Conflow

Choice of DVD Burner Hi Bob, I would like to refer you to the subject thread...DVD vs CD Storage..just above your Posting. You will pick up some tips within that discussion...... At the current stage of 'Burner Technology' it would not be advisable to 'Store/Backup' your System Programs on DVD because retrieving them takes for ever and other extenuating factors come into play.... I don't have time to go into all here. When choosing a 'DVD-Burner' make sure it has it's own 'Cache Memory' built into it - many don't - and that omission can cause untold 'spurious problems' with your PC.Memory Management System and your Burner Software. At least 2 to 4 megabytes of in-built 'Cache Memory' should suffice - Rule of Thumb, the more the better ! NEC 3500 Burner Released in August 2004. Price 42 Pounds Sterling. A lot is claimed for this Burner and it has 2mB of 'In-built Cache Memory'. Its claimed that it write DVD at 16X Speed and Dual Layer DVD at 4X. It can write to CD's at 24X and Read them at 48X but no details are given about the stability of the Drive Mechanism ?. That concerns me because to write to a DVD at 16X requires extreme 'speed stability' usually only found in 'Burners' costing +100 Sterling. A proven competitor to this Burner would be the 'AOpen Model DRW 4410' which has a lotgoing for it - including 'Just Link' Technology and a special 'Anti-Vibration Drive' all for 70 Pounds. Might be worth reading the Reviews ?? Brian.Conflow.

To: Marcovelo & LumenLux Marko, Many thanks for the kind wishes, I shall pass them on to Greg and of course I shall get back to you with Photo's & Performance details on the 'Flash Image Storage System'. I had not realised that Aconcagua was factually in Argentina - I shall have to re-draw the Border on my Atlas as it clearly shows the Mountain in Chile , AAhh well even Printers make mistakes ! Lumenlux I hope the details were of some use to you, I had forgot to mention that 'AOpen' make a 56X Speed CD-Writer - its about the same price as the 'Consumer Flash Storage Unit' - Speaking for myself I have 2 Burners on my PC and use 'Nero 6'. I got caught out last year when the Laser on my old burner failed - did I curse,not because it failed, but because it's a terrible job installing and setting-up a New CD-Burner and getting it running correctly. In your case I would suggest the purchase of a 'Stand-by Burner' for the reason that it really gets 'punished' (and overworked) in the process of burning Images - it never gets a chance to cool down when processing really large Image Files such as yours. Cheers, Brian.Conflow.

Hi Tony, In connection with the 'Windows Media Player' and 'Surround Sound'. The Win Media Player does not use 'Dolby Pro-Logic' (a question of Licence) - it uses a 'WMA Digital Phase-Filtering System' some what like Akai, Nivico and Pioneer used many years ago although their Systems at that time were Analogue Audio producing a 'life-like' Surround Effect. Not all 'Win Media Players' produce 'clone' Surround Sound - it depends on the version installed on the PC. and whether your 'Sound Card' will support the WMA S.S Signals. One must not forget that there are many 'Surround Sound Systems' but most Computer Manufacturers and their associated 'Card Manufacturers' comply with PC.Industrial Standards so that all Hardware & Software is cross-compatible (otherwise chaos) and in order to support '98se' - 'XP - 2000 Operating Systems there has to be Standards - one of those is the WMA.S.S.Standard which is used in later versions of Windows Media Player but it requires a compatible Sound Card and is by now a 'de facto Industrial Standard'. There are some 'Custom PC's out there that incorporate a 'Dolby S.S.Sound Card' and its associated Software and do the genuine job - they are "Application Specific' - expensive and are usually deployed in the Professional Audio Industry at the top end. Brian.Conflow.

