Eye on Imaging Volume 4, No. 6 • November 2007

The President’s Focus

Show Me the Money – A Vision of Success for the Industry

Mobile camera phones are being increasingly used for innovative, “non-traditional photography” applications such as connecting digital information with physical objects. These image-driven mobile marketing techniques support a broad range of e-commerce transactions.

If your company is working on any of these advanced technologies, and if you’re reading this newsletter, you’ve already taken the first steps. Get involved, come to I3A, roll up your sleeves and take charge of the future of imaging. Be a driver.

CPIQ White Paper Now Available

“Fundamentals and Review of Considered Test Methods” Can be Downloaded Free of Charge

http://www.i3a.org/pdf/cpiq_white_paper.pdf

Special thanks to the following companies for their work on Phase 1: Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), DxO Labs, Eastman Kodak Company, Flextronics International, Foveon Inc., HP, Micron Technology, Motorola, Nethra Imaging, Nokia, NVIDIA, Palm, Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications, Sensata Technologies, Sprint, and Texas Instruments.

CPIQ Phase 2 Open Meeting in Paris

CPIQ Phase 2 will expand on the Phase 1 survey of image quality metrics and measures.

AMD, DxO Labs, Eastman Kodak Company, FotoNation, Foveon, FUJIFILM, HP, Image Engineering, Marvell, Micron, Motorola, Nokia, Philips Lumileds, Sony Ericsson, STMicroelectronics, Texas Instruments, Vista Point Technology and Zoran

Companies must be members of I3A at the Participating or Strategic level in order to take part in CPIQ Phase 2. To get involved, contact the I3A Standards Department, 914-285-4933. For membership information, contact Noel Mareno, (214) 244-1927.

Save These Dates in 2008!

Upcoming I3A Events to Put on YOUR Calendar

I3A E&H Committee Report: Fluorinated Chemicals Update

Submitted by Derek Guest, Eastman Kodak Company

North America

U.S. Activities for PFOS and PFOS-Related Substances

Current EPA regulations continue to exempt the use of perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) chemicals for specific purposes by the imaging and semiconductor manufacturing industries. In October 2007, EPA published a notice that added an additional 183 highly fluorinated substances to the current regulation, while extending the same exemption for the limited uses by the imaging industry.
U.S.Activities for PFOA, Fluoropolymers and Telomers
Concern continues worldwide for the adverse health and environmental effects of perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acids (PFCAs), especially perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA). In January 2006, EPA and the eight major manufacturers and users of PFOA announced the 2010/15 PFOA Stewardship Program, under which the companies committed to reduce facility emissions and product content of PFOA and other PFCAs by 95 percent by 2010, and to work toward eliminating emissions and product content by 2015.

For the imaging industry, the greatest concern remains that U.S.and foreign regulatory agencies continue to regard fluorotelomers and fluoropolymers as potential sources of PFOA and PFCAs. According to DuPont, preliminary test data suggest that breakdown of telomers to PFOA does not occur extensively. Additional testing is being conducted by industry groups and the U.S.government, but the results may not be available until 2009.

European Union

EU Activities for PFOS and Other Fluorinated Substances

The European Union issued a “Restriction on Marketing and Use Directive” for PFOS-related chemicals in December 2006. Current uses of PFOS by the imaging and semiconductor industries were exempted from the restrictions. The European Commission is currently conducting a risk assessment on PFOA with a view to developing similar restrictions in the future.

In the Nordrhein Westphalia region of Germany, authorities are investigating the sources of fluorinated surfactants detected in the environment. These contaminants were also detected in blood samples from members of the public, ostensibly from eating produce grown in contaminated compost. Investigations identified a number of sources, including a film recycling company and a hospital. Incidents such as these could lead to pressure on the European Commission to reduce further the exempted uses of PFOS-related substances.

Japan

Japan Activities for PFOS and PFOS-Related Substances
Members of the imaging industry in Japan (PMMA) have continued to hold discussions with the Ministry of Economy Trade and Industry (METI), which represents Japan in environmental discussions at the United Nations, to obtain the support of the Japan government in the November meeting on Persistent Organic Pollutants (see below). METI has indicated that they expect to regulate PFOS under the Japan Chemical Control Law (Kashin-Ho) at the end of 2009. PMMA members are working with METI to seek exemptions for our current uses.

