Photo CD is a system designed by Kodak for digitizing and storing photos in a CD. Launched in 1992, the discs were designed to hold nearly 100 high quality images, scanned prints and slides using special proprietary encoding. Photo CD discs are defined in the Beige Book and conform to the CD-ROM XA and CD-i Bridge specifications as well. They are intended to play on CD-i players, Photo CD players (Apple's PowerCD for example), and any computer with the suitable software (LaserSoft Imaging's SilverFast HDR, DC, or PhotoCD for example) irrespective of the operating system. The images can also be printed out on photographic paper with a special Kodak machine.
The system failed to gain mass usage among consumers partly due to its proprietary nature, the rapid decline in the costs of scanners, and the lack of CD-ROM drives in most home personal computers of the day. The Photo CD system gained a fair level of acceptance among professional photographers due to the low cost of the high quality film scans. Prior to Photo CD, professionals who wished to digitize their film images were forced to pay much higher fees to obtain drum scans of their film negatives and transparencies. Photo CD is still used by a niche clientele, but it has been replaced by Picture CD, also from Kodak. True PhotoCD discs are still available from a vendor referenced on Kodak's PhotoCD webpage, but the name is also (incorrectly) used by several vendors for discs which do not meet the PhotoCD standards.
| Designation | Resolution | Size | Intended typical use | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (px × px) | (Mpx) | (MB) | ||
| Base/16 | 128 × 192 | 0.025 | 0.07 | Preview (index print, thumbnail) |
| Base/4 | 256 × 384 | 0.098 | 0.28 | Web |
| Base | 512 × 768 | 0.393 | 1.13 | Computer screen, TV, Web |
| 4 Base | 1024 × 1536 | 1.573 | 4.50 | HDTV screen |
| 16 Base | 2048 × 3072 | 6.291 | 18.00 | Print-out up to ca. 20 x 30 cm |
| 64 Base | 4096 × 6144 | 25.166 | 72.00 | Professional print, pre-press, archiving (optional) |
Variants
The Kodak Pro Photo CD Master Disc contains 25 images with maximum resolution of 6144 x 4096 pixels (six resolutions per file, Base/16 to 64 Base). This type is appropriate for 120 film, 4x5, but also for small picture film, if highest resolution is required. A Kodak Professional PCD Film Scanner 4045 is being used for the digitalisation.
There are budget-priced alternatives for private users, such as Picture CD, Fujicolor CD or ImageCD. However, these ones don't comply with the Photo CD standard, are using destructive compression algorithms and are of less image and process quality.
External links
- Kodak's site on Photo CD
- Comparison by Kodak between its Photo and Picture CD formats
- More info on the Photo and Picture CD.
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