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To: Craig Freeman who wrote (1952)	12/4/1997 9:58:00 PM
From: Mike Winn	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 60323

Craig, I disagree with you. I think the limitation in resolution in the dig cam has to do with the encoding speed of the chip inside the camera. The pixel data that the camera collects has to be encoded in MPEG (or JPEG ???) format and it may take a long time. If you can afford to spend a couple of minutes between pictures, then the dig cam can be designed to produce all the resolution you want. I don't have the link with me right now but NEC is working on a chip to speed up processing time in dig cam, dig phone, DVD, etc. In the future, you will see better chips for the dig cam and resolution will improved. Plus you need more storage to store all those pixels. For more readings on the subject of MPEG encoding, see: exchange2000.com exchange2000.com Mike.

To: Craig Freeman who wrote (1952)	12/5/1997 11:28:00 AM
From: Michael Dunn	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 60323

OFF TOPIC <<Specialty films used by the Feds can resolve items the size of a dime from satellite altitudes.>> FYI-the ability of the US govn't to image something the size of a dime from a satellite is IMO an urban myth. Resolution from space is limited by satellite optics, detector size, and several other parameters. They would use a CCD to image in the visible spectrum. Assuming an orbit at 400km with a satellite imaging in the middle of the visible spectrum at ~500 nanometers, with a dime being ~1.5 cm in size it would take an optic ~16.5 meters in diameter to resolve a dime. There are no launch vehicles that can carry this optic up in one piece (The shuttle is way to small). IMO the government needs ideal conditions and systems just to image a person from space. Now with a U2 flying at 20 km...... ;) Mike