Uncompressed Opportunity Images

Take a look at this image from opportunity, at the press conference they
said it was taken at a compression level of 2:1 rather than 24:1 for most
pictures. They talked about getting more images like this from both spirit
and opportunity.

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/galle...4-b-B004R1.jpg

The amount of detail in it is amazing, and makes me wonder how much
information and science is lost in those heavely compressed images and
panoramic shots.

"Elysium Fossa" wrote in message
...
Take a look at this image from opportunity, at the press conference they
said it was taken at a compression level of 2:1 rather than 24:1 for most
pictures. They talked about getting more images like this from both
spirit
and opportunity.


http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/galle...128a/1P1284611
36IOF0200P2350R1C3-sol004-b-B004R1.jpg

The amount of detail in it is amazing, and makes me wonder how much
information and science is lost in those heavely compressed images and
panoramic shots.


You sure got that right! What a difference.

Elysium Fossa wrote:
The amount of detail in it is amazing, and makes me wonder how much
information and science is lost in those heavely compressed images and
panoramic shots.

Using your own figures it would take 12 times longer to download each
image if they weren't compressed at 24:1. So they would have to either
wait weeks to complete a panorama or not take images at multiple
wavelengths. The latter is important science. So it makes sense to
start with lower resolution images and then "zoom in" for higher
resolution in areas of interest.

--
Greg Crinklaw
Astronomical Software Developer
Cloudcroft, New Mexico, USA (33N, 106W, 2700m)

SkyTools Software for the Observer:
http://www.skyhound.com/cs.html

Skyhound Observing Pages:
http://www.skyhound.com/sh/skyhound.html

To reply remove spleen

"Elysium Fossa" wrote in message
...
Take a look at this image from opportunity, at the press conference they
said it was taken at a compression level of 2:1 rather than 24:1 for most
pictures. They talked about getting more images like this from both
spirit
and opportunity.


http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/galle...128a/1P1284611
36IOF0200P2350R1C3-sol004-b-B004R1.jpg

The amount of detail in it is amazing, and makes me wonder how much
information and science is lost in those heavely compressed images and
panoramic shots.
The problem is bandwidth. If you work out the available daily bandwidth, a
'full' panorama, using the best camera resolution, in colour, and
compressed only 2:1, would take all the available link time for a whole
Martian day.
I suspect there will be a tendency to send 'sections' like this, in mono,
when there are available gaps, allowing a more detailed view to then be
built-up, and combined with existing colour data, to give a really detailed
panorama. :-)

Best Wishes

url seems down?


Elysium Fossa wrote:

Take a look at this image from opportunity, at the press conference they
said it was taken at a compression level of 2:1 rather than 24:1 for most
pictures. They talked about getting more images like this from both spirit
and opportunity.

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/galle...128a/1P1284611
36IOF0200P2350R1C3-sol004-b-B004R1.jpg

The amount of detail in it is amazing, and makes me wonder how much
information and science is lost in those heavely compressed images and
panoramic shots.

the MASSIVE response to your post should indicate where "astronomy"
is.

You might want to consult a professional to get yourself balanced
so your son will have a mature stable adult around, so he can develop
normally and grow up to be an "astronomer" who participates in SAA.

Good luck -
Jerry
..


Elysium Fossa wrote:

Take a look at this image from opportunity, at the press conference they
said it was taken at a compression level of 2:1 rather than 24:1 for most
pictures. They talked about getting more images like this from both spirit
and opportunity.

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/galle...128a/1P1284611
36IOF0200P2350R1C3-sol004-b-B004R1.jpg

The amount of detail in it is amazing, and makes me wonder how much
information and science is lost in those heavely compressed images and
panoramic shots.

True, but don't underestimate the power of a good picture to peak people's
interest!

Kris.
My Energia HLLV page:http://www.k26.com/buran/

"Roger Hamlett" wrote in message
...

"Elysium Fossa" wrote in message
...
Take a look at this image from opportunity, at the press conference they
said it was taken at a compression level of 2:1 rather than 24:1 for
most
pictures. They talked about getting more images like this from both
spirit
and opportunity.



http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/galle...128a/1P1284611
36IOF0200P2350R1C3-sol004-b-B004R1.jpg

The amount of detail in it is amazing, and makes me wonder how much
information and science is lost in those heavely compressed images and
panoramic shots.
The problem is bandwidth. If you work out the available daily bandwidth, a
'full' panorama, using the best camera resolution, in colour, and
compressed only 2:1, would take all the available link time for a whole
Martian day.
I suspect there will be a tendency to send 'sections' like this, in mono,
when there are available gaps, allowing a more detailed view to then be
built-up, and combined with existing colour data, to give a really
detailed
panorama. :-)

Best Wishes

If you look at this graph...
http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/galle...ume-B003R1.jpg

They are averaging about 2 Odyssey UHF passes and 1 Mars Global
Surveyor UHF pass per day. Each pass they are getting about 8 Mbytes
of data. They are also getting about 4 Mbytes from direct to earth
X-band communication. This gives a total of about 28 Mbytes per day.
The high resolution picture above is 0.6 MB. The Spirit Panorama is
made with 225 images (to get 3 color and 360 degrees). If all those
images were 0.6 MB, that's 135 MB

It would take 5 days to send that much data...

So pictures like this must be used sparingly. Remember they also have
16 different filters between the two eyes, so they often want more
then just the three color images. They also have all the other
instrument data and engineering data to worry about.

Anyone know if there is any possibility to use Mars Express for
another communication path for the rovers?

url seems down?

His link still works. Cut and paste the two parts of the link into
your browsers address bar. I'm guessing the problem is you aren't
getting the second half of the address because of text wrap around.

Take a look at this image from opportunity,


I thought this picture from Spirit was also extremely good...
http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/galle...L456-A16R1.jpg

To me, the color seems to look a lot more real when they use more
filters. If you look at the raw image section, they used 12 filters
and both eyes to make the picture...
http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/galle...irit_p014.html

And because they used both eyes, they were able to make this false
color 3D animation...
http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/galle...adirondack.mov