Digital BW, The Print

----- Original Message -----
From: "Austin Franklin" <darkroom@...>
To: <DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Friday, March 29, 2002 11:09 AM
Subject: RE: [Digital BW] Is dynamic range more important than density
range?


> > In a
> > full range continuous tone silver print there are no steps between min
and
> > max density but an infinite number of tones.
>
> There certainly aren't an infinite number of tones!

If you print a continuous gradient on a piece of silver paper that begins at
paper white and ends at Dmax there are an infinite number of tones within
the range.

Continuous: 1 : marked by uninterrupted extension in space, time, or
sequence

Or, if you will consider, that the number of tones is so high that you eye
cannot distinguish between adjacent tones so as to simulate a continuous
tone. What would that mean in terms of your dynamic range equation?

> > Which is why photographers have traditionally only looked at the range
> > between Dmin and Dmax as being of interest. The idea of a finite number
of
> > tones is something that was born with digital imaging and has mistakenly
> > leaked across into analyzing continuous tone analog images.
>
> Well I certainly disagree with that, it's by no means a mistake!  I've
> always talked about dynamic range and number of tones in analog imaging.
It
> really doesn't take an eagle eye to see that some prints can have more
tones
> than others!

Somehow I knew you would. <G>

Is that because of the quality of the materials or how they were used?

Martin