Solid-State Flash Memory Hi LumenLux, Yes there is an alternative to 'CD-Mass Image Storage Systems' -Its a new Technology used on Locomotives and Aircraft to record 'On-Route Data' some what like the ubiquitous 'Black Box' used on Aircraft but infinitely faster and more powerful. Its called "Solid State Flash Memory" - not to be confused with 'Flash Memory Disc Systems' such as the 'Multi-Disc Raid System' The new 'SSFM Device' comes in 2 User formats:- 'Consumer Stand-Alone Package' and the'Industrial Plug-In Package' used in Trains & Aircraft. There is a choice of Solid State Memory capacities from 4Gb - 13Gb - 60Gb. Access Time:-80mS. Temp Range: -40°C to +85°C Guarantee: 8 Years. Unfortunately they are type identified as would be for the mechanical Flash Drives,viz:- 1.8" ~ 2.5" ~ 3.5" XXXX The Consumer Type Price Type:- 250 Euro. Operates on 2 x AA Cells. Non-Volatile Memory. Colour LCD Screen and USB-2 Communications to Camera & Computer. (Cheaper than a Digital Camera). The Industrial Type Plugs straight into the 40 Pin IDE Parallel Port on your PC. Some versions are powered directly from the USB Port - others have a small external 5vDC Supply. As I write this,my son Greg is going up Aconcagua Mountain in Chile with a 13Gb device which will download a (Weatherproof) Sony Digital Camera on a daily basis. So in fact we are in the process of evaluating one of the Consumer device. I dont have the details here so I shall getback to you in a few days when I make contact with them. Data on the 'Industrial Plug-In Types' can be had from www.memtech.com and may I suggest you contact them to find if they are suitable for your usage - I see no reason why not ? In relation to DVD-Drives Most of these 'Record' at 4X Speed - 'ReWrite' at 2x and 'Play' at 12x. Considering the Software limitations for 'Image Storage' - they really are slow. Compared to a Standard CD-Drive Records at 16X - 'ReWrites at 10X and 'Plays at 32X. Compared to a CD-AOpen Drive with Just-Link (which we use) 'Records' at up to 52X - 'ReWrites' at 32X and 'Plays' at 52X. This may be of use to you, contact www.aopen.com for further Data. I hope this provides some help as to your 'Mass Image Storage' problems. Brian.Conflow.

Hi Al, Sure, I agree with the point you made, provided you are using a Computer to replay the recorded DVD Images directly from the Disc - but you will have to wait for your Images. LumenLux wanted to archive ...Thousands of Photo Images to DVD....Not the completed Shows ! My point was simply this:- If you use any of the DVD TV.Formats (Pal or NTSC Standard) irrespective whether its a "still image or not" it still creates 25 Frame Copies of the origional JPeg on to the DVD-Disc otherwise the TV.Set simply can't work- If you use other 'System Image Software' akin to MP2 etc; you still need to use the 'DVD Burner Software' to get your Images on to the DVD. That poses another problem because DVD Discs require special 'Formatting' usually provided by a compatible Program to the 'DVD Burner Software' which tends to be "biased" towards Video Reproduction or Streaming Reproduction and where 'Single Images' are processed with difficulty. This is a totally different animal compared to a simple Write-Read CD and its 'Burning Software'- The consequence of this is 'Long Access Times' when the PC is trying to read 'Single Images'with DVD Software (not suited for this job) - which is further aggrevated by the sheer Data capacity size of the DVD itself, from 4-8Gb. I also made the point that we at Conflow and BSL Ltd. ditched this DVD "Archival Photo Library Method" because no matter which System we used the resultant 'access time' was prohibitive because the DVD is a 4-8Gb Mechanical device being read by VideoSoftware no matter what way that's dressed up ! The more effective and elegant solution is to use 'Compact Flash Cards' which are more reliable and provide virtually 'instantaneous' access with a 'USB-2 Interface'. These Cards are now available up to 4 GigByte Capacity with 10Gb just around the corner (I did predict some time ago that the "Bell" is already ringing for the demise of the CD). For instance a 512mB Card when used to reproduce 10"x8" Photos (1600x1200 Res) canhold 980 to 1864 JPeg images - which means that you can have Multiple Libraries on one card. Now the 4Gb Card has 8 times that capacity. It makes one think...... I sincerely hope that this discourse between Al and I has not confused other Readers, but I for one don't know of any Software capable of 'parking' hundreds of Images on a DVD and then offering 'Fast Access Retrieval' of selected Images ??? If our Readers have anything like that...dare we ask ?...let us know about it ? Brian.Conflow.

Surround Sound Kurt, I absolutely agree with your explaination - indeed it is difficult for people to understand that 5:1 Audio or Surround Sound is actually a 'Digitised Instruction Set' implanted into the origional Music CD-Disc as well as the Stereo Music Tracks. In most circumstances the CD will play 'Normal Stereo' on normal Stereo Equipment. However if that CD is played on specialised equipment with 'Surround Sound Decoding' then of course you get the 'Surround Sound Effect' (provided all Speakers are active). When you use the "Audacity Sound Editor" - it simply import the 'Stereo Sound Tracks' and ignores the 'Digitised Instruction Set' - because its not equipped with the appropriate Decoders - There are various types of 'Surround Sound Decoder Systems' adding to the confusion. When you have finished with your 'Sound Editing' and export your sound-track as an MP3 File (courtesy of an imported Lame-3 Encoder) all the 'Digitised Instructions' are abandoned so the resultant File is simply an MP3 Stereo Track. Brian.Conflow.

