Olympus i-SPEED 2, Instructions Manual

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Understanding ispeed
85
i
--SPEED LT,
i
--SPEED 2
Chapter 8 Understanding the
Olympus i- SPEED LT &
i- SPEED 2
The Olympus
i
-- SPEED LT,
i
-- SPEED 2 has been designed with ease of
use in mind and all the functions of the camera are accessed via clear and
descriptive menus. Every effort has been made to ensure that the menus
are intuitive.
High speed video however, is a complex subject in itself and several of the
functions of the Olympus
i
-- SPEED LT,
i
-- SPEED 2 are necessarily
complex. Reading the following section will provide the user with sufficient
knowledge of these areas to begin to understand the menus themselves.
A detailed description of the menus is given earlier.
`
Speed, Resolution, Record Time, Economy Modes
In order for the Olympus
i
-- SPEED LT,
i
-- SPEED 2 to capture
frames of video at high speeds, a specialised sensor is used. In
spite of this, there is a limit to the number of pixels the sensor can
process per second, and this sets a limit on the frame speed of
1,000 frames per second (fps).
If faster operation is required, the number of pixels per frame must
be reduced, and this is accomplished by reducing the active area of
the sensor. This function is called windowing and can increase the
maximum frame speed of the Olympus
i
-- SPEED LT,
i
-- SPEED 2 to
33,000fps. The on--board zoom engine is used to automatically
compensate for the reduction in image size.
The camera contains electronic memory to hold the video images
as they are captured and this has a specific size, which is
dependent on the model chosen. The memory is therefore capable
of holding a fixed number of full resolution images and there is a
clearly defined maximum recording time at 1,000fps.
If the frame rate is reduced below 1,000fps, the available record
time will increase because the images are arriving less frequently.
If the frame rate is increased above 1,000fps, the available record
time will not change much because, although the images are
arriving more often, the image size is reduced and the two effects
tend to offset each other.