pixels, dithering

[musicus]

I have taken some pix with my Powershot SX170 and they have much pixelization even tough it's an

outdoors pic and there shouldn't be a problem with the clarity. The settings I used are Auto and Live. 

Why am I not getting a clear, clean photo? Thanks.

[kvbarkley]

Post it here. What are the pixel dimensions? Could you have set a small image size?

[musicus]

Here are the 2 pix,

Resolution is 188 pixels, width 488, height 313:

[rs-eos]

What are the pixel dimensions of your original image though?

The immediate thing I see is that the dynamic range in the scene is far beyond what your camera (and most cameras) would be capable of.  So the overexposed areas are adding quite a bit of blooming.

[kvbarkley]

If that 488 by 313 is right out of the camera, you have it set for a small image size.

If you are in movie mode, some cameras simply use a video frame in that mode. Make sure your camera is set to AUTO or P.

[musicus]

OK, so how would I set it for a normal landscape range? 

[rs-eos]

Not sure what you're asking.

In terms of ensuring the captured image size is of the highest resolution, see page 36 in the User Manual.

Page 129 mentions the resolutions for each choice.  With S (small) being only 640 x 480 (less than 1 MP) and L being 4608 x 3456 (approx 15 MP).

[rs-eos]

AUTO is independent of capturing movies or photos.  AUTO means that your camera will make all the decisions.

Let's back a bit though... are you capturing still images from movies?  If so, the camera will at most shoot HD (approx 2 MP), but due to many limitations in consumer equipment, your HD stills will be nowhere near HD produced by professional equipment.

If you are capturing still images, see above user manual reference and ensure your camera is not set to capture low-resolution images.

[musicus]

Just to clear up, I'm not referring to captured images from movies, although I do that from time to time. 

I'm referring to two things:

1. Still images (in PORTRAIT or AUTO mode) that are coming out way too pixelated.

2. Movies (in MOVIE mode) that are shot in decent lighting that are also way too pixelated.

May I add that I am not an expert and therefore I just want to rely on the camera's basic settings.

At least I want to choose the best correct setting.

[rs-eos]

We really need to know though _what_ resolution settings you are using.

For photos, see the above user manual reference.  What, specifically is the setting you are using? L, M1, M2 or S?

For video, your camera has two settings: HD or VGA.  And I was mistaken above that HD would be 1920 x 1080.  Your camera's HD is 1280 x 720 (less than 1 MP) and VGA I believe is 640 x 480 (same resolution as for still images of size 'S').

If your resolution of your stills/movies is too low, that would definitely be one factor in the low quality you are seeing.