HP Photosmart Digital Cameras Real life. Real technology. Real photos. August 2006

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The HP Real life and imaging technologies described in this guide are available in select HP cameras. Not all HP cameras include all technologies, and not all products and accessories are available in all regions.

The HP digital photography experience

This guide is intended to give you an overview of the technologies and features included in HP’s Photosmart digital cameras.

HP Photosmart digital cameras contain imaging tech-nologies and features unique to HP products. Many of the technologies discussed here are also available in other HP imaging products like HP Photosmart printers or HP Photosmart Premier imaging software.

New for 2006 you will see an increased focus on what you can do with your pictures after they are taken, but still on the camera. New features for 2006 include:

• HP design gallery, including the popular slimming effect

• HP in-camera red-eye removal—automatically re-move red-eyes as soon as you take the photo.

• HP steady photo—helps prevent blurry photos from camera or subject motion.

• Instant image advice—tells you as soon as you take the picture if the camera has suggestions for how you might improve it.

For more information about HP Photosmart cameras, visit www.hp.com.

For more information on HP Photosmart camera tech-nologies, visit the camera technology website at www.hp.com/go/cameratechnology

Table of Contents The HP digital photography experience ........ 2

HP Real Life technologies ............................. 3

HP design gallery........................................ 4

HP steady photo ......................................... 6

HP continuous focus .................................... 7

HP in-camera red-eye removal .................... 8

HP adaptive lighting technology................... 9

HP in-camera panorama ........................... 10

HP image advice....................................... 11

HP adaptive noise filter HP vignetting and shading correction ......... 12

HP automatic white balance....................... 13

HP adaptive demosaic............................... 14

HP adaptive tone map............................... 15

HP video print........................................... 16

HP precision lens system............................ 17

Image quality and battery life .................... 18

Shooting modes........................................ 19

HP camera line-up .................................... 21

New or updated for 2006.

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HP Real Life technologies

HP Real Life technologies take much of the guesswork out of digital photography—from capture to print. They make it easy to produce great photos that are crisp, realistic and true-to-life. These technologies have been pioneered by HP and are included in HP Photosmart digital cam-eras, printers and software.

Some HP Real Life technologies operate behind the scenes—inside your camera or printer, making the pho-tos better without you having to worry yourself about them. Others put the power of HP imaging in your hands—right in the camera.

In addition to HP Real Life technologies, HP Photosmart cameras also include other features that enhance the photography experience.

This guide provides an introduction to both HP Real Life technologies, the underlying power of HP Photosmart digital cameras, and other new and innovative features.

Panorama image stitched in an HP R927 camera then stylized using the design gallery solarize effect.

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HP design gallery– New for 2006 Creativity comes alive in your HP Photosmart camera

Spend time on the back of the camera With the advent of large, bright, colorful displays on HP Photosmart digital cam-eras, a whole new universe of exciting possibilities becomes reality.

The HP Photosmart R927 and R967 cam-eras have a huge 3” (7.62 cm) display and bring a new adventure to the camera. Combine the display with HP design gal-lery and creativity starts on the camera.

What is HP design gallery?

HP design gallery is an exciting new way to use your HP Photosmart camera to turn your photos into works of art – ready to print and share – and do it right on your camera. Using design gallery on your HP Photosmart camera you can apply a wide range of exciting effects – ranging from a color coordinated frame, such as the torn edge boarder shown on the next page, to the slimming effect shown here. The slim-ming effect subtly slims subjects in the center of the image!

The HP Photosmart R727 and R827 include a 2.5” (6.35 cm) LCD display

Original image Slimming effect on high

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Perhaps the most exciting part of HP design gallery is that it is simple to use and, because the camera automatically picks default border colors that are designed to compliment the photo to which it is being applied, you get great results right away. The original photo is preserved, so you can create several effects or even apply multiple effects to an image.

How it works Using HP design gallery is simple. Simply se-lect the design gallery menu when reviewing an image on the camera and choose the effect you want to apply. The default settings for many effects are based upon analysis of the actual

photo you are working with, but of course you can change many of the parameters to tune the effect to achieve your desired goal. You can also crop the photo to apply the effect to just a portion of the image. Finally, you can apply multiple effects one after the other so your crea-tivity is nearly unlimited.

What effects can I apply? The design gallery effects depend on the cam-era model. All the effects listed to the left are included in the R927, R967, R727, R725 and R827. The M425, M525, M527 and M627a more limited set of effect.

