Germanium Transistors
What Can Save Us From Digital Camera Shutter Delay?
Bob pushed the shutter release button and…NOTHING HAPPENED. The football passed into his son’s hands and the actual photo he took was one of a cheerleader’s pom-pom. Bob missed the touchdown too. He resisted an insane urge to slam the camera to the ground and jump on it.
This was his first digital camera, and Bob had just experienced an unpleasant surprise. He had used film cameras all his life, but when his Yashica went into the shop a friend loaned him a digital camera. He naively decided to take some action shots and discovered the most maddening “feature” of digital cameras – the shutter delay.
MADDENING AND FRUSTRATING
Articles on this subject have attributed shutter delay to:
1. The camera’s focus system
2. The time it takes the camera to digitally process the image
3. Reaction time of the photographer
Numbers one and three are lag times that most people using digital cameras are accustomed to. Most have used a film camera and know it needs a few milliseconds to focus.
The no-brainer solution is to reduce the aperture of the lens to increase depth of field, or aim the camera at the object you wish to be in focus and depress the shutter button half way in order to “tell” the camera what to focus on, then move the camera to center the image and depress it the rest of the way.
As far as human reaction time, well, it hasn’t really changed much for users of film cameras, and people experienced in taking action shots usually get what they want.
So let’s look at number 2, the time it takes to process the picture.
TIME TO DO THE PROCESSING
Processing the picture (so the camera can be ready for the next one) comes in several steps to move it from the image sensor to flash card storage:
1. Color corrections. The camera has to examine each and every Charge Couple Device (CCD) element on the photo sensor. It adds green, blue, and red to achieve the right color balance. For a 3 mega pixel camera, the processor has to make 9 million calculations.
2. Sharpening. This boosts the contrast by detecting and sharpening edges.
3. Compression. This process converts the 12 to 14 bits of each CCD sensor to 16 bits by “padding” the information and compressing it to 8 bits. This compresses the file size to 9 megabytes.
These steps require a tremendous amount of computational time. No wonder Bob missed his shot!
CATCHING THE ACTION
There are two ways of capturing action:
1. The “consecutive mode”. If the camera has this mode, you can take a series of rapid shots moving through the event. This requires a camera with a large ‘buffer” to hold photos for processing.
2. Anticipating shots by depressing and holding down the shutter release prior to the event. This requires an ability to predict the future, something most of us don’t possess.
THE FUTURE OF FASTER SHOOTING
Obviously this would all be simplified if micro processing were faster. Even with large buffers, the speed in which data is transmitted to the processor is prohibited by the rate at which data is conveyed from the CCD. Micro processing speed is the next bottleneck.
Faster clock rates and Data Transfer speeds would reduce or even eliminate “shutter lag” time. There are several technologies in the wings that offer hope:
1. Nanotube and nanowire technologies. These are both the offspring of “nanotechnology”, the ability to make tiny machines at the “nano” level, a billionth of a meter in size rather than a millionth of a meter (micrometer) and offer hope for a 500 GHz clock rate or more.
2. DNA Yes, you heard me right. Computing based on DNA strands in which information is stored and processed.
3. Other materials
• Gallium Arsenide with much a faster speed has been used for years for military purposes.
• Silicon-Germanium chips increase the transfer of light signals to silicon. These traditionally have worked best at ultra cold temperatures, but many computer simulations have shown that they may be made to approach 1000 GHz (1 THz) at room temperature.
• Indium-antimonide. Much faster than silicon
•Optical transistors. A glass material known as chalcogenide becomes a switch as its refracting properties are changed. No need to translate those photons into anything else.
• Coated Viruses. The latest research involves coating viruses with a conducting material. Much higher speeds at the molecular level can be obtained. This will give a new meaning to the term “computer virus”.
4. Parallel Processing. As we’ve noticed lately with the war between Intel and AMD over the number of parallel processors crammed into a CPU, digital camera processing would benefit from parallel processors handling the focussing, sharpening and squeezing.
