Digital Camera
FAQ
Pre Sales After Sales
What is a digital camera?
A digital camera captures pictures, processes them internally and stores them in a digital format. Instead of film, it uses a fixed or removable semiconductor memory to store the pictures. It can have all the features a normal photocamera has, and as well it connects directly to a computer, a TV or printer, and sometimes even directly to a (mobile) telephone or handheld PC. Due to the fact the the processing is done internally, the user can check immediately if the picture is right, print it or send it away by E-mail or telephone.
The ESP2 has a flash, and als can be operated with a remote control

Why would I use a digital camera?
Digital pictures are instantly being processed. A lot of digital cameras have a small colour screen, that can be used to immediately see the picture that has been taken. So checking on the spot. The camera can also be connected to a variety of other products, thus making it possible to do something with the pictures rightaway.

  • Sometimes pictures can also be loaded into the camera, so that the camera can be used for presentations, slideshows and so on
  • Because digital photographs are normal PC-files, they can be modified, inserted into documents, presentations, Webpages and so on.
  • Digital pictures can be also sent by e-mail to your friends, colleagues, relatives or whoever.
  • There is no need to buy film anymore, and there is also no environmental damage due to film chemicals anymore. Digital cameras can work on rechargeable batteries.

    What can I use the camera for?
    In principle the camera can be used to take pictures of anything. But of course, looking at the advantages, digital cameras are especially useful to take quick snapshots, when not much time is available to do film processing, or when the digital image has to be processed with a PC. And because taking an additional picture is almost free, you can just click. Finally, because you can instantly see what you get, you don't run the risk that later on (too late) you have to go back and retake a picture.

    What are the main internal building blocks?
    lens used to focus light onto CCD.
    CCD Charge Coupled Device, transfers light into analogue currents.
    ADC convertor Converts analogue into digital signals.
    DSP Processor, which make a picture out of digital currents.
    JPEG codec Compresses picture into JPEG format.
    Memory Stores picture, can be a card, floppy, MD or fixed.
    LCD screen Used as viewfinder and to review pictures.
    Keyboard To operate the camera.
    Interconnections To connect camera to TV, PC or RC.
    Batteries To generate power, often also AC/DC can be used.
    Flash

    How does the camera take a picture?
    The shutter activates a CCD-sensor (CCD= Charge Coupled Device) which has a light sensitive grid. This grid contain cells (also called pixels) which convert light into an electrical current. CCD's are also being used in camcorders. They convert light into Red/Green/Blue colour signals, which later on can be recombined to make any colour. The elecrical currents are converted into a digital signal, the signal is processed and stored into the memory.
    The ESP2 uses a CCD with 350,000 pixels, which gives a picture with a 640 x 480 pixel resolution format called VGA.

    What are the most expensive building blocks?
    CCD, DSP,LCD screen and memory

    Is there no risk that the memory is erased by accident, e.g. at airports?
    The memory is similar to the memory used in PC notebooks and personal organizers. So it can be erased by the user, but not by safety gates at airports.

    How many pictures can I store?
    That depends on the size of the memory, which is described in Megabytes (similar to a PC harddisk) and the quality of the picture, which is normally expressed in kiloBytes (like a PC file). The higher the picture quality, the more memory is needed. And of course the higher the memory amount, the more pictures can be stored.

    Normally a digital camera can store between 10 and 200 pictures. As often the user can select the picture quality, also the amount of pictures that can be stored can be influenced. Cameras with removable memory (cards) in fact offer unlimited storage, as the card can be replaced.

    The ESP2 can store 25 pictures in Fine Mode, or 50 in Normal mode, or 100 in Economy mode, and any combination of these formats that does not exceed the maximum memory of 4 MegaBytes.

    What happens if the memory is full?
    If the memory is full, no new picture can be stored. The camera can issue a warning before this happens, and indicate the remaining amount of pictures, just like a photo camera sometimes does. If the memory is full either:

  • some or all pictures have to be erased.
  • some or all pictures have to be transferred to a PC harddisk or other storage medium.
  • some or all of the pictures have to be compressed more, thus freeing space.

    • From the ESP2 the pictures can be transferred to a PC, but also to a VCR, and they can also be printed directly or via a PC on the colour printer VCP1

    How is the camera powered?
    Most cameras can use normal batteries of the AA/LR6/UM3 size, and they can also use an external power supply. As digital cameras use quite some energy, especially for the LCD display, our advice is to use alkaline or rechargeable Nickelmetalhydride batteries.
    The ESP2 uses AA size batteries and can also be powered via the 5V autovoltage AC/DC adaptor AY3140.

    How do I clean the LCD screen of the camera?
    Use a soft solk cloth, or take a piece of Scotch tape, put it on the LCD and pull off. Repeat as needed.

    What if my camera needs service?
    Contact a Philips Service Center. You can find the address and telephone number in the Worldwide guarantee booklet.

