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Las Vegas (The show on NBC)

RitualOfTheTrout - Apr 19, 2004

		RitualOfTheTrout		Apr 19, 2004
			Has anyone here ever watched this show? IF you have you would have seen all of the amazing things they can do with video. Like zoom in on objects a mile away from the camera and it looks clear and you can see whats going on. Are these things really possible? Im not biig on all of that stuff. I just know when I zoom in or out on something on my PC it gets terribly distorted. Nothing nearly as usable as what they can do.

		it290		Apr 19, 2004
			When you say 'zoom in' do you mean they zoom in on the frame, or do you mean a camera zoom (using a zoom lens)?

		racketboy		Apr 20, 2004
			I haven't seen the effect, but here's some guesses: 1) A really expensive zoom lens -- WAY better than what you have 2) A mounted camera traveling down towards the target and then sped up. Could also merge a few pieces of such shots.

		Pearl Jammzz		Apr 20, 2004
			I am 99.9 percent sure it's hardware wise, not software, but ya never know....

		RitualOfTheTrout		Apr 20, 2004
			Well I guess I didint explain it very well.. Sometimes you see them do stuff like this on CSI also. Like they can take the tape from a bank ATM camera and zoom in on a certain part of it and they can see it perfectly. IE maybe read an inscription on the persons ring or necklace. In las vegas they used a security tape and zoomed in on a particular location to see what number a guy typed in on his cell phone. Maybe I explained it a bit better this time.. heh

		mtxblau		Apr 20, 2004
			A very high mm lens, that's for sure. Actually, somewhat recently, somebody took a picture of Bush falling off of a Segway. Secret Service got really antsy, since they figured the picture was taken nearby (there's an outpost where photographers can take pictures, and they can't get closer). Turns out it was a 10,000mm lens (could be wrong, but it was a ridiculous mm) with digital zoom and interpolation. Pretty clear considering it was from close to a mile away.

mal

Apr 20, 2004

	
	
		
		
			Originally posted by RitualOfTheTrout@Apr 21, 2004 @ 12:22 AM



 Well I guess I didint explain it very well.. Sometimes you see them do stuff like this on CSI also. Like they can take the tape from a bank ATM camera and zoom in on a certain part of it and they can see it perfectly. IE maybe read an inscription on the persons ring or necklace.



In las vegas they used a security tape and zoomed in on a particular location to see what number a guy typed in on his cell phone. 



Maybe I explained it a bit better this time.. heh

RitualOfTheTrout

Apr 20, 2004

		mal said:

If it's meant to be people using plain old security cameras to get these wonderfully enhanced pictures then it's probably bullshit.

They would be using very high quality camera gear (which the ATM camera wouldn't be) and possibly a fair bit of computer power as well.

[/quote]

Yeah thats more what I was getting at. I didnt think that there was some kind of magic filter you ran a clip of film through and get practically crystal clear zoom ins reguardless of the quality of the device used to intially capture the film.

		it290		Apr 20, 2004
			Ah okay, so it's a drama type show? It's probably pure bullshit then, like on X-files when they look at a security tape or something and go 'enhance. enhance. enhance.' to the computer guy. .. It's possible to get super detail with a high quality zoom lens, especially on film, but with video it's really not possible.

		racketboy		Apr 20, 2004
			'24' has done it a few times. In the first few episodes of this season they had some tech-related things that made you go "huh?

		Curtis		Apr 20, 2004
			It's not possible - not to that degree. There is no magic "enhance" button, although you can do some interesting things with edge detection. Let's say a guy is holding a credit card, and a security camera shoots it as he is handing it over to a guy in a shop (so the image is blurred as well). In CSI they'd freeze the frame, identify the credit card, cut it out, flip it around so that it is facing the right direction, hit the enhance button and presto - there is your CC number, name and signature. It's just not possible to do that - to say that it's an order of magnitude more advanced than what we can do would be an understatement. If the information isn't there, you can't enhance it to the point that it suddenly is.

		it290		Apr 20, 2004
			Heh heh, tell me about it. I work in a large format print shop, and you'd be amazed how often people bring in a 50k jpeg or something and want it printed at 36x48 or larger.

		joe81		Apr 21, 2004
			the real los vegas security cams are awsome watch a show about them they way better than the normal security cams and also probably better than airport cams.

		VertigoXX		Apr 21, 2004
			Monday's episode firmly revealed that they use software to do that. They brought in a security tape from somewhere else, taped a quarter mile away from a murder scene. Ed Deline says "Run that through that something filter I'm not suppossed to have," and presto, a perfect video of the crime. It's a fictional show, folks. Needless to say, they can throw in some sci-fi as far as the technology they have goes.

		Pearl Jammzz		Apr 21, 2004
			Even though it's fake, I think it's cool....I want one, haha.