Below are a set of sample photos as taken by the TTAC. These photos are intended to provide additional material to guide your testing process, and serve to demonstrate how cameras can produce drastically different results in very similar settings. The photos show differences that can exist between manufacturers, different models from the same manufacturer, as well as how subtle changes with the same camera can produce images of differing quality.
- Basic Comparison – Feet
- Basic Comparison – Knee
- Basic Comparison – Eye
- Flash Overexposure – Mouth
- Flash Suppressed – Foot
- Flash Comparison – Foot
- Whitebalance – Foot
- Whitebalance and Flash – Wound
- Whitebalance and Flash – Scar
- Color Saturation with Flash – Foot
- Color Saturation without Flash – Foot
- Resolution Comparison – 12 MP vs 1.2 MP
- Resolution Comparison – 10 MP vs. 12 MP
Many of the photographs include a portion of the image at its full size and resolution, allowing for a comparison of the detail and color accuracy between the images.
Basic Comparison – Feet
These photographs were taken with two different cameras with similar settings under identical lighting conditions. These images demonstrate the most basic differences in image quality, with Feet A showing both higher detail and color accuracy than Feet B.
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Basic Comparison – Knee
These four photographs of skin and and hair on the knee were taken with four different cameras in similar settings, shot with identical lighting. All four images demonstrate good to very good color, but the range of detail differs between all four photos. Note that the low detail rating in Knee B is related to an issue the camera had when focusing on the subject. There may be certain testing scenarios where a camera will not be able to focus. Capturing these shortcomings can be useful in the evaluation process.
Basic Comparison – Eye
These images of the eye and face reveal variations in excellent color for all four cameras. Differences in detail are more pronounced that the differences in colors; the image with the lowest detail rating may not be good enough for clinical purposes.
Flash Overexposure – Mouth
These two images demonstrate a common problem found in digital cameras Note the different ways that cameras handle flash exposure when photographic subjects are very close and/or subject to heavy shadowing. Note the overexposure in Mouth B, which results in a decrease in the quality of the image in both color and detail.
Flash Suppressed – Foot
These photographs were taken by two different cameras with identical lighting and their flashes turned off. These low-light situations can prove challenging for some cameras. Here we see that some cameras excel at color accuracy in flash-suppressed scenarios (Foot B), while others excel at image detail (Foot A).
Flash Comparison – Foot
These images were captured by the same camera in idential lighting conditions, with the flash mode enabled in Foot C and suppressed in Foot D. Note this camera’s drastic change in color accuracy and detail when the flash is turned off.
White Balance – Foot
These images were taken by the same camera under identical fluorescent lighting conditions, with differences in white balance between the two shots. Most cameras come with presets for standard lighting conditions, such as incandescent, fluorescent, and outdoors. These options can be set manually or be selected automatically by the camera in Auto mode. Manual settings do not always produce the best results. In the following example, automatic white balancing produced a better image than manually selecting fluorescent. Both images were shot in the camera’s “Low” color setting (see Color Saturation for additional examples of color modes).
White Balance and Flash – Wound
These photographs of a leg wound were taken with the flash on. Notice how one camera produced a more natural tone (Wound A), while the other camera produced tones with a reddish / purple color cast (Wound B). The misrepresentation of color in this case could have a clinical impact.
White Balance and Flash – Scar
This particular camera had difficulty with incandescent lighting, resulting in color casting that captures skin as having strong orange tones (Scar B). When the flash was used in the same lighting, the skin color markedly improves (Scar A). Also note that the image with flash contains more fine detail than the image without flash.
Color Saturation with Flash – Foot
Many cameras provide a way of modifying the color saturation of captured images. As opposed to white balance, which adjusts to different colors of light, color saturation modifies how bold the colors are. This may also be called “vibrance”, “saturation”, or simply “color”. In some cameras the normal or natural setting will produce an over-saturated image, resulting in skin that is significantly more pink, red, or yellow than normal. This may have an impact in clinical interpretations of the image.
Below is a series of images taken with the same camera entered in different color settings (same camera used below). The most accurate reproduction of skin tone was obtained from the “Low” setting. The color setting “High” caused the skin to appear excessively pink, while the “Natural” setting resulted in a slight pink color cast. These images had the flash turned on.
Color Mode without Flash – Foot
Many cameras provide a way of modifying the color saturation of captured images. As opposed to white balance, which adjusts to different colors of light, color saturation modifies how bold the colors are. This may also be called “vibrance”, “saturation”, or simply “color”. In some cameras, the normal or natural setting will produce an over-saturated image, resulting in skin that is significantly more pink, red, or yellow than normal. This may have an impact in clinical interpretations of the image.
Below is a series of examples of images taken with the same camera entered in different color settings (same camera used above). The most accurate reproduction of skin tone was obtained from the “Low” setting. The color setting “High” caused the skin to appear excessively pink, while the “Natural” setting resulted in a slight pink color cast. These images had the flash suppressed.
Resolution Comparison – 12 MP vs. 1.2 MP
These images were taken by the same camera with identical lighting but different resolutions. The left portion of the image was taken at the camera’s 12 megapixel setting, while the right side of the image was taken with the camera’s 1.2 megapixel setting. The lower-resolution image was enlarged to the same size as the higer-resolution image, showing the differences between different resolutions.
Resolution Comparison – 10 MP vs 12 MP
Note that a higher pixel count in the image does not always result in a clearer image. The image on the left was taken with a 10 megapixel camera, while the image on the right was taken with a newer model of the same camera that captured a 12 megapixel image. The image on the right, even with its higher resolution, fails to provide a clearer image. Issues with noise and graininess result in an image with inferior detail.