Re: [Avid-L2] Is 300 DPI enough for scanning still in 4K?

Don't think of DPI in terms of size of display.  Size of display really doesn't matter.  What matters is the resolution of your output.

If you are working SD your resolution is 720x486, so 720 pixels wide no mater how big the screen is.

If you are working HD then your resolution is 1920x1080, so 1920 pixels wide no matter how big the screen is.

So, if you are going to scan an image that is 1" (inch) across and you want that image to fill the width of you 'screen' then for finishing in SD you need a scan resolution higher than 720 DPI.  If you want that 1" image to fill the width of an HD image then you need a scan resolution higher than 1920 DPI.

ETC. etc. Etc. etC. 

now consider if you have an image that is 10" across that you want to scan and have fill your format width.  For SD anything higher than 72 DPI should work fine.  For HD any scan resolution higher than 192 DPI should work fine.

Of course this doesn't leave any resolution for enlarging or scaling up.

So always consider the size of your source, the final resolution you will be working in, and how you will be using the image.  The more you are going to want to crop and scale and move it around the more resolution you are going to need to accommodate that.

Jay

On May 23, 2022, at 6:53 PM, John Moore <bigfish@pacbell.net> wrote:

Traditionally video was considered 75dpi ish.  Now with 4K is 300 DPI adequate for scanning stills?  I never get asked but just receive stills as they are.  I have rarely gotten anything scanned over 300 DPI.  Now I'm being asked what stills should be scanned at.  Is there any downside to suggesting 300 DPI?

John Moore Barking Trout Productions Studio City, CA bigfish@pacbell.net