    What picture storage format is used in the ESP2?
    The ESP2 stores picture in the JPEG format, which is most commonly used for still picture storage. If you want to store in a different format, you have to download the picture into a PC and use PhotoStudio Lite to convert to TIF, BMP, PCX or TGA format.

    How large are the files?
    The pictures have a size of app. 40, 80 or 160 kiloByte, depending on whether you used Economy, Normal or Fine on the camera.

    What kind of batteries uses the ESP2?
    For maintaining the internal clock the ESP2 uses a CR2025 battery, which only rarely needs replacement. For regular use the camera uses AA/LR6/UM3 sized batteries. You can use Philips Powerlife, alkalines, and as well rechargeable batteries, such as NiMH and NiCad

    What accessories come with the ESP2?
    The ESP2 comes with an AV-cable, a softcase, a strap, a CR2025 battery, 4 Powerlife batteries, a PC cable, a Macintosh cable, a CD ROM with Philips PhotoStudio Lite and additional CD-ROM's with an electronic book and more utility software, and manuals.

    What accessories come with the VCP1?
    The VCP1 comes with an Ac power cord, a camera cable, a ribbon cartridge, 25 sheets of photopaper, 1 floppy disc with drivers for Windows 95/3.1, 1 floppy disc with drivers for the Macintosh, and a user manual

    What optional accessories are available?
    1. AY3140 multivoltage AC adapter.
    2. AY3740 9-key credit card remote control.
    3. AY3910 50 sheet photo paper and a ribbon cartridge.

    How do I install the PhotoStudio Lite software?
    The software comes on a CD ROM and contains documentation on how to do this:

    In Windows 3.1x select: File then Run and then enter the drive letter of the CD-ROM drive (e.g. D or E), a colon (: ) and setup. In Windows 95 first select Start , then Run and then enter the drive letter of the CD-ROM drive, a colon and setup.

    How do I connect the camera to the PC?
    The system is designed for set-ups with closely positioned loudspeakers. For

    Why does Incredible ace apart?
    First the PC software has to be installed in the computer via the Setup-procedure. The camera connects to a 9-pins serial port of a PC via a serial cable, which is included. Normally PC's are equippped with 2 serial ports and we advise to use COM2. Sometimes this port may be used by the mouse in which case you will have to reassign the mouse to a different port. Sometimes on the PC only a 25-pin (male or female) connector is available. In that case you have to buy a 25-to-9-pin convertor, which is commonly available in PC-stores. After making the cable connection, you have to power on the camera and after that load the PC-software. For a Macintosh computer a similar procedure applies.

    How do I make prints?
    You can make prints yourself with the VCP1, which connect directly to the camera, and also to a PC (parallel port). You can also use a colour printer or you can have others do it for you.

    If you want to print yourself there are several options:

    • Print directly from the camera to the colour printer VCP1. You can use a TV or the small LCD to select your prints and you can print them one by one.
    • The second approach is to print via a PC. In that case the printer and the camera are both connected to the PC. Use the PC software to load a picture and press the print command. For the printer several options are open: the VCP1 can be used, but also a colour inkjet- or laserprinter could be used.

    In some countries photography stores and copier services offer digital image printing services, where all you need to do is bring your camera of files and have them printed. A second option are companies that allow you to send pictures by e-mail, and they will send back the prints via regular mail. Check for instance the web site of:

  • http://photodisc.connectinc.com/
  • http://www.filmworks.com/
  • http://www.pictureweb.com/
  • or AOL (www.aol.com) or Compuserve (www.compuserve.com). The VCP1 is a dedicated printer of the sublimation-dye type, which gives a higher image quality. Deskjet printers are more versatile, but take much longer to print and give a lower quality.

    How do I connect the camera ESP2 to the printer VCP1?
    Use the serial port of the camera and connect it to the serial port of the printer. The cable for this is included with the printer and can also be created by connecting the PC and Mac cable that come with the camera into one cable.

    I wanted to connect the VCP1 to a PC, but there is no cable?
    for this you need a standard printer cable that can be obtained in any PC store. You can connect the VCP1 directly to the camera with the supplied cable.

    How do I connect the camera to a TV?
    Connecting works similar to connection a camcorder to a TV. Use the TV connection cable. Make sure the TV system of the camera (PAL or NTSC) is compatible with the TV that you are going to use (SECAM TV's can accept PAL cameras). Use the channel selector of the TV to adjust the input channel. Once camera and TV are connected, use the remote to oprate the camera.

    How do I connect the Ac/Dc to the camera?
    Just plug it into the wall socket and connect the other end to the DC plug on the camera.

    I cannot upload slides to the camera, how come?
    The ESP2 only accepts pictures in JPEG format with a resolution of 200 dpi and a size of 640 x 480 pixels. Use PhotoStudio to adjust the size of the pictures to the above format and insert them into an album. After that you can download the album. If the picture that you want to include has a different aspect ratio, paste the picture onto a background picture with the right aspect ratio. Make sure you leave a margin of roughly 10% if you want to display the picture on a TV or projector. By using Windows Paint for instance you can create such a background in the right format and colour