Megapixel Lenses

[jhonovich 0]

Hi Guys,

 

I just released a new article on megapixel lens that I think you might be interested in: http://ipvideomarket.info/report/the_importance_of_megapixel_cameras

 

Here's a summary of the key topics:

 

- Many systems designers are not used to evaluating lens details because lens quality was generally not a significant issue with standard definition cameras.

- Manufacturers now label their lenses "megapixel lenses" but generally do not disclose a quantitative measure of how 'megapixel' their lenses are

- Line Pair per millimeter (LP/MM) is a widely accepted quantitative measurement of the resolving power of a lens; however it is rarely disclosed

- Even with a given LP/MM, the performance of a megapixel camera still varies depending on the size of the camera's pixels

[Media 0]

thank you

 

I've always enjoy reading your articles

[Soundy 1]

Pretty good article... the only thing that I don't like about it is the term "megapixel lens" in general. It's a misleading, inaccurate, and inappropriate term that unfortunately has come into such common use that even the manufacturers are using it.

 

For one thing, it gives people the incorrect idea that lenses "have pixels"... kind of like in my car-audio days, when I'd regularly hear guys asking how many watts a sub "has", and assuming that speakers with higher wattage ratings would always "hit harder".

 

Second, it gives the idea that "regular" CCTV lenses simply will not work on megapixel cameras, which is also misleading and inaccurate. They may not be the idea choice, as your article details, but the myth needs to be dispelled that megapixel cameras REQUIRE "special" lenses.

 

Part of the problem with marketing terms like this, especially this early in the technology's development, is that it can be too-easily tossed about with no real numbers to back it up. Any manufacturer can claim their lens is a "megapixel lens" with little to back that claim up, and with no distinction whether it's suitable for 1MP, 3MP, 5MP or higher.

 

Sure, the good ones will include spec sheets with that data... but most won't, and most people won't know how to read it anyway, and you end up with issues like in this thread where people can't understand why they went for a higher-resolution camera (5MP in this case) when they can't see any improvement over a cheaper one (3MP)... I mean, it's a "megapixel lens", right?

 

Anyway, that's my rant... other than propagating a bad marketing term, it's a good article It goes hand-in-hand with my other rant, people who refer to megapixel cameras as "High Definition" or "HDTV" cameras, trying to cash in on THAT unrelated marketing term. Not only is a poor attempt to use an incorrect but popular buzzword, but it does the cameras a disservice, as anything over 2MP is far higher resolution than HDTV.