5. Improvement in instructional efficiency by reducing the lines of code would make the whole process more efficient.
HOLD ON AND WAIT FOR THE FUTURE
The REAL solution to this maddening shutter delay appears to be in the material the processor is constructed of, as well as advancements in the software.
But we’ve got awhile to wait for it. Although a few alternate materials have been around for awhile, everything else is still in the research and development phase. Even when it finally trickles out of the labs, it will probably make your future digital camera cost around $10000 – $15000.
Quite a price tag for the ability to take pictures as fast as a film camera! Still…
Except for the lag, the digital camera has it all over film cameras, once the photo is captured by the memory card. The new technology will be worth the wait.
Digital camera owners are known for their ability to wait…as they desperately punch the shutter release trying to grab the fleeting smile of their new baby, or the football that lands in his hands eighteen years later, when he scores the winning touchdown.
About the Author
Visit the Facts About Muscles website to learn about calf muscle pain and rhomboid muscle pain
.
Range Master Style DIY Treble Booster Germanium Transistor.
|
|
TRANSISTOR GERMANIUM * P/N JAN2N404 / 2N404J / 2N404 $800.00 |
|
|
NOS AC128 Germanium PNP Transistor For Fuzz Pedal ,Very Rare!! X 100pcs $499.99 |
|
|
MP39B Germanium PNP Transistors Low Noise (USSR – 1990) QTY=1000 $275.00 |
|
|
Fulltone SOUL-BENDER Germanium NKT275 Metal Can Transistor’sTONE-BENDER CLONE !! $270.00 |
|
|
Tone Bender MK1 Clone (Mullard OC 76 Germanium Transistor) $225.00 |
|
|
Analog Man Sun Face Fuzzface pedal – TI (UK) Germanium Transistors + Sundial $189.99 |
|
|
Wild Man Ge32 Fuzz #6 – Distortion – Overdrive Pedal – Germanium Transistor* $158.37 |
|
|
SALE!!! MP25B Russian Germanium Transistors PNP, 1000pcs $150.00 |
|
|
Vintage Germanium GEC / Mullard Transistors Maxx Face Fuzz #531 $179.00 |
|
|
Silicon-germanium Heterojunction Bipolar Transistors NE $169.23 |
|
|
15 pcs. OC GERMANIUM Transistor set MULLARD ( OC44 , OC75 , OC83 etc. ) $149.99 |
|
|
Roger Mayer Page-1 CLONE ♫♫ Hand-Built Fuzz ♫♫ Premium Germanium Transistors ♫♫ $145.00 |
|
|
Silicon-Germanium Heterojunction Bipolar Transistors, John D. Cressler, Book $150.01 |
|
|
HBE Homebrew Electronics Germania Trebele Booster Germanium Transistor NOS USA $120.00 |
|
|
1T321D Russian PNP Germanium Transistors NOS Lot of 184 $104.00 |
|
|
1T403E Russian PNP Germanium Transistors NOS Lot of 100 $103.00 |
|
|
1T321B Russian PNP Germanium Transistors NOS Lot of 145 $99.00 |
|
|
Lot of 19 RCA 2N218 Germanium Transistors NOS Vintage $99.99 |
|
|
★★25 x OC81D GERMANIUM Transistor ★★tested★★NEW $89.99 |
|
|
2N2156 – PNP Germanium (ge) Transistor (LOT of  $100.00 |
