Digital Video and HD: Algorithms and Interfaces (The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Computer Graphics)

When a book covers as many topics as this one does, I expect each topic to be handled very superficially. Instead, there is substantial depth in each topic. Information density is high and fluff is rare. The presentation is also quite good, with sidebars, references, graphs and tables. The glossary is large and well written. Many technical books are sure cures for insomnia. This book is amazingly interesting. Unfortunately, some things are not clear. With some graphs, it is unclear what is being plotted. At times he tries to make subtle technical distinctions using everyday words for which the precise meaning is non-obvious in this context. In spite of not understanding everything, I'm very pleased with what I've learned from this book. It cleared up things that have puzzled me for a long time. At this point, I've read only half the book, but already feel it was worth the purchase price.

I wish that I had read this book 25 years ago!This is the best introduction to digital video that I have seen.Whether you are a new electrical engineering student hoping to learn about video, a video editor, or a production professional, this book has something to offer to you.Charles Poyton starts with the basics and explains in a conversational tone what pixels, screen sizes, luminosity, color recognition, digital encryption, and a host of other topics are.I love this book!

Charles Poynton is the master of capturing practical image and video information so that it can be used. This is not a book on exotic imaging theory and color science and in fact the author thinks about things in an intuitive way rather than as obscure computer models. However, this book does cover what one needs to know in order to effectively deal with various video formats and convert between color models. The math is presented in a clear and practical way which can be immediately used in image processing software or to determine proper setup parameters for display or a conversion.

Well written and up to date. Has everything you need to know about video, digitalvideo and HD. Better keep up as HD is here to stay. This book will help you with that.Great service by seller, too. Book was in pristine condition. I would highly recommendthis product and seller, too. Much thanks.

Deep Dense Fully Packed No one does it like Poynton

there is the story of the video, the standard, the math, the system, all ...but you have to be very prepared in phisics and mathematics...be very patient ...at the end you'll be a real expert

I was interested in this book mainly because of the content dealing with vision and less on the technical aspects. I've been involved in ISO and ANSI vision standards as part of my profession, including color standards. I think a reference book that combines visual and technical aspects of imagery fills an important niche in vision science and optical engineering. With that in mind, I was impressed with how much information was covered in this reference book. I will be using it for my work.Unfortunately, I think the parts of the book that deal with vision are the weakest parts of the book. Clearly the author doesn't have formal training in this area and is not up to date on what takes place in vision science and color science. However he does have a rudimentary understanding and that is perhaps enough for the primary readership he is reaching. As an example, he mentions that researchers in the United States do not use SI units. That is completely false and has been false for well over 30 years. All vision scientists such as myself have been using international units for decades. For someone who is supposedly an expert to make such a blatently untrue statement seems odd to me.The authors gets some things incorrect about psychophysical testing and makes assumptions that aren't true. He clearly has read some older texts on the subject and thinks these methods are still practiced, when they are not. It is a pity that he didn't invite a co-author who was a vision scientist or a color scientist to help write the book, or at least bring it up to date. Anyone reading the sections on vision and physiological aspects of color should take the information in the book with a grain of salt. It is good as an introduction, but shouldn't be used as a complete or even accurate reference on the subject.I did notice some errors in some of the figures. Some even gave me a chuckle, but such things do happen when you have one author and apparently no professional editorial assistance to find such errors before printing. The errors I found were not serious, but there are technical portions of the book that are not in my area of expertise and I can't speak for errors in those sections.One of the most frustrating aspects of the book is that it is so poorly referenced. I took off a star for that alone. This is supposed to be a reference book, but there are very few references and the ones that are there, are thrown in on the margins as kind of an afterthought. There is no citation of these back to the text, plus there are important sections in the text that beg to be cited. The references are also not listed in order at the end of each chapter. This is a shame and I'm sure it happened because the author has no formal scientific training to understand the importance of citing his sources so the reader can research a topic in greater detail from the original source.Despite the weaknesses of the book, I will keep it and hope to use it occasionally or refer others to it. I think it fills an important void. It would have been a better book if it included input from a vision scientist and if the author had correctly cited his source material.

Great content but not very clearly written which is a great shame, Worth the effort though.

stonking.

Wer sich für die Grundlagen von digitalem Video interessiert, kommt an diesem Standardwerk kaum vorbei. Ich nutze das Buch häufig als Referenz und recherchiere wichtige Zusammenhänge schneller als im Internet.