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SuperRes Pixel Shift vs StdRes: DEET and Kombucha Bottles
The benefits of SuperRes pixel shift mode of the Pentax K1 range from subtle to eye-popping. Here we take a look at the difference on two artificial subjects, one with high contrast black and white lettering, and the other with black-on-orange lettering.
The differences are seemingly subtle, but in reality the difference is akin to at least a 50% linear difference in resolving power, making the Pentax K1 SuperRes mode at least as good as a 54 megapixel Bayer matrix camera, but one demanding lens performance only for 36 megapixels.
DEET and Kombucha bottles
No matter where one looks, the SuperRes image has the advantage:
- On the high contrast black lettering on white background (best case for conventional Bayer matrix), the lettering lacks the acutance of the lettering in the SuperRes image.
- The SuperRes image avoids spurious resolution (fake detail) as well as color moiré and color aliasing: observe the difference in the USDA Organic label near the bottom of the Kombucha bottle: the world ORGANIC is overlaid with color speckles from the demosaicing process. Ditto for freedom from the subtle color aliasing all over the StdRes image on the high contrast black and white areas.
- On the DEET can at left, the lettering is a messy pixellation, showing that a Bayer matrix sensor really has greatly impaired real resolving power as compared to true-color RGB pixels. Try reading the fine text; it is much clearer in SuperRes mode.
- The reflections on the blue plastic are dull and nearly absent in StdRes mode; in SuperRes mode they look like... reflections. Ditto for the fine water droplets within the Evian bottle.
- There is a subtle difference in the mesh fabric of the YETI bag at right. The SuperRes image feels 3D in character; the StdRes image is flat.
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