[filmscanners] Re: 3 year wait

["" <doogle@doogle.com>]

> Besides the 4K vs 8K Film Recorder addressable resolution a very importand
> specification value is the spot size of the electron beam. The film recorder
> will give you 4K worth of dots but if the spot size of each dot is large you
> will get a lot of pixel "overlap" that will limit your resolution on film
> below the 4K or 8K level.

Yes, I have alluded to that here. Electron beam also often called "flying spot".
Crummy little recorders like the "4K" Poloroid Palette and similar smeared the 
pixels
so badly line by line that I doubt if they had 2K rez. Some of the "personal" 
models
even made by Lasergraphics (which does produce fine machines) were less than
maximal for the claimed specs too. Also, in last few years, there is a whole 
other area
of film recorder capability, generally referred to as "extended density range" 
and
similar, where the gizmos (tech term) really DO render photo images MUCH better 
in
tonality than previously, besides pure pixel sharpness. I have a backup model 
(LFR
Mark III) that has EXACTLY the same specs as my main recorder (LFR Mark III DPM 
-
"digital photo model"), pixel rez wise. Vector files sent to either are 
identical, long as
they are using purely vector info: fonts, fills, vector clip art, etc. But send 
a 30MB TIFF
to each and the Digital Photo Model really shines while the other looks 
contrasty,
fewer nuances in skies, etc.

The general rule of thumb, not written in stone any more perhaps as I haven't 
kept up
with specs in several years but I'd say still pretty valid:
"if it costs under ten grand (new), you're probably not getting what they 
claim."
I used to say $15K, but even film recorders have come down in price, just not as
drastically as more mainstream devices that "everyone" needs, ie printers, 
scanners,
digicams...

Mac


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