Original photograph Torn edge border applied in camera

13 Artistic Effects • Ink Dots • Cartoon • Watercolor • Center Focus • Posterize 1

• Retro • Soft Glow 1 • Vintage • Slimming 1 • Sky and Ground Color • Kaleidoscope 1 • Solarize • Drawing3

10 Borders • Soft edge 2 • Inset edge 2 • Torn edge • Burned edge • Splatter edge • Oval 2 • Circle 2 • Rectangle 2 • Rounded rectangle 2 • Square 2

Color Effects • Black & White 2 • Sepia 2 • Black & White Tint 2 • Color Tint

All effects and borders are in the R725, R727, R827, R927, R967 cameras 1) Also included in the M527

and M627 cameras 2) Also included in M425 and

M525 cameras 3) R827 and R967 only

Sepia combined with splatter and rectangle border

Center focus applied 3 times Water color effect

Ink dots Effect

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HP steady photo– New for 2006

What is HP steady photo? HP steady photo is an anti-shake capture mode included in the HP Photosmart R967 and R827 digital cameras. Using a combination HP image processing and capture settings, HP steady photo helps you to take sharp and clear pictures under lower light without motion blur due to either camera shake or subject motion. Mo-tion blur happens when either the camera itself, or the subjects of a photograph, move during the exposure. Motion blur is a problem when lower light levels cause the camera to use longer exposure time or when the subject or camera is moving quickly. The images on the next page illustrate how HP steady photo helps limit both motion blur and camera motion.

How it works HP steady photo works by operating the camera in a high sensitivity mode and using a modified camera exposure program to cause camera to operate at shorter exposure times. This helps freeze motion, either camera or subject, in the photo. HP steady photo mode is similar to operating the camera in shutter priority or set-ting the ISO to 400, but goes beyond what can be achieve using manual modes. Working in conjunction with HP’s advance in-camera processing, HP steady photo will help capture important moments that would otherwise be lost.

These photos show how HP steady photo can help eliminate blur due to both camera motion and subject motion. The photo to the upper left was taken without HP steady photo. Notice the blur in both the background, due to camera motion, and the young lady, due to subject motion.

Is HP steady photo the same as optical image stabilization? Both optical image stabilization and HP steady photo are anti-shake technologies. However, optical image stabilization works by using motion sensors in the camera to measure camera shake, then moving an optical component to correct for that motion. Optical image stabilization helps with camera shake, but can make sub-ject motion blur (the dancing young lady) worse because it will actually allow the camera to use longer exposure times. HP steady photo is an anti-shake technology that addresses both camera shake and subject motion.

When Should I use HP steady photo? HP steady photo is best used when:

• Lighting is at low level such as inside a home or office, typically conditions where the flash may fire.

• The subject of the photo is moving.

• You cannot use the flash.

While HP steady photo will help blur in many typical situations, it does not allow the camera to function in the dark. In very dark situations, the flash will be used with steady photo.

Without HP steady photo

With HP steady photo

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When people use consumer digital cameras, one of the more common complaints is the delay be-tween pressing the shutter button and the photo actually being taken. This is often called shutter lag or total lag.

When the shutter button on the camera is pressed on the camera, a lot happens. The exposure is measured, a pre-flash to measure strobe return may occur and, of course, the camera is focused. In fact, a camera will take several ‘photos’ during the time between when the shutter button is de-pressed and the final picture is taken.

One of the more time consuming processes is that of focus. The camera will actually step the lens, take a picture, analyze it for focus, step the lens, take a picture, analyze it for focus, and so on until peak focus is found and the final picture is taken. That auto-focus period can take a signifi-cant fraction of a second, particularly in low light when the contrast in the scene is poor. In HP Pho-tosmart cameras, the shutter delay can be mini-mized by pre-focusing the camera before taking the shot. This is done by pressing the shutter but-ton down 1/2 way, which causes the camera to focus on the subject, then framing the photo and depressing the shutter the rest of the way to take the picture. While this is effective, many consum-ers do not do it, so they continue to see a delay.

New for 2006 HP has introduced continuous focus on the R-series cameras (except R817/R818) Continuous focus helps minimize the de-lay between shutter button press and the picture being taken because, in many cases, the camera is already focused.

How it works Continuous focus works by constantly and pre-cisely, focusing the camera during live view. This means that when you are framing your photo, the camera is focusing. When the shutter button is pressed, the camera evaluates the state of the auto focus system and, if the camera is focused, the picture is taken immediately. If the scene has changed rapidly, perhaps the camera was moved quickly to take the photo, the auto focus routines will note that and the camera will verify focus before taking the picture.