Hi Guys, We also tried DVD Data & Image Storage both here at Conflow and at BSL.Ireland and found it to be impractical for the following reason:- If you select 1 x JPeg Image and convert this to a DVD-Image System (PAL Europe Standard) - In fact what you are doing is making 25 Images of the origional JPeg because the TV.System requires 25 Frames/per/Sec to operate and a further 25 Interlaced Frames derived from the origional 25 Frame set. This has to do with Screen phosphur persistence etc; The TV.System generates 'apparent motion' because each of the 25 Frames are different. However the PTE JPeg Image is a 'static image' - none the less, 25 Frames must be made of that image for the TV.Scanning System to work. I won't go into 625 Line TV.Technology so the above explaination is very much simplefied so you can understand the principles involved. (There is much more to it than that) Hope this helps - Brian.Conflow.

STEVE- KEFFS Steve, you have "Photo-Copied" text from my 'Post' to the Forum and if I am to understand you correctly- (By your own interpretation of a definition)...you have infringed my Copyright...so where do you stand ? Furthermore,you have taken an excerpt of my 'Text' totally out of its context matter and used it for your own purposes to create a ~'public implied accusation'~ that I condone Copyright 'rip off'...... It's quite evident that you don't know anything about 'International Copyright Law' and may I suggest that you read up on 'How to Copyright Literary & Media Materials' before you imply any further accusations. As to 'Photo-Copying' - 'Photo-Copiers' are available from Rank-Xerox, IBM, Toshiba etc...The list is endless. This 'illegal' activity (according to you) is practiced by every Government Department and Law Firms and every Business world-wide....Like it or not 'Photo-Copying' is here to stay. I would like to make it quite clear to you that nobody on this Forum condones 'Media Rip-Off' - If anything, there is a very deep mutual trust and pride among the Forum Members when they freely exchange Media both for exposition and 'self-help' purposes when using the PTE Program in all its varied applications. Granot, about your 'Screen Capture Utility' - yes I would like to say ' Granot well done'. Once again many of us are in your debt for such a useful program and all the other Programs which you have published "Free Gratis" for use by Forum Members.... I for one would like to say Thank You... Brian.Conflow.

Screen & Print Capture I use 'Screen Print 32' which has the following operational modes:- * Capture Pre-Defined Area * Capture Active Window * Capture Full Desktop * Manual Print any Capture Screen * Auto-Print any capture Screen * Image-Fax any Capture Screen * Single Button Operation * Save As... any Capture Screen..JPeg,Gif,Tiff,BMP,Template etc,etc; I use the utility to make Tutorials, Splash Screens, Attachments and for virtually everything else when I need a 'Visual Editor Importer' or a 'Direct Capture' to EMail or Web or Printer utility. Its faster that Paint, Powerpoint, or any other "Photo-Copy Program" Anyway whats wrong with 'Photo-Copying' its done a trillion times a day Worldwide ! Brian.Conflow.

Jeanie & Roger, My comment to Jeanie was:- By the way, are you using the 'PTE Synchronisation Mode' prior to burning your CD ?... Roger are you looking for a clarification to the above ?... Well if you wish to keep your Show synchronised to the Music Time line you must use the 'PTE Synchronising Mode' * Open your PTE Program and on the bottom of the Main Page select 'Project Options' * In the New Window about ½ way down find a small radio Screen named "Synchronise Slide Show to Music duration"..Tick that...under this is a larger button...Custom Synchronisation. Selecting that opens the complete 'PTE Synchro System. This function has been explained many,many time before on this Forum. Jeanie, the point being - if you do not 'Synchronise your Show' before making your Exe. this prior to burning your CD - that CD will not work properly on other PC's Brian.Conflow.

Hi Jeannie, Loading your 'Lame Encoder'- very simple, Find your 'Audacity Folder'-->Put a 'Shortcut' of it on your Desktop. Now 'drag' the Encoder into the 'Audacity Shortcut' with the LH.Mouse Key. held down-->let go, thats it. Now 'Close down' your PC and Re-Start it from cold. By the way, are you using the 'PTE Synchronisation Mode' prior to burning your CD ?? If not, thats more than likely to be your problem - its so simple to overlook ! Brian.Conflow.