International Activities on PFOS

The UN Environment Programme is continuing its process that will lead to classification of PFOS as a persistent organic pollutant (POP) under Stockholm Convention. At the same time, the U.N.Economic Commission for Europe is reviewing PFOS under the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution. While the classification as a POP is inevitable, the I3A E&H Committee has submitted several sets of comments to the technical working group of the UNEP Secretariat to avoid a complete ban of PFOS, and in support of an Annex B listing (“Restriction”) with an “acceptable purpose” exemption for our specific ongoing critical uses of PFOS. In addition, the Committee has been in direct communication with the regulatory agencies in the US, EU, and Japan in order to build support for our position in the ongoing debate.

The POPs Review Committee meets in Geneva in November 2007 to develop its recommendations, which will be reviewed by the full Council of Parties in April 2008.

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I3A MarketPlace

The MarketPlace is a service for I3A members. There you will find I3A’s
publications, including white papers, Initiative specifications and standards,
most available free to members. You will also find special offers on products
and services available only to I3A members. Access the MarketPlace at:

http://members.i3a.org/Resource.phx/plaza/marketplace.htx.

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Industry Briefs

Electronics Salvage Company Adds Free Recycling

Salvage company SecondRotation has expanded its recycling services to include electronics with little or no market value. The company, which pays cash for cell phones, digital cameras, laptops, and other electronic equipment, announced that it would add recycling of older material to its services.
PCs losing relevance in Japan

The PC’s role in Japanese homes is diminishing, as its once-awesome monopoly on processing power is being encroached upon by gadgets such as smart phones that act like pocket-size computers, advanced Internet-connected game consoles, and digital video recorders with terabytes of memory. Japan’s PC market is already shrinking, leading analysts to wonder whether Japan will become the first major market to see a decline in personal computer use some 25 years after it revolutionized household electronics – and whether this could be the picture of things to come in other countries.

More Than 27,000 Attend 2007 PhotoPlus Expo in NYC

More than 27,000 photography professionals and enthusiasts flooded this year’s PDN’s PhotoPlus Expo held at New York’s Jacob Javits Center October 18-20. The photo event of the year nationally, this year marked the largest PhotoPlus Expo yet. Attendees had hands-on access to an inspiring array of photography, design and imaging products and services from a range of established and new exhibitors including Apple, Canon, Epson, Fuji, HP, Nikon, Olympus, Pentax, Samsung, Sony and many more. Unique to PDN’s PhotoPlus Expo was also the opportunity to learn from renowned industry professionals and masters.

WiMAX Approved as 3G Standard

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is expected to announce that WiMAX has been approved as a 3G IMT-2000 standard. The move will allow WiMAX deployments to occupy globally allocated frequency bands and complement or compete with other 3G technologies.

ITC’s Investigation into Qualcomm May End

The ITC may discontinue its investigation into Qualcomm’s patent holdings related to a suit Nokia brought against the company earlier this year, Qualcomm said. The company said an administrative law judge recommended ending the ITC proceedings because the companies have already entered into arbitration regarding their 2001 licensing agreement.

Philip Reichmann develops takeover of Black’s Photo from Fuji

There’s a bright future for photography shops in the digital age, according to Philip Reichmann, the well-known businessman leading a takeover of Black’s Photo Corp., which has 116 locations across Canada. “Photography and digital imaging are more popular than ever, technology is evolving at a dramatic pace and consumers are looking for greater and more personalized service,” said Reichmann, a 49-year-old scion of the property development family that built First Canadian Place in Toronto and the Canary Wharf business district in London.

Digital Photography Trends

Digital Photography for Print Production Best Practices White Paper

The Ghent PDF Workgroup (GWG) announced the availability of the GWG Photography White Paper. The GWG Photography White Paper gives publishers and photographers a compact set of digital photography guidelines for print production. Correct implementation of ICC color management and standards is essential to ensure that maximum quality is maintained from the original capture through to the final printed result. The GWG recommends using these guidelines for digital photography projects for print production.

DxO Optics Pro v5 Software Featuring a RAW Engine

DxO Labs has announced DxO Optics Pro v5, the latest version of its flagship software application for automatic image quality enhancement for Digital SLR camera users. DxO Optics Pro v5 is said to set a new standard for image quality with its new RAW conversion engine. DxO Optics Pro v5’s RAW conversion engine includes a completely new demosaicing algorithm which produces images with much more detail and fewer artifacts. Demosaicing is the crucial step of RAW conversion during which the camera’s image sensor pattern is reconstructed as a visible image for the human eye.