With continuous focus, the camera will often be focused before you press the shutter button so the delay before taking the photo is minimized.

HP continuous focus— New for 2006

Note: With continuous focus you may notice

(hear) the camera lens focusing when you are

framing images.

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HP in-camera red-eye removal New for 2006– fully automatic

HP In-camera red-eye removal finds and removes “red-eye,” the common result of flash photography when the strobe (flash) reflects off the retina of the human eye. HP pioneered in-camera red-eye removal with the R707 camera and continues to lead the industry in this impor-tant feature.

New for 2006—fully automatic For 2006, HP has raised the bar for in-camera red-eye removal by adding fully automatic red-eye removal, with undo, to the R-series camera. When automatic red-eye removal is turned on, the camera will examine any photo taken using the strobe to see if there are any red-eyes pre-sent. If so, the red-eyes are automatically fixed. The changes made to a photo when red-eyes are removed are stored, allowing you to ‘undo’ what the camera did. Automatic red-eye removal is available in the Photosmart R927, R967, R727, R725 and R827 cameras.

Red-eye removal can also be accessed from the design gallery menu in these cameras so you can also remove red-eyes from pictures you took with automatic red-eye turned off.

How it works HP’s patented red-eye removal algorithm works by locating all candidate red areas in the photograph. It then performs complex tests using up to 60 different criteria to determine whether the red area is actually part of a human eye or

just something red in the photo. These criteria are measured only until a conclusion is reached thus minimizing processing time. A correction phase then darkens red areas to remove the color and return the eyes to a more natural color.

In fully automatic mode, the red-eyes are located and fixed in the background while you go on taking photos. You never see the red-eyes the camera fixed unless you select “undo red-eye removal” in the design gallery menu.

If automatic red-eye removal is not turned on, or in cameras that do not have the automatic fea-ture, you access the red-eye removal function from the camera menu. The camera examines the image, identifies red-eyes and displays a preview image on the camera’s LCD screen indi-cating what will be changed. You can then ac-cept or reject the changes the camera proposes.

HP’s red-eye removal was developed at HP labs and should not be confused with other red-eye reduction techniques such as a red-eye reduction flash. Red-eye reduction flash, which most cam-eras have, attempts to minimize red-eye by firing the flash on the camera several times before tak-ing the picture. The extra flashes are intended to cause the pupils of people in the picture to con-strict—and since red-eye is a reflection from the retina inside the eye, constricted pupils help mini-mize. HP in-camera red-eye removal, on the other hand, is actually examining the image for red-eyes and taking them out.

On-camera help makes using the power of your

Photosmart digital camera a snap. The screens below

show the on camera help for red-eye removal.

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HP adaptive lighting technology New for 2006—adaptive lighting bracketing

With HP adaptive lighting technology off (left), details in the photo are lost. The Contrast Mask shows the “burning and dodging” map calculated by the camera. Bright areas in the mask will be lightened the most while dark areas will be left alone.

HP adaptive lighting technology is a breakthrough that helps HP digital cameras and printers deal with very high contrast scenes without losing information in either shadows or bright areas.

HP adaptive lighting technology was introduced in the HP Photosmart 945 digital camera in 2003 and was included with all R-series HP Photosmart cameras in 2004. HP adaptive lighting technology is now included in HP Photosmart Pre-mier software as well as HP Photosmart and Deskjet photo printers.

For 2006, all R-series HP cameras, as well as the popular R817 and R818 (introduced fall 2005), include not only adaptive lighting technology, but adaptive lighting bracketing.

Turning adaptive lighting bracketing on causes the camera to take create versions of the same picture— one with adaptive lighting off, one with adaptive lighting set to “low” and one with adaptive lighting set to “high.” All of these images are saved in your camera or memory card, so that later you can choose whichever version you like best, or you can keep them all. Note, this is not 3 separate captured images, but

one capture that is processed 3 ways.

How it works HP adaptive lighting technology balances relationships between bright and dark areas in a photo, preserving gentle contrasts by compressing harsh contrasts. Some areas in a photo are lightened while other areas are left alone. It is important to note that adaptive lighting is not the same as simple exposure adjustment or gamma adjustment. Adaptive lighting examines the im-age to create a mask that indicates light and dark areas in the image. That mask is then use to ad-just only the light or dark areas, not the full im-age. Sometimes the light areas are darkened, sometimes the dark areas lightened—it depends on the photo.

