Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Hello I'm just wondering what I should do my research on. My science fair topic is "How does the saturation levels affect the quality of a picture?" I'd be happy if anyone responded.

-Thanks

I'm assuming you're talking about what kind of background research to do. Do you have a particular experiment (here or documented somewhere else) in mind? If not, then I'd suggest you start by looking up definitions of saturation level, as well as documentation in photography journals regarding its various effects. Perhaps that will lead you to a hypothesis for a project. If you do have one in mind, please post a link and I or another one of us will be happy to take a look at it.

One idea may be to compare how photos have been developed (by various photo developing techniques) over the years and the manner that developing chemicals affect picture quality. Note the manner that old pictures seem to be less sharp than more recently developed ones. The chemicals used in the development and the corresponding amounts must affect the clarity.

This sounds like a fascinating project. Old photography techniques always fascinated me. Good luck.

skrillexforever,

Are you referring to digital photos or film/chemicals/paper photos? If you mean digital photos, are you looking to systematically vary the color saturation with GIMP (http://www.gimp.org/) or Photoshop and then ask people for subjective judgements by means of a questionnaire?


Heinz Hemken

@Ray Trent
Here's the link to my project. And yes I'm talking about my background research.
https://www.sciencebuddies.org//science ... p007.shtml

Hello. A great topic to explore!

The four most common image controls are brightness, contrast, saturation, and sharpness. I recommend you gain an understanding of the difference between the four categories. Then, learn how you can control saturation. Can you control this through your picture setup, camera settings, using image software afterward, or all of the above?

Ray's provides a good recommendation to look at professional photography journals. A simple google search provides a wealth of resources as well.

Good luck, and feel free to write back with further questions!
Cheers,