Hi All, Recently I have noticed a few enquiries about "Stamping Date & Time on Images" The following small 'Free Utility' does exactly that - You have choices of Font Size - Colour - Position. Inserting the 'default date' or a 'date-time' to your own format. Will do 'Single Image files' or 'Multiple Image'. The utility works on all OP.Systems and is quite small 164kB- Available from:- ZD-Net Downloads www.zdnet.com Select downloads and type in the 'Search Window'...Photo Dater 1.2.. Well worth a spin, Brian.Conflow.

Hi Beth, I'm very surprised you did not contact me about that 'Flicker' problem as it was very evident in the 'CD-Presentation' you sent me - and the fact that we had just cleaned up the PC. As regards 'XoftSpy' and 'Error-Nuker' and 'Free Surfer' (and to all who use these facilities) THESE PROGRAMS DO NOT RUN IN THE BACKGROUND - The first 2 are manually involked by the 'User' and 'Free-Surfer' is only active whilst the 'Browser is Active'. However, if you have the 'Norton Main Scan Program' active during a PTE.Exe Creation or during a 'CD-Burn' session, I have found that 'Norton' will interfer with these process's and is more evident with smaller RAM Memory sizes. Go to the RH.Bottom Taskbar, RH.Clk on Norton and select disable. This does not interfer with the EMail 'Auto-Protect' part's of Norton. Furthermore, you might try 'shutting down' other large Programs which you you (may) have on your 'Start Menu' and only used occasionally. They can still be started from your 'Program Folder' if and when needed. Brian.Conflow.

Dana, I completely agree with you as far as 'personal use' is concerned and I further agree with your comment's about the 'latent' motivations of large Corporations particularily in the U.S.A. Its purely 'profiteering protection' on a grand scale under the guise of Artists & Shareholder interests protection. We all know which sections of the Community wield absolute power and control in the Communications, Music and Multi-Media Industries.Perhaps enough said for the time being. I can see a time in the not too distant future when this 'stranglehold' will be challenged and broken on the back of 'Human Rights'. Greed is a terrible thing, but its also self-destructive when it interfers with common 'Citizens Rights' and hopefully Democracy will sort out that patrticular 'Public Consumer' abuse in time. The European E.C is already moving in that direction. Those future changes will encourage 'Talent' and genuinely protect the 'Artist' and the 'Media Creator' alike and offer a 'Fair deal' to the paying Public. That day is long overdue ! Glad to be of help - Brian.Conflow.

Danbw, COPYRIGHT MATERIALS With respect, I think you missed the point I made - Its nothing to do with the MP3 Format -Its simply to do with the fact that persons are "Copying Copyright Materials" - its that simple. If you and your Son made a "Recording"...Its considered Copyrighted, because you are the origional Authors irrespective whether you claim Copyright or not. Whats to prevent you guys from claiming Copyright in the future ? - The Court would uphold your claim provided you can show proof of 'Origional Authorship'. The Case:- Gilbert & O'Sullivan -v- D'Oyle Carte Opera Company is a historic classic in that respect. Copyright & Reproduction is nothing new, if anything the Laws have been made more robust. We have all done this some time or other. Because we bought the CD or the LP or Record and because of that purchase - We feel that we have the right to consequential usage,we don't. Like 'Shareware' or 'Proprietory Software' we simply have the right to enjoy the "Data Content" - we certainly don't have the right to "Re-Record or Copy or Reproduce" that data even for domestic usage. Normally the Law turns a blind eye to such activities, but from time to time the Law makes examples of certain lawbreakers and others particularily when things get out of hand. What you and I are doing is 'Restoring Historic Records' for personal usage and there is nothing wrong in it. But technically we dont have an 'automatic-right' to do that - An Analogy:- Go out and buy a 'Best Selling Novel' - now Copy it and show the Copy around the neighbourhood. You are well aware what will happen next. Purchased Recordings are no different....The same Laws are enforced. * Most of us on the Forum are aware of those facts and generally conform to the 'status-quo'. * Someday you may release a Licenced Compendium of those re-constructed 'Old Records' on CD - * Whats to stop others copying that ? - Now you can appreciate the other side of the Coin. Best Regards Brian.Conflow.