HP cameras “re-light” photos at the moment a photo is taken, processing the full image data available to the camera when the image is captured. HP cameras with HP adaptive lighting technology capture more depth and detail from the original scene, resulting in more realistic photos.

The images to the right show adaptive lighting bracketing.

Notice how, in this case, adap-tive lighting actually darkened

the bright part of the image first (low), then lightens the darker

areas subtly (high)

How adaptive lighting will im-pact a particular photo depends

on that photo.

Adaptive lighting off. Adaptive lighting low. Adaptive lighting high.

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HP in-camera panorama preview and stitching New for 2006—In camera stitch in all R-series Photosmart cameras Image detail from the previ-ous photo is displayed on the camera’s LCD, making it easy to align multiple pho-tos. HP in-camera panorama preview can then stitch up to five images in one seamless shot for an in-camera pre-view using the camera’s LCD

HP in-camera panorama A panorama is a photograph that is much wider than it is tall. With any digital camera, photographers can take several photographs in sequence and use software on a PC to stitch them together. However, it is difficult to get a good result. HP in-camera panorama addresses this in two ways. First, a visual overlay on the camera’s LCD aids in capturing individual images: image detail from the previous photo is displayed, making it easy to line-up the next photo. Second, the photos can be quickly merged into a panorama preview image that allows photographers to examine the entire panorama to assure it was captured correctly before stitching.

Stitching the panorama For 2006, all HP R-series Photosmart cameras all include the in-camera stitching ability introduced last year in the HP R817 and R818 Photosmart cameras. With these cameras, you can create a fully stitched panorama in the camera without using a computer. The completed panorama is saved as a new image in the camera memory as well as the original component images. HP was the first digital camera manufacturer to offer the ability to fully complete the panorama image in the camera.

How it works Image-based guidance superimposes features from one shot to the next—detail from the edge of shot #1 is overlaid in a transparent mask on the LCD while the user frames shot #2, and so on. This helps the photographer align a sequence of shots. Note, precise alignment is not required, but the closer the individual shots are aligned, the better the result will be. • Exposure, focus and zoom settings are controlled so that

each component photo is consistent. • In-camera stitching quickly combines up to five photos in

one continuous shot that can be previewed to verify that the component images were captured correctly.

• The component pictures can then be stitched in the camera to create a final panorama made up of 2 to 5 images.

When the images are stitched in the camera, each component image is down sampled to about 2MP so the resulting file will be 3-8MP. If you want to stitch using the full resolution for each component image, you can do so using HP Photosmart Premier software shipped with the cameras. Note, your final panorama file will be very large— more than 40 MP in some cameras.

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HP image advice New for 2006— instant image advice

Image advice uses photo information and information from how the camera was operating to provide advice on how a picture can be improved. Photographers can use the advice to improve their skills, correct common problems and learn to take better pictures.

New for 2006 the camera indicates that it has advice immediately after the photo is taken by displaying the eyeglass symbol. The photographer can view the advice then to decide if the photo needs to be re-taken. Image advice

can also be viewed later when reviewing photos on the camera.

How it works Images are analyzed for 80 or more unique problems across at least five categories. In cases where a potential or actual problem is found, the cause is identified and then a suggestion is made to help the photographer use correct photographic technique. A maximum of two problems from two categories are displayed for a particular image.

Exposure This image was taken with Expo-

sure Compensation set to +3.0. The result is an overexposed image. The camera does not

know if the user set this inten-tionally or accidentally.

White balance This image was taken with the White Balance set to Tungsten,

but the scene is lit by natural light. Color balance is incorrect since the camera’s setting does

not match the light source.

The eye glass symbol appears on the LCD during instant review to indicate the cam-era has advice for

this photo. Press to display the advice.

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HP adaptive noise filter and HP vignetting and shading correction

HP adaptive noise filter Image noise appears as an undesired bumpy or granular look in what should be a smooth area in the image, such as a clear blue sky or a smooth skin tone. The darker the image—such as an indoor picture taken under dim lighting—the more noise there will be. All digital images have noise, but not all cameras manage it well. HP Photosmart digital cameras address the problem by using an adaptive sharpening and noise reduction filter during image processing. The result is a clear, sharp, high-quality photo.

How it works Image processing for digital cameras is akin to the development process used for film cameras; the effectiveness of image processing is directly

related to the amount of noise in the image data. Digital cameras must filter the recorded image data prior to processing and storing the image. Also, as the resolution (megapixel) ratings of digital cameras increase, the size of individual pixel elements on the camera sensor decrease, potentially increasing noise, making noise reduction even more important.

