixels without degrading picture quality precisely because the image sensor is large. The 5D Mark II, for instance, has 22 million pixels.

“We don’t think 20 megapixels is necessary for everybody. If a customer wants more than 12 megapixels, he should go to the full-frame models,” Watanabe said. Ditto.

“I personally believed, before starting the E-System, that 12 was enough,” Watanabe said. “We interviewed many professional photographers, people in studios, about how many they needed in the future. Before we started, the system, we had a rough idea we’d be at a plateau at 12 megapixels. We gradually increased the pixel count,” with the newer Olympus SLRs now reaching that level. Watanabe also believes that autofocus will change dramatically in DSLRs.

Image courtesy: DPReview

Most DSLRs today use a “phase detect” autofocus subsystem. Light is bounced from the viewfinder to a focus sensor that is located on the bottom of the DSLR. The sensor can process contrasts quickly and can rapidly focus–most DSLRs are much faster at autofocusing than even the best point-and-shoots. Compact digital cameras, on the other hand, use a contrast detect method of autofocusing where data is analyzed director from the image sensor. Watanabe believes image sensor-based autofocus soon will outperform phase-detect systems: “In terms of speed, phase detect is faster. But imager autofocus will soon exceed phase detect.” That’s a bold statement. Watanabe continues: “In terms of accuracy, imager-based autofocus is much more advantageous. It directly focuses on the surface itself. Phase detect focuses not on the real surface but on a virtual surface.” Power consumption is another consideration. When the image sensor is engaged for autofocusing a lot of power can be drained. Watanabe stated that when autofocusing only a small portion of the image sensor is used such as the company’s E-30 DSLR.

Olympus has several DSLRs including:

• E-3: Splash and dust-proof. 11-point twin-cross sensor. In-body image stabilization. Review by DPReview: Highly Recommended (just).
• E-30: Multi-exposure shooting. Art filters. 12.3 megapixels. Full specifications at DPReview.
• E-620: Six art filters. 2.7″ swivel live view LCD. 7-point twin AF. $699.99 at Amazon. Preview at DPReview.
• E-520: AF live view. In-body image stabilization. Face detection. $509.95 at Amazon. Review by DPReview: Highly Recommended (just).
• E-510: In-body image stabilization. Full-time live view. Dust reduction system. Review by DPReview: Highly Recommended.
• E-420: Highly portable. AF live view. Face detection. Review by DPReview: Highly Recommended (just).
• E-410: Compact and portable. Full-time live view. 20 scene select modes. $419.95 at Amazon. Review by DPReview: Highly Recommended.

It looks like Olympus has garnered a number of highly recommended models by Digital Photography.

Laptop: Want the closest thing to a perfect netbook? Laptop reviewed the N110 and stated that, “Samsung has created a near-perfect netbook in its N110.” High praise. So what did Laptop like?

The ergonomics on the N110 improved over an already decent NC10. The touchpad improved: it was extended from 2.3 x 1.1″ to 2.5 x 1.3″ and makes it quite a bit more usable. Battery life improved to about 8 hours. Great keyboard: 95% full-size with nice tactile feedback and a full-size right Shift key under the Enter key (I would really like all keyboards to be like this!).

The display remains the same at 10.2″ with a 1024×600 pixel format. If you are one of the few who would rather have the NC10, Amazon has it for a tiny bit less at $425.98.

Amazon, Engadget: The Samsung NC10 is quite the popular netbook at Amazon and sells for $438.57. The NC10-14GBK packs a 10.2″ TFT LCD, 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270 CPU, 1GB RAM, 160GB HDD, and Windows XP Home. Shipping is free.

The NC10 sports a 93% full-size keyboard, which is quite important since most netbooks make your fingers and wrists cramp up just after a little while of attempting to type.

The 10.2″ TFT LCD sports a 1024 x 600 pixel format that is just right for Internet surfing but the 600 vertical pixels will require a bit of scrolling up and down.

The integrated GMA 945 GPU will not be powerful enough to drive 3D-intensive games or allow you to watch HD video but for Internet surfing, emailing, word processing and other light-duty applications the NC10 seems to be powerful enough.

Some users have upgraded the 1GB to 2GB and the 160GB HDD to a much larger one. If you are a tinkerer you can boost the performance of the already snappy NC10 to much higher levels.