Price of Top Cameras to Drop ‘Steeply’

The prices of cameras featuring more than eight-million-pixels are expected to fall sharply towards the end of this year, claims a report published by Japan Camera Trade News (JCTN). The forecast was based on figures supplied by Japan’s Camera and Imaging Products Association (CIPA), comparing average prices of cameras exported from Japan from June 2005 to June 2007.

Industry Group Provides Tips to Save Photos in Wake of California Wildfires

If a disaster is on your doorstep, what will you do? Whether it is an impending fire, hurricane, tornado, or response to an earthquake, the most immediate reaction is to grab your kids, pets and the family photo album and leave the area of danger. However, today’s precious family memories are not necessarily stored as prints in a bulky album or a box, but are often on a computer hard drive, or, even better, on more portable CDs or DVDs. People just may not take the time to disconnect the computer and tote it out of the house when getting safely out of harm’s way may only give them minutes to escape.

The Record of Your Life as a Digital Archive

There are many reasons to digitize one’s precious records and store them on a PC: to preserve them from aging, to make multiple copies that can be kept in separate places, and to create multimedia slide shows, perhaps to show future generations. Digitizing records, whether documents, old photographs, or favorite LPs, “preserves history and lets people tell their stories,” said Mark Cook, marketing director for Kodak Gallery, a Web site that stores consumer photographs.

Tech Products For The Holidays: Start Making A List

Consumer electronics were a big hit of the holiday shopping season last year, and it probably won’t be any different this year, with flat-panel TVs, notebook computers, and digital cameras expected to top many lists for Santa, a market research firm said. Digital cameras are a returning old favorite that continue to offer consumers something new with feature and design upgrades that are being offered in combination with drastically lower prices, the research firm said. In addition, the devices are being offered in many new styles and colors.

Mobile and Camera Phone Trends

iPhone Mystery: 1.4 Million Sold, 250,000 Never Activated

Out of 1.4 million iPhones sold since the hot gadget debuted June 29, fully 250,000 have not been activated to run on AT&T’s wireless network, The New York Times and The Register, a British technology blog, both reported. “[A] number of [iPhones] were sold to people that have an intention to unlock and where we don’t know precisely how many people are doing that, our current guess is there is probably 250,000 of the 1.4 million that we sold where people had bought them with the intention of doing that,” said Chief Operating Officer Timothy B. Cook. “Many of those happened after the [September] price cut.”

Camera Phones Dominate Image Sensor Market

The 2006 image sensor market saw strong growth, due primarily to one application: camera phones, reports In-Stat. In 2006, image sensors for camera phones comprised over three-quarters of all image sensors shipped, the high-tech market research firm says. Fueled by camera phones, CMOS sensors dominated CCDs in units shipped in 2006. CMOS also made inroads into digital still cameras and camcorders in 2006, two markets that traditionally have been dominated by CCDs. CCDs continued to dominate the point-and-shoot sweet spot of the camera market. However, the rapidly growing digital single lens reflex (DSLR) market has been transitioning to CMOS sensors, led by Canon, which exclusively uses its own CMOS sensors.

Google Enters the Wireless World

After months of rumors and speculation, Google has finally revealed some details of its ambitious cellular phone agenda. The company said today that it is creating a new cell phone platform, called Android, that will include an operating system, user interface and applications. But the company isn’t going it alone. Instead it has enlisted the help of at least 30 high profile partners as part of the initiative, called the Open Handset Alliance. The group includes manufacturers such as HTC Corp., Qualcomm, Samsung and Motorola and operators T-Mobile International, Sprint Nextel and NTT DoCoMo. Of course, noticeably absent from the list are the two largest U.S. operators: AT&T and Verizon Wireless.

Extend Your Phone’s Camera With a Telescope

Mobile phone cameras and digital zooms are becoming more powerful, but sometimes they just don’t cut it when trying to take pictures of, say, the girl next door. So, online retailer Brando has launched an attachable telescope for mobile phones to solve all your distance-viewing problems.

Nokia claims 39% market share

Nokia posted a strong Q3: net sales came in at $18.386 billion, which is an increase of 28 percent year over year. Nokia also shipped 111.7 million units of devices, which is up 11 percent since last quarter and 26 percent year over year. Also, the handset maker’s market share increased by 1 percent, to 39 percent. Much like other handset makers, the increasing volume of phones shipped helped to offset declining ASPs. Nokia’s ASP came in at $117.

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Personal Spotlight —Donna Cohn

Donna holds a Bachelor’s degree in Marketing from The State University of New York College at Oswego and an Associate in Business Administration from the State University of New York College at Farmingdale.

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Member Spotlight —STMicroelectronics

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