Despite the fact that up to ten million pixels need to be managed, HP engineers have devised a simple, fast and robust implementation that quickly tunes itself to every pixel. The majority of the required computations are pre-computed and stored in camera memory—only the final tuning is image-dependent and the image itself drives some of that tuning. The result is an adaptive noise filtering algorithm that finishes processing moments after the shutter button is pressed.

HP vignetting and shading correction Photographs taken with either a film or digital camera can show slight darkening of the image at the corners. This is called vignetting, an effect that is created by the lens as less light reaches the edge of the CCD (or film) than the center. With digital cameras the technology used on the CCD may cause a color shift near the edges of the images. All lenses suffer from vignetting and most photographic lenses exhibit vignetting to some degree; the effect is strongest when the lens is used wide open and will disappear when the lens is stepped down by a few F-stops. HP vignetting and shading correction technology corrects for all

types of vignetting, so photographs taken with HP Photosmart cameras show no appreciable signs of darkening at the edges.

How it works Each HP digital camera is individually measured during production to identify the vignetting in that particular camera with that particular lens at different aperture and zoom/focus settings. That information is used by the HP image processing pipeline to correct for vignetting in the camera. Most digital cameras do not correct for vignetting at all, and those that do correct only for an “average” lens—not for the lens that is on that individual camera.

Without HP vignetting and shading correction With HP vignetting and shading correction

Without HP adaptive noise filter

With HP adaptive noise filter

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HP automatic white balance

Humans automatically “interpret” the color of light we see— this is called color adaptation. So, a gray object looks gray whether it’s illuminated by sunlight (mostly blue), or tungsten light (mostly yellow).

Digital cameras must determine the color of light in a scene and adapt to that light or the image will have a color cast compared to what the photographer saw. With traditional film cameras, this happens in the print process. Determining white balance is one of the most challenging aspects of photography and it’s an area where HP cameras excel. HP color scientists have developed a family of algorithms to automatically adjust white balance under a wide range of conditions.

How it works There are several different white balance algorithms in HP Photosmart digital cameras. Using these algorithms, HP Photosmart cameras choose the right illuminant for a particular shooting situation. White balance can also be controlled manually for creative effect or set manually by pointing the camera at a white (“neutral”) item and allowing the camera to

calculate the proper white balance for the photograph. Of the six algorithms, Color by Correction is the cornerstone of HP’s white balance process.

Color by Correlation. The camera sensor takes measurements of all the colors in a given scene then evaluates the following question for each color of light that might illuminate the scene: “How likely is it that this light would have produced the colors in the scene?” For each measured color the probability is summed to form a total probability. The illuminant with the highest probability sum is the winner. HP Photosmart cameras use pre-calculated correlation matrices to accomplish this calculation quickly. HP Color by correlation is included in HP R-series cameras.

Proven accuracy. HP’s automatic white balance algorithms handle a wide range of illuminants including the bluish light of outdoor shade, full sun, three different types of fluorescent lamps and yellowish tungsten light. It can be difficult for many cameras to successfully identify this wide range of light sources. HP digital cameras consistently outperform other cameras with regard to white balance.

These photos were taken in a Macbeth light booth under different illuminants. Results for three cameras—one HP Photosmart camera and two competitors—are shown.

Daylight Cool White Fluorescent Tungsten

HP

Competitor “A”

Competitor “B”

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HP adaptive demosaic

HP adaptive demosaic technology helps HP digital cameras accurately fill in missing colors on photos for crisp, sharp images with outstanding resolution along horizontal, vertical and diagonal planes.