There are a total of 199 customer reviews with 153 of them giving the NC10 a 5/5 starts. Reviewers liked the excellent build quality, excellent WiFi reception, sturdy and snappy keyboard keys, bright LCD…

Reuters, Tech Radar: TMDisplay is short for Toshiba Matsushita Display. The company is a joint venture between Toshiba and Panasonic (Matsushita is no more) and manufactures small/medium-sized LCDs. Toshiba is planning to take full control over TMDisplay. Currently Toshiba has 60% of the LCD joint venture with Panasonic owning the rest.

Toshiba will be buying out Panasonic’s equity stake for billions of yen. TMDisplay is expected to announce an operating loss of JPY30 billion on sales of JPY270 billion for the financial year ending at the end of March. Even with prices dropping rapidly and weak demand, Toshiba wants 100% of TMDisplay. By fulling integrating a small/medium-sized LCD manufacturing plant, Toshiba will be able make decisions a bit faster.

Panasonic, with several billions of yen in its pocket, will be able to focus on larger FPDs (flat panel displays). But Panasonic will still have a foot in the door of a small/medium LCD manufacturing company that it has a joint venture with Hitachi.

After taking full control, Toshiba plans to decrease production of a-Si (amorphous silicon) TFT LCD panels and focus on higher-margin LTPS (low temperature polysilicon) display panels.

According to DisplaySearch, TMDisplay captured a 10.3% share of small/medium LCD shipments in 2008, quite a bit behind #1 Sharp with 20.2% share.

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to speak with Scott Birnbaum, VP of LCD Business at Samsung Semiconductor. On March 3, 2009 Scott made a presentation at DisplaySearch’s US FPD conference titled “VIDification”. The concept behind vidification (Scott coined this term) is to extend the movie viewing experience from TVs to everywhere else including LCD monitors and notebook PCs.

Scott gave a brief overview of what is happening with LCD panels. Starting with notebook PCs the first transition was from 4:3 aspect ratio to 16:10. Now that is moving to 16:9. LCD TVs, with the exception of a few small sizes, are already at 16:9. LCD monitor panels are shifting toward 16:9 as well. What is driving this shift to 16:9? Fab optimization: it is more efficient and cost effective to produce 16:9 LCD panels. On the demand side the increasing availability of 16:9 HD content will drive end-user demand for 16:9 LCDs. Scott also mentioned mobile phone displays shifting to 16:9.

For 15.6″ and 16.0″ LCD panels geared for notebook PC applications 16:9 already make up 50%. And 16:9 make up 44% of 17.3″ and 18.4″ LCD panels. The smaller mobility LCD panels at 13.x” and 14.0″ are at just 16% though that is expected to grow to 31% in Q4’09 according to DisplaySearch. By 2011, DisplaySearch is forecasting 16:9 notebook PC LCD panels to comprise 79% of the market. LCD monitors are moving toward 16:9 and will make up 47% in 2010. Scott uses a 22″ LCD monitor connected to his notebook PC at work; Samsung needs to give him dual 30″ monitors!

Samsung is riding the wave of bringing the movie theater experience to the home and wherever you might be. LCD TVs with 1080p capability, LED backlights, 240Hz frequency, up to 2 million to 1 contrast ratio, wide color gamut are just some of the technologies that will make that happen. The distribution landscape is changing too. According to Scott, there are 1 million XBox users that use the movie service. Netflix claims that 1.5 billion minutes of movies and TV was watched through its “Watch Instantly” video service. These are all innovative methods to bring movies to your display.

LCD TV sizes will definitely get bigger and Scott mentioned that larger sizes such as 70″ and 82″ will become more affordable as larger LCD fabs are built. With a 82″ LCD TV panel the images will be about life size and that will enhance the movie viewing experience up another knotch.

Add 3D to a life-size image and things get really interesting. Samsung showcased a 3D telepresence demonstration during DisplaySearch’s conference and I can imagine the experience was very real.

Scott gave very good reasons to upgrade to a digital LCD TV. First there is the digital TV transition and with a good HD pipe to your house a digital LCD TV will provide excellent pictures. The prices have dropped significantly over the last several months and is very affordable. Scott mentioned that there has been some studies that show TV sales going up during recessions. Another reason Scott mentioned was power consumption. At similar sizes, compared to old CRT TVs, new LCD TVs with LED backlights consume considerably less.

Although high-end LCD TVs all sport 120Hz that will change and shift to 240Hz. Samsung will be using interpolation and add three additional interpolated frames with 240Hz making the transitions that much smoother. Fast moving object that are both small and large will look significantly better in 240Hz.

I then asked,

What do I tell people when they ask which TV they should get?

