skyhound wrote:Sadly, this image is over processed and over magnified. Processing should never obscure detail that is present in the original image. If you look at the shaded region to the right of the darker area, which runs diagonally from the upper left to the lower right, and compare it to the same area in the raw image, it seems clear that detail has been lost. In the raw image this area appears as three smaller spots. The processing has merged them. Similarly, processing should never add detail that does not exist. They have also introduced banding along the edges of the planet, which I find quite annoying. In my opinion this is all made worse by the over magnification of the image, which allows the higher frequency processing artifacts to appear as detail that isn't actually there. For comparison, have a look at the smaller image in the icon for this thread (above). It looks so much better! I find that a magnification of 150% looks very good, and this can be pushed as far as 200%.
This is disappointing to me. Whomever is releasing these images to the public is not doing a proper job.
Oh, I don't know. I like the picture. It gives off a retro-1950s sci-fi movie vibe from back when special effects weren't so special, our science not so precise, and a sense of wonder more easily created. Okay - yes, this is the 21st Century and we should be beyond all that primitive photography and blah, blah, blah. I guess an umpteen giga-pixel shot with a resolution of 1 meter per pixel would've been "better" and more pleasing to the eye from a purely scientific point of view. But this picture reminds me of a day when we looked upon the universe and our own little part of it with wonder and awe and mystery.
Better photos will be forthcoming, I'm sure. But I like the nostalgia that this one engenders.
5 Million Miles from Pluto