How it works Digital cameras capture light by using an image sensor that is physically divided into light-sensitive areas called pixels. For digital cameras, color is usually captured by placing a red, green or blue filter over each of the pixels in a checkerboard pattern known as a mosaic (see Figure 1). A single mosaic image sensor can be used to capture information on both light intensity and color. A single mosaic-enabled sensor is physically smaller than using three complete sets of sensors to record all color information in a scene. Once the mosaic image is recorded by the camera, a “demosaic” algorithm is used to fill in the missing two-thirds of the color information (see Figure 2). Obviously, filling in this much information makes the quality of the final image entirely dependent upon the demosaic algorithm. Most digital cameras use a demosaic algorithm that averages nearby measured pixel values along horizontal or vertical directions in order to estimate missing color information. If the image is smooth in the horizontal direction, then the missing pixel value is an average of measured values along a horizontal line. If the image is smooth in the vertical direction, then the missing pixel is an average of measured values along a vertical line. Figure 3 illustrates how a simple demosaic algorithm might estimate the missing green value (GC) that goes with the measured red value (RC) and nearby measured green values (GN, GS, GE, GW). The simple demosaic method illustrated in Figure 3 uses a decision equation to pick either a horizontal or vertical average for the missing GC value. This method leads to excellent resolution in vertical or horizontal directions, but poor resolution along a diagonal image (see Figure 4). To estimate missing color information, HP adaptive demosaic uses a decision equation to pick one of 256 possible averages (covering all possible orientations of image edge detail) of the nearby measured color values. HP cameras have excellent resolution in horizontal, vertical and diagonal directions.

If |GN – GS| < |GW – GE| then GC = (GN + GS) / 2 else GC = (GW + GE) / 2

Figure 3. Example of simple demo-saic to estimate GC using horizontal or vertical aver-ages. HP cameras do not use this simple method.

Figure 1. Image recorded by the camera.

Figure 2. Image after demosaic

Figure 4. On the left, good diagonal resolution with HP Photos-mart 5MP/3x optical zoom. On the right, poor diagonal resolution with competitive 5MP/4x optical zoom.

GW

GN

GC GE

GS

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HP adaptive tone map

In the world around us, there are scenes with quiet contrast, such as a tree in a delicate fog and scenes with strong contrast, such as the patterns of sun and shade under a tree. These images need to be processed differently. A processing method that is optimized for a foggy scene cannot easily accommodate the bright-to-dark contrasts of sun and shade. This is true of any photographic process, whether digital or film.

HP adaptive tone map is an adaptive photo finishing algorithm that turns the captured image into a pleasing (or “preferred”) photo that is ready to be printed or shared. It is adaptive because every photo is individually optimized. With HP adaptive tone map, HP Photosmart digital cameras do this type of custom photo-finishing automatically using a process that is unique and patented by HP.

How it works HP adaptive tone map measures each scene for overall brightness and dynamic range. HP adaptive tone map then calculates an optimal tone map for processing a given scene. If a scene is generally dark, the tone map will brighten the photo without losing highlight details. A scene that is generally too light will be darkened. A scene with wide dynamic range will be “softened” with a lower contrast. A scene with short dynamic range will be given greater contrast.

HP adaptive tone map also enhances the sense of vibrancy and clarity. It adapts to changes in the color of scene illumination and adjusts color processing so colors keep a natural appearance. HP adaptive tone map adapts for the brightness of light on a scene, from full sun to nighttime, and keeps night photos from looking like they were taken at noon.

HP adaptive tone map is based on HP’s patented preferred photographic reproduction.

Good detail in dark areas—but detail in light areas lost

Good detail in dark areas—but detail in light areas lost

Adaptive Tone Map—both highlights and shadows preserved

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HP video print

Video print, available in the R725, R727, R817, R818, R827, R927 and R967 cameras, provides a new exciting way to capture action shots. Now you can capture a VGA video clip, then move forward and backward—frame by frame—through the clip and select the specific frame you would like a print from. With one button press, a 1 MP still image is created from the frame and stored on your camera.

Because the source of the photo is VGA video, the quality of the still image will not be as high as the quality of a full resolution still image; however HP uses special image processing techniques to improve the quality, enlarge the image and remove MPEG artifacts.

Combine with design gallery effects such as the cartoon effect shown to the left and create some great images!

How it works To use print from video, make sure your camera is in VGA*** mode, then capture your video. After you have captured your video, switch to playback mode and watch the video on your camera. When you see a part of the video you may want to create a still image from, press “OK” to pause the video. You can then press or to move back and forth in the video, frame by frame, to find precisely the frame you want (press and hold or to fast forward or rewind). Then press 5 to

extract the frame and create the still image. Note, the still image is more than just an extracted VGA frame—it is a processed image. However, the quality of the still image will depend on the quality of the frame selected. You may find you get a better still image from the frame immediately before or after the one you like. For best results—create several still images—it’s fast, easy and you can choose the one you like best.

Design Gallery Cartoon Effect

Video print

Design Gallery Cartoon Effect

Design Gallery Cartoon Effect

Video print

Video print

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HP works with leading digital camera lens manufacturers to create custom and semi-custom lenses for Photosmart digital cameras. The label HP Precision applied to a lens in an HP Pho-tosmart digital camera reflects that design process and more. What this means to the photog-rapher is that they can be sure the lens on their HP camera is specifically designed to provide great image quality.