WEBATTACK & SNAPFILES Danabw Webattack is Snapfiles and Visa-Versa The URL Address:- www.webattack.com is correct - kindly look at your IE Address Window. The file you picked is also the correct one -'same Title as given to you', so you did find it - I have no control as to how people run their business, simply 'click on' Webattack ? on the top of the 'Snapfiles Window' for a full explaination. Not withstanding, the data given here is correct. Brian.Conflow.

MAKE YOUR OWN MP3 FOLIOS I have quite often seen requests on the Forum about "Naming & Making your own MP3 CD's" complete with Artist Name, Track No, and MP3 Tags. Available on www.webattack.com is a small 'Free Utility' which does exactly that task. Title:- "MP3 Tag Tools V1.2" It's quite a small File ~280kB and I find it very friendly and efficient. To find it you need to 'Click on' the tiny 'Freeware only' window after entering the search thread 'MP3 Labelling' in the main Search Window. Hope its useful, Brian.Conflow.

Hi again Danabw, If you contact 'Support@Magix.Com' you may be able to resolve the Download Folder issue. From my experience these types of 'Real-Time Interactive Programs' really need direct access to the Hard Drive - (somewhat like CD Burner Software) - reason being that they are always interactively 'Writing and Reading' to the HD in order to produce the desired end product. Thats not the same as 'Writing and Reading' to a secondary Folder in a Program Group. So you are an ADC man, damn good products. Irrespective of Catridge Maker its an Elliptical Stylus you want for the job in hand, as to manufacturers, well these products have really reached their Zenith and there is little difference in the top Manufacturers. If you want to go mad you could always invest in a 'Digital Laser Pick-Up Deck' - Expensive? Naming & Tagging of the "Cloned LP's" - I can't see Magix Corporation going down that road because what you are doing is essentially "Copying Copyright Materials" albeit for domestic usage. However the 'Mechanical Copyright Assoc' nor the 'Performing Rights Assoc' see it that way - Their stance is that you are "Copying Copyright Materials' - full stop ! and of course these days its a Federal offence - se la vie. As to my background, trained by Sony Corp, after which I set up the only 'HI-Fi Repair Shop' in Dublin (In those days). Then got involved in Audio Manufacturing, then Ultrasonic Instruments - Then Computerised Audio & Data Recording and then 'Digital Wireless Audio Systems'. Today we Manufacture specialised P.A Equipment for Irish Railways (On Train PA.Systems) Hope this explains the limitations imposed on Magix Corporation and other issues. Brian.Conflow.

Hi Danabw' I'm pleased you got 'Audio Cleaning Lab 2005' and in reply to a few points you mentioned:- Being a 'Mass Produced' Program it chooses the 'C-Drive as the Default Drive' - this is normal procedure for such a Program. A 'Work Around':- I have often done the following with Segmented and/or Dual drives. Create a Folder on the 'root tree' of the C-Drive, name it 'Folio-A' send a shortcut to Desktop. Create a Folder on the 'root tree' of the D-Drive, name it 'Folio-B' send a shortcut to Desktop. When 'Set-up' properly the Program will choose 'Folio-A' on C-Drive to download to. Its now a simple matter of 'dragging' its contents to 'Folio-B' and visa-versa through the Shortcuts on the Desktop - It makes for a very simple life. Tracknames-Artists-Mp3 Tags. These properties are 'generic' to origional Digital Music and are encoded in the 'Digital Music Tracks'. No such properties existed within LP Discs so its not possible to 'generate' these Titles automatically when 'converting' LP's to MP3's. Turntable & Catridge:- I dont know what Turntable you have, but in relation to the Catridge, I suggest a 'Variable-Reluctance' Stanton Catridge with Elliptical Stylus <---thats important. Before the arrival of the RIAA Phono Specs. LP groove geometry varied enormously as did 45's and old 78's. So you need a 'tool' that will do the best possible tracking job of those very old grooves and the newer Discs. The 'Elliptical Stylus' is the only answer to that dilema. I'm sure my Post is going to raise a 'howl' of protests from the 'Hi-Fi Purists' but then they are not doing the job you are doing, and after 40 years in this Business one gets to know what works and what doesn't - Best of Luck with your Project. Brian.Conflow. conflow@iol.ie

This 'problem' has been answered so many times that it should be pinned somewhere on the Forum. A remote PC loaded with the PTE Program can not open an imported pte*.File unless all the Images and Sounds are contained within the Copy File you are trying to open. Brian.Conflow.

