New Mavica Features - Sony Mavica MVC-FD85 Training Manual

New Mavica Features

Since the introduction of the Sony digital still camera in 1996, many fea-
tures were added to increase flexibility. Although the picture resolution is
not as high as 35mm film, digital still cameras offer many desirable fea-
tures. The Mavica user can take many pictures, share pictures on the
Internet, individually process the pictures, and display the pictures on a
TV. All these features have allowed the Sony Mavica still cameras to gain
worldwide acceptance.
The early consumer digital still cameras were limited in picture capacity
by an internal memory. This picture storage limitation was solved when a
replaceable floppy disc was used for picture storage and the Mavica be-
came very popular. The next step was a plug-in memory stick that in-
creased the camera's storage capacity. These floppy disc Mavica still
cameras make up the highest sales volume in the digital still camera lineup.
The current high-end Mavica stores the pictures on a high capacity writ-
able CD instead of a floppy. This high-end model is not covered in this
course.
Features
Some of the features that make the Sony
Flash Control
From the rear panel push button you can choose one of four options:
• Normal Flash - A single flash automatically turns ON to illuminate the
subject when the brightness is low.
• Red Eye Reduction - Strobes the flash, permitting the subject's iris to
partially close in time for the main picture flash. With the subject's iris
partially closed, the eyes' internal red sensor cones at the back of the
retina are not as evident to the camera. Red eye reduction is not fool-
proof depending upon the subject's angle to the camera and the size of
the subject's iris opening in response to the flash.
• Forced Flash - Normal flash comes on regardless of brightness.
• No Flash - Prevents a flash from surprising or annoying someone.

Mavica popular are:
3
Flash Intensity
You can choose the flash intensity from the menu. A low intensity just
illuminates the subject, leaving the background dark. A higher intensity
lights a larger, more distant background.
Steady Shot (MVC-FD95 model only)
No more blurred pictures when you move the camera as the capture but-
ton is pressed. This feature uses yaw and pitch movement sensors to
detect camera movement. If the camera is moved, adjacent pixels from
memory are chosen to keep the picture positioned as it was (within the
limits of the CCD imager).
Digital Zoom for Sizing the Picture
Optical zoom is accomplished by moving the front lens mechanically to-
ward the subject. After the front lens has reached its mechanical limit, the
electronic digital zoom section will expand the picture further, interpolat-
ing the active pixels and adding noise correction. Interpolating predicts
what brightness/color should be between the active (real) pixels so errors
are increased as the digital picture is pursued. If the digital zoom pro-
duces poor pictures, it can be inhibited from the user menu and the user
can use the optical zoom.
12 Bit A/D Converter for Picture Detail
In the Still or Movie mode, the camera's CCD imager outputs an analog
signal that represents the picture pixel by pixel. The A/D Converter (IC102)
that follows measures this analog pixel voltage and converts it into digital
words. In the old Mavica cameras, the digital words were 10
Converter will convert the pixel voltage to one of (2
Mavica cameras use a 12 bit converter. A 12 bit Converter will convert
the pixel voltage to one of (2
verter has four times the dynamic range as the 10 bit converters (4096 Vs
1024). The result is better picture detail, sharpness and clarity.
Still Picture Quality Selection
Before the picture is taken, the user can use the menu to select the stored
picture quality. If a higher quality picture is stored (larger image size),
less pictures can be stored:
10
=) 1024 levels. New
12 =) 4096 levels. Therefore a 12 bit Con-
bit. A 10 bit