Any large blank area is heavily pixellated, even though adjacent detailed picture elements are very sharp and not affected. For example, a smooth white wall backgound in a portrait will have concentric circles of pixellated pink rings. This occurs in both flash and in natural light conditions. The problem occurs at all levels of image quality, including the FINE setting. It is also independent of the degree of in-camera sharpening, and occurs at SOFT, NORMAL and HARD settings. Is this a function of Toshiba's JPEG compression algorithms or is something else involved?

-- Norm Olson (normhf@email.msn.com), October 19, 1998

Answers

Norm- What you've described is indeed frequently a symptom of JPEG compression. We didn't notice this behavior in any of our tests though. (I would have expected to see it in either the resolution test or the viewfinder accuracy test, both of which have large areas of plain white.) Likewise, I'd have expected to see it in the indoor portrait shot, and don't find it there either. Given that it didn't show in ANY of our test shots, I wonder if there's a problem with your unit specifically? - Any way you can test it side-by-side with one in a local store? 'Don't know what else to suggest, other than sending it in for service... Good luck, whatever the outcome!

-- Dave Etchells (web@imaging-resource.com), October 24, 1998.