|
|
1T403V Russian PNP Germanium Transistors NOS, Lot of 90 $92.00 |
|
|
1T321G Russian PNP Germanium Transistors NOS Lot of 170 $92.00 |
|
|
10x TESTED* SIEMENS GERMANY ACY25 Germanium Transistors Ge $79.99 |
|
|
10x TESTED* SIEMENS GERMANY AC152 Germanium Transistors Ge $75.99 |
|
|
10x TESTED* SFT307 BLACK / Gold Pins Germanium Transistors / GT2307 $69.99 |
|
|
EXTREMLY RARE 12M1 Germanium PNP Solid Gold Transistor $69.99 |
|
|
150x AC125z TUNGSRAM PNP Germanium Transistor / AC125 $67.99 |
|
|
20x AF200U TUNGSRAM Germanium TRANSISTORS Ge AF200 $59.99 |
|
|
150x AC125z TUNGSRAM PNP Germanium Transistor / AC125 $54.99 |
|
|
50 x GERMANIUM Transistor MP39B + NIB + vintage ~ OC70 $39.95 |
|
|
10 pcs of Vintage Mullard OC76 / OC 76 Transistors, Germanium Transistor $59.00 |
|
|
One (1) NOS Motorola HEP G6006 Germanium PNP Power Transistor $53.50 |
|
|
2N2153 – PNP Germanium (ge) Transistor – LOT OF 3 $55.00 |
|
|
Range Master (Germanium PNP Transistor) $45.00 |
|
|
GE JAN2N1304 NPN GERMANIUM TRANSISTOR TO-5 25V 0.3A NEW $49.90 |
|
|
10x TESTED* T358 Gold pin BLACK Germanium Transistors Ge PNP $49.99 |
|
|
NOS AC128 Germanium PNP Transistor For Fuzz Pedal ,Very Rare!! X 10pcs $54.99 |
|
|
GE-2 GERMANIUM TRANSISTOR Vintage PACKAGED RARE! $49.95 |
|
|
RARE Early MULLARD 2N115 / OC16 Collectable Germanium AF Power Amp Transistor $49.95 |
|
|
Lot of 32 Toshiba 2SA466 Germanium Transistors NOS Japan Made Originals $49.99 |
|
|
Lot of 5 RCA 2N217 Transistors 1960s Germanium NOS NIB Vintage Originals $49.99 |
|
|
Philco 2N128 Germanium Bullet Transistor NOS 5845 Date Code $49.99 |
|
|
10x TESTED* TUNGSRAM AC126 Germanium Transistors Ge $49.99 |
|
|
MN16b–PNP–Hfe 50-85–GERMANIUM–LOT OF 50 $49.65 |
|
|
100 germanium transistors AC128 PNP NOS TUNGSRAM $43.00 |
|
|
MP39B Germanium PNP Transistors Low Noise (USSR – 1990) QTY=100 $34.99 |
|
|
MP41A USSR P-N-P Germanium Transistors NOS, Lot of 200 $39.95 |
|
|
TI 2N1307 PNP Small Signal Germanium Transistor, TO-5 pkg, 20 pcs, NOS $39.95 |
|
|
GT313A Germanium PNP HF Transistors (USSR – 1980s) QTY=100 $36.00 |
|
|
GT313B Germanium PNP HF Transistors (USSR – 1980s) QTY=100 $36.00 |
|
|
GT313V Germanium PNP HF Transistors (USSR – 1980s) QTY=100 $36.00 |
|
|
1T321B Russian PNP Germanium Transistors NOS Lot of 50 $38.00 |
|
|
10x MATCHED SFT352 Germanium PNP Transistors BLACK Gold $44.99 |
|
|
10x TESTED* SIEMENS GERMANY AC121 Germanium Transistors Ge $44.99 |
|
|
(3) OC75 GERMANIUM Transistor MULLARD for Clone FUZZ $35.00 |
|
|
GT403 1T403 Vintage USSR Germanium Transistors Lot of 75 $30.00 |
|
|
GT313B Germanium PNP HF Transistor – RUSSIA. QTY=100 $36.00 |
|
|
MOTOROLA 2N441 Germanium PNP Power 15Amp 40V 50W NEW $37.50 |
|
|
DTG 2400 Germanium Power Transistor is Scarce and Rare $40.00 |
|
|
RCA 2N109 Germanium Alloy Junction PNP BJT Transistor $40.00 |