Converting CD to MP3 Another Program is "Audio Crusher" from:- www.sysdeck.de Its been aound for a long time and its also very stable - many converters are not stable. The beauty about "Audio Crusher' is that you can:- Play, Pause, Select Tracks and Load and Eject CD all in "Real time" from within the Program. You can also use your Headphones. It works with ALL CD-Drives whether they are CD-Read, CD-Read/Write, CD-DVDRead or CD-DVD Read/Write You can "Rip" directly from the CD or from Loaded Files. Its also a "One Button" Ripping function. Hope this helps. Brian.Conflow.

LP's to Digital Conversion If you want a 'connection' from your "Pick-Up Deck, Hi-Fi System" straight into your PC Sound Card ---> You need a Stereo 5pin Din Plug to Stereo Mini-Jack Plug Cable. This will allow some Pre-Editing of the LP's in setting:- Volume,Balance,Tone, and Graphic Equaliser -plus- the use of Stereo Headphones which you will need when doing the conversions. The program we have used for the past year is "Audio-Cleaning Lab 2004" by Magix.Corp. $40 (approx) It eliminates Pops, Clicks, Hiss, Stylus Scratch, Hum & System noise -plus- It corrects Bad Dynamic Range, Over-Compression, Presence Effects, and can add Reverb and a whole range of corrections to "poorly produced" LP's particularily those rareties of the mid '50's. It is a big program, it takes a bit of getting used to, but well worth the effort -This Program needs large 'Memory' to work properly at least 128mB of 'Free-Memory' (thats absolute minimum) - even 256mB can be hard pushed if you want to do serious corrections. The 'Big Problem's' with old LP's is speed-stability, surface distortion, groove distortion all due to 40+ years of storage and not least the accumulation of air-bourne contaminates and worse that that is "poor dynamic range" (Min to Max Sound Levels) Hopes this gives an 'inkling' of whats ahead of you - you really need to want to do this. Brian.Conflow.

Great Job Igor & Team, I would like to add my congratulaions to all the others listed here - a really great job. The new 'Music Synch Feature' makes life so much easier - Time you guys had a Holiday, you have certainly earned one. Best Wishes. Brian.Conflow.

Ron and all who read my last Post Ron, I owe you an apology - when I read your Post and you mentioned 72 or 96 resolution. I took that up incorrectly. Because there was some confusion I assumed that you were alluding to Monitor Size and display rate where in fact you may have been refering to 'Pixels per Inch' of Photo Resolution. In that case you were perfectly correct - Indeed 72 Pixel/Inch for a Windows PC. and 98 Pixel/Inch for a Mac are the quoted figures - Whereas, the Monitors 'Frame Repetition Rate' is from 70Fps -100Fps (Frames per Sec). However that does not detract from a Monitors performance which is vastly superior to that of a Digital Camera, and the bigger the 'Camera Resolution' the better the image on Screen. OOOooopps, Sorry about that !! Brian.Conflow.

Hi Ronnie, Just got your EMail, I shall get around to a reply tomorrow- There's a little confusion in this 'thread' - you refered to the resolution of standard Monitors as 72 or 96 (you're not the only one confused by this) No,thats nothing to do with Resolution - its simply the "Refresh Rate" of the visual image per second on the Monitor,ie:- 72 FPS or 96FPS. Whereas a 625 Line TV is 25.FPS/Interlaced. The "Resolution" of a 16" PC.Monitor would be 1024 x 768 x 16.7million Pixels - its quite vast. In fact a 4.OMeg/Pixel Camera is 'Ludicrously puny' in resolution compared to the Monitor - Also the very best 'Digital Camera' will come nowhere near the resolution of a Good Monitor - In reality Al and Ken are quite correct in going for the best 'Camera Resolution' they can get. Don't forget when the 'Image' is downloaded it is in JPeg Format not Bitmap - so the Camera is already imposing a 10:1 compression on the 'Image' (due to storage space restrictions). So the greater the 'Camera resolution' the better the PC.Image will be - Now if you compare a 'Digital Camera' to a good 'SLR Film Camera'- there is no contest. The reason is very simple - Where Al and Ken would be restricted to 6-7 Meg.Pixel per Image the 'SLR Camera' would be running at TeraPixels per Image, because the Image is taken on Film at 'atomic particle level'. The only restrictions being Film Speed, Light, Lens, and f.Stop. That's not to denegrate the 'Digital Camera' - it has many use features - but for Hi-Quality printed Imagery the Film Camera can not be beaten - YET ! Brian.Conflow.