Here’s the summary of Scott’s reply: Definitely 1080p. You also need to consider how large your room is. Are you going to be happy with the size two years from now? What type of content will you be watching? A LCD TV with LED backlight and local dimming will really improve contrast ratio. Do you care about how thin the TV is? Look at your budget. The must-haves are: 1080p, 120Hz. If you watch a lot of fast-moving content you’ll want 240Hz. Mounting systems are very complicated but with a thinner LCD TV they don’t have to be. If the TV is lighter the mounting system does not have to be sophicasted and expensive.

Philips Cinema 21:9 Specifications

Display: 56″ and 52″ TFT LCD
Aspect Ratio: 21:9 (about 2.37:1)
Pixel Format: 2560 x 1080 
Response Time: 1ms (GTG)
Frequency: 200Hz
Contrast Ratio: 80,000:1 (dynamic)
Connectivity: HDMI (5)
Other: Ambilight 
Price: £3535 for 52″ 

According to Insight Media‘s Ken Werner, Senior Analyst and Editor, the awesome LCD panel that goes into Philips‘ Cinema 21:9 is manufactured by Sharp. Sharp is producing the ultra-wide LCD panels (both 52″ and 56″) that sport a pixel format of 2560 x 1080 at its G8 TFT LCD fab at Kameyama Plant No. 2. As you may already know the Cinema 21:9 is a Europe-only model. The 21:9 aspect ratio LCD panel will most likely be Sharp’s high-end ASV (Advanced Super View); it sports an super-fast response time of just 1ms (GTG). A 200Hz frequency is implemented for motion-blur reduction. Although the economy is not doing as well as we would all hope there is probably a market for a high-end LCD TV like the Cinema 21:9. All the new slim LCD TVs with bumped-up specifications are great but they are still just like any other in that they are 16:9. If you want a real film-like experience at home the Cinema 21:9 is to get. If you’re in Europe.

Kodak OLED Wireless Photo Frame Specifications

OLED-Info: Do you want to be the only person on your street who can say you got one of the coolest OLED digital photo frames for absolutely nothing? Kodak‘s OLED Wireless Photo Frame is the only digital photo frame that makes use of an OLED display. And you can win one of these uber-expensive (about US$800) by doing one of three very simple things: One option is to follow OLED-Info on Twitter and tweet “Entering into the OLED-Info kodak OLED photo frame contest. To participate, follow @oledinfo and retweet this message”. Second is to blog about and finally you can also subscribe to OLED-Info’s RSS. Winner will be randomly picked. The last day to enter is April 28, 2009 so there’s plenty of time but don’t let this chance get away.

Here’s a video I took during CES 2009 with the product manager going over the features of the OLED Wireless Photo Frame (make sure to click on the HQ button to view the higher quality version):

DisplaySearch announced that LCD panel prices have increased during the first half of March with the exception of 37″ and larger LCD TV panels and 10.1″ netbook panels. Wide LCD monitor panel prices increased due to brands and OEMs restocking due to a shortage in the pipeline. Tight supply is also being experienced for smaller LCD TV panels due to an increase in demand from China. Some LCD manufacturers have begun increasing utilization rates but others are still reluctant. Increases are very small. Details after the jump. (more…)

The next evolution of the iPhone is due this June. What will it look like? Well, I wouldn’t be complaining if the next one looked like the one in the photo above. With the top margin squished I am assuming the LCD or OLED display can be a little bit bigger than the 3.5″ LCD that’s in the iPhone 3G. There has been rumors about an OLED iPhone and the ultra-thin profile is possible with the super-thin display technology. I don’t like the slightly thicker bezel on these fakes: they should be thinner. And again will allow for a slightly display–say a 3.7″ display with a 800 x 480 pixel format.

Source: Wired, Boing Boing

Samsung YP-Q2 Specifications

Display: 2.4″ TFT LCD
Pixel Format: 320 x 240 (landscape)
Storage: 8GB or 16GB
Connectivity: FM Radio
Battery: 50 hours (audio playback), 7 hours (video playback)
Weight: 2.04oz
Price: $99.99 (8GB), $129.99 (16GB)

Samsung‘s YP-Q2 is a media player sporting a 2.4″ TFT LCD with a 320 x 240 pixel format (landscape). It lasts for 50 hours for audio playback and 7 hours for video. The YP-Q2 sports a FM radio, FM recorder, voice recorder and a text viewer. The 16GB version for $129.99 sounds like a pretty good deal.

Source: BusinessWire, Engadget

DisplayBlog is written and produced by Jin Kim. Subscribe via RSS.