Camera Resolution and Printer DPI

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I purchased a SONY DSC-F1 with a 640 x 400 resolution. I am not looking at the most "economical" way to "convey" photos to individuals and family members. I found that VCR tape is a very inexpensive way to send photos -- most everyone has a VCR. Now I'm looking for an economical "hard copy" answer. So far, I have looked at HP's line of thermal ink-jet color printers. They show a print quality in color as PhotoREt 600 x 600 dpi at a cost of $0.09 per page.

First of all, what is the relationship significance between the camera resolution, again, 640 x 480 and the printers 600 x 600 dpi. Am I "short" on the first number and "long" on the second?? Is there a high quality, lower cost alternative?

Thanks ...

Jim Ristow jristow@ix.netcom.com

-- James A. Ristow (jristow@ix.netcom.com), May 02, 1998

Answers

James,

You are marginal for full page color prints from your proposed printer. 4x6 would be a better size. You will see some pixelation if you go much bigger than 4x6. Keep in mind that your image is only 640 pixels wide. Maximum resolution will be dependent on the screen size your printer uses. If it uses a screen size of say 100, than you need a resolution of 150% of that or 150 dpi. However, a 640 pixel image would then only go about 4+ inches (640/150 = 4.27 inches). If your printer uses a screen size of 85 (typical newspaper) than you need 85x150%=127. 640/127 = 5 inches I know this is confusing. Just remember your 640 pixels have to spread out to whatever size your image is. If you go 6 inches then you only have about 100 pixels every inch. Stick with 4x6 inch images or smaller and you will be fine. Steve

-- Steve Bingham (sbingham@netzone.com), May 04, 1998.


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