The label HP Precision really goes beyond just the lens itself to include how the lens is oper-ated, calibrated and integrated into the HP digital imaging pipeline in the camera. An HP Photosmart digital camera is a complex system where the performance of each component, such as the lens and the sensor, must be fully integrated into an image capture system to pro-duce the great photos you want. When HP designs and builds a camera, the camera is treated as a system – not just a collection of components. HP uses several types of lenses as summarized below.

Folded optics lenses A new type of lens in HP Photosmart cameras is the folded optics lens. Traditionally, zoom lenses in cameras extended out in front of the camera. This was required by placement of the lens and film. With the advent of digital cameras in which the image sensor is much smaller than the film it replaces, the application of a folded optics lens has become more common. In folded optics lenses a prism is used to reflect the light coming into the camera around a cor-ner, inside the camera, and then through the rest of the optics in the lens. The focus and zoom elements still exist – but they are inside the camera and don’t protrude any more. The main advantage of folded optics lenses is the size of the lens. By folding the optical path the zoom axis is vertical in the camera and does not impact the thickness of the camera. Folded optics lenses also tend to be more rugged since they do not protrude from the camera.

HP precision lens system New for 2006—Folded optics lens

Lens Type Description Advantages Fixed Focus, Fixed Zoom

This lens represents the smallest, simplest and lowest cost option. Like all fixed focus lenses, this lens is pre-focused at a nominal dis-tance and has a high depth of field to maximize the focus range. Cameras with this lens rely on digital zoom.

Size, ruggedness, simplicity, quick camera reaction due to no focus time, cost.

Auto Focus, Fixed zoom

This lens builds on the fixed focus lens by providing auto focus capability to assure the subject is in perfect focus. Cameras with this lens rely on digital zoom.

Size, ruggedness, simplicity, better focus.

Auto Focus, conventional zoom

The most common lens used is a lens that protrudes from the cam-era front and has both auto focus and zoom capability. Some-times the zoom is internal – meaning the lens does not move in and out with zoom.

Lowest cost optical zoom lens. Typi-cally faster (more light) at most zoom positions excepting telephoto.

Auto Focus, folded optics zoom lens

A new type of internal zoom and auto focus lens that does not pro-trude from the camera.

Rugged and small, does not protrude so less susceptible to damage if dropped. Typically faster (more light) at telephoto settings.

Example of a folded optics lens

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Image quality Battery life

Image quality The Image Quality setting controls both resolution and compression of still images. This setting also affects the number of images that can be stored on a camera’s internal memory or memory card. HP Photosmart cameras offer a range of resolution settings, from 2 MP to 10 MP— depending on the camera—with a compression rating of good, better and best (as represented as one, two, three or sometimes four stars). The table above gives some guidelines as to the recommended maximum print size for a camera setting. Note, these are relatively conservative estimates. These are based on the assumption you need 200 pixels per printed inch for photographic quality.

Battery life All cameras consume battery power differently, and photographers use their cameras in different ways on different days. That’s why testing battery performance is difficult and, at times, irrelevant to the real world. Here are some things to consider when testing battery life.

Generally high-end cameras use more power and have larger batteries than low-end models. High-end cameras tend to have larger sensors, faster processors and more features, such as optical zoom, that affect battery usage.

Features such as live preview, playback, video, flash and zoom are controlled by the user and have a dramatic impact on battery life. Video and live preview consume the most power. Flash and zoom are next on the list.

Battery choice matters. Non-rechargeable photo lithium batteries yield exceptional battery life, surpassing NiMH batteries by 50 to 100 percent and alkaline batteries by 100 to 500 percent. Rechargeable lithium ion batteries are also a good choice, providing about 15 percent higher capacity than NiMH batteries with the added advantages of a thin form factor and longer charge retention.

Desired Print Quality

Image quality setting Good quality Better quality Best quality

VGA ✩✩ Wallet Wallet Wallet

1 MP ✩✩ 5x7/13x18 cm 4x6/10x15cm Wallet

2 MP ✩✩ 8x10/A4 5x7/13x18 cm 4x6/10x15cm

3 MP ✩✩ 8x10/A4 8x10/A4 5x7/13x18 cm

4 MP ✩✩ 11x14/28x35 cm 8x10/A4 5x7/13x18 cm

5 MP ✩✩ 11x14/28x35 cm 11x14/28x35 cm 5x7/13x18 cm

6 MP ✩✩ 16x20/41x51 cm 11x14/28x35 cm 8x10/A4

7 MP ✩✩ 16x20/41x51 cm 11x14/28x35 cm 8x10/A4

8 MP ✩✩ 17x22/43x56 cm 16x20/41x51 cm 8x10/A41

10 MP ✩✩ 20x30/50x76 cm2 17x22/43x56 cm 11x14/28x35 cm

Note: if you increase to ✩✩✩ or ✩✩✩✩ (from the ✩✩ default), you can increase the print size represented above 1- These are conservative estimates. In most cases – these images can be printed larger than shown by 10-20% 2- For very large prints, the printed pixels per inch can be somewhat relaxed due the increased viewing distance.

The higher the resolu-tion setting you use on your camera, the lar-ger each photo file size will be. Photo file size determines storage capacity of the camera or storage card you are using.

19

Shooting modes

Auto The camera automatically sets aperture (F-stop number) and shutter speed for the scene and conditions, allowing true point-and-shoot photography.

Action High shutter speeds stop the action of fast-moving ob-jects. Ideal for sports pho-tography, moving subjects or any scene where you want to stop the

Landscape The camera combines a higher F-stop number for better depth-offield with higher satu-ration and sharpness for a more vivid effect. Great for mountain scenes or landscapes with a deep perspective.

Portrait Camera combines a smaller F-stop number, which blurs the background, with lower saturation, contrast and sharpness for a more natural effect. Ideal for pictures that have one or more subjects as the primary focal point.

Beach The camera automatically sets aperture (F-number) and shut-ter speed for the scene and conditions, allowing true point-and-shoot photography.

Snow Use Snow mode to capture scenes in snow. This mode allows you to capture bright snow scenes, preserving the correct brightness of the snow.

Sunset Use Sunset mode to capture outdoor scenes at sunset. This mode starts the focus at infinity and sets the flash to Flash Off. This mode improves the satu-ration of sunset colors and retains the warmth of the scene with a bias towards the or-ange colors of the sunset.

Aperture priority The user selects the F-stop number to control depth-of-field (for example, to blur the background) while the cam-era selects the ideal shutter speed.

In some cameras beach and snow modes are combined

20

Shooting modes

Museum Use Museum mode to capture images in a museum, where the use of the flash is prohib-ited. In this mode, flash is set to Flash Off and camera Sounds is set to the “off” setting.

HP steady photo HP steady photo helps prevent blurring from camera or sub-ject motion.

Theatre Theatre mode optimizes expo-sure and shutter speed for scenes like indoor sports, theatre or concerts. This mode is unique to the HP Photosmart R817 and R818 digital cam-eras.

Fast shot Fastshot is a shooting mode in select HP Photosmart M-series digital cameras designed to minimize the time between when the shutter button is depressed and the photograph is taken. Fast shot mode is best used when taking photographs in good light.

Document The camera uses a high-contrast setting and a low-contrast setting with flash set to off. Ideal for shooting flat, textual or graphical pieces such as posters or paintings.

Manual Manual mode allows you to control both the exposure and shutter settings using the menu in the LCD.

Shutter priority This mode is used when you want specific control over shutter speed. The camera will then select the exposure speed.

Panorama mode The camera stitches up to five overlapping photos together in one preview shot that can be scrolled on the camera’s LCD. Ideal for grand landscapes such as mountain ranges, or any extremely wide or tall scenes that must be captured in a group of pictures.

HP camera line-up

HP Photosmart R927 Digital Camera

HP Photosmart R827 Digital Camera

HP Photosmart R817 Digital Camera

HP Photosmart R967 Digital Camera

HP Photosmart R727 Digital Camera

HP Photosmart R725 Digital Camera

HP Photosmart M525 Digital Camera

HP Photosmart M425 Digital Camera

HP Photosmart E327 Digital Camera

HP sells a wide assortment of cases, docks and accessories for HP Photosmart camera including the wireless 6222 camera dock shown below (requires a 6221 premium dock).

© 2006 Hewlett-Packard Develop-ment Company, L.P. The informa-tion contained herein is subject to change without notice. The only warranties for HP products and services are set forth in the express warranty statements accompanying such products and services. Noth-ing herein should be construed as constituting and additional war-ranty. HP shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein.

HP Photosmart M527 Digital Camera

HP Photosmart M627 Digital Camera

HP Photosmart E427 Digital Camera