sd 870is lcd panel free sample

Next up in Canon"s new camera frenzy is the Digital IXUS 860 IS, successor to the IXUS 850 IS. If you live in North America that sentence should read: "Next up in Canon"s new camera frenzy is the SD 870IS Digital ELPH, successor to the SD800 IS". Confused yet? You should be. The new model shares its predecessor"s 28-105mm wideangle zoom but ups the sensor resolution to 8.0MP and the screen size to a massive 3.0" (it almost fills the rear of the camera).

Not to be confused with: SD 850 IS (aka IXUS 950 IS, which is different to the SD 950 IS of course). Canon, please sort out your naming of IXUS/ELPH/IXY cameras?

Amstelveen, The Netherlands, 20 August, 2007 - Canon today introduces the latest evolution of the IXUS range of digital cameras for style-conscious photographers: the Digital IXUS 860 IS. Equipped with a 28mm (35mm equivalent) 3.8x wide-angle zoom lens with optical Image Stabilizer, the 8.0 Megapixel Digital IXUS 860 IS is the successor to the hugely popular Digital IXUS 850 IS. The Digital IXUS 860 IS offers a range of enhancements over its acclaimed predecessor. These include a 3.0” PureColor LCD and improved Face Detection Technology*. The camera’s high ISO capabilities work in tandem with an optical Image Stabilizer lens* to significantly reduce the risk of image blur.

The Digital IXUS 860 IS combines enhanced photographic capabilities with luxurious style. The classically curved Digital IXUS 860 IS has a two-tone body that contrasts simple silver lines with bold black elements. The inward curve of the top surface allows a comfortable grip and easy access to the new square button controls. A newly developed 3.0” PureColor LCD screen provides a crisp 230,000 pixel display, with enhanced colour reproduction and a new coating for protection against knocks and scrapes. Offering an increased viewing angle, the

In addition to SD, SDHC and MMC memory cards, the camera supports the new MMCplus and HC MMCplus formats for storage of up to 32GB. The Digital IXUS 860 IS comes supplied with a 32MB memory card.

The SD870 IS (known in Europe as the IXUS 860 IS and in Japan as the IXY Digital 910IS), announced in August, is a replacement for the SD 800 IS (IXUS 850 IS), one of last year"s most popular ultra compacts. It retains the SD800"s optically stabilized 28-105mm (equiv.) zoom lens, making it one of the only cameras in this sector of the market with this useful wideangle capability, and throws a few new or upgraded features into the mix, including improved Face Detection AF and red-eye reduction in playback mode, and Auto ISO shift. The other changes are fairly predictable, with a larger screen and just under one million extra pixels. The highlights of the specification are as follows:

The SD 870 IS is a distinctly gentle revision of the SD800 IS, launched around a year ago. It offers a larger screen than its predecessor but it loses the optical viewfinder to keep the overall body size virtually unchanged. It also gains a higher resolution sensor but loses out in terms of continuous shooting speed, with the frame rate dropping from 1.7fps to 1.3, suggesting the buffer has not been increased. Other noticeable gains include a useful user-definable function button, a touch control wheel and Auto ISO-shift function.

Loss of or damage to the Product due to abuse, mishandling, improper packaging by you, alteration, accident, electrical current fluctuations, failure to follow operating, maintenance or environmental instructions prescribed in Canon U.S.A."s or Canon Canada"s user"s manual or services performed by someone other than Canon U.S.A. or Canon Canada, or a Canon authorized service center for the Product. Without limiting the foregoing, water damage, sand/corrosion damage, battery leakage, dropping the camera, scratches, abrasions or damage to the body, lenses or LCD display or damage to any of the accessories mentioned in the first paragraph above, will be presumed to have resulted from misuse, abuse or failure to operate the Product as set forth in the operating instructions.

The Canon PowerShot SD870 IS was released on August 29, 2007 and was only the second point-and-shoot wide-angle lens camera produced by Canon. The SD870 was seen as the replacement model for the older SD800 that was released in later 2006. The SD870 offers a larger LCD screen (3.0" vs. 2.5") and better resolution (8.0 vs. 7.4 Megapixels) compared to its previous model.

The Hisense U8H matches the excellent brightness and color performance of much pricier LCD TVs, and its Google TV smart platform is a welcome addition. But it’s available in only three screen sizes.

The Hisense U8H is the best LCD/LED TV for most people because it delivers the performance of a much pricier TV yet starts at under $1,000, for the smallest (55-inch) screen size. This TV utilizes quantum dots, a full-array backlight with mini-LEDs, and a 120 Hz refresh rate to deliver a great-looking 4K HDR image. It’s compatible with every major HDR format. And it’s equipped with two full-bandwidth HDMI 2.1 inputs to support 4K 120 Hz gaming from the newest Xbox and PlayStation consoles. Add in the intuitive, fully featured Google TV smart-TV platform, and the U8H’s price-to-performance ratio is of inarguable value.

In terms of design, the Hisense U8H is not as svelte as our upgrade pick, but it’s plenty sturdy and doesn’t look or feel cheap. Two narrow, metal feet jut out from beneath the panel and steadily hold the TV. They can be attached in two separate spots, either closer in toward the middle of the panel or out toward the edges, to account for different-size TV stands. The feet are also equipped with cable organization clasps—a nice touch for keeping your TV stand free of cable clutter. Though the TV is primarily plastic, its bezels are lined with metal strips, providing a bit more durability in the long run. I moved it around my home, and it was no worse for wear, but we’ll know more after doing some long-term testing.

The Hisense U8H has some difficulties with banding, or areas of uneven gradation, where transitions that should appear smooth instead look like “bands” of color (sometimes also called posterization). Like many current 4K HDR TVs, the U8H uses an 8-bit panel rather than a 10-bit panel, which affects the color decoding and color presentation process. This is usually relevant only with HDR video and games. When playing games on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, I saw a few instances where the content wasn’t rendered correctly and displayed ugly splotches of color on the screen. However, this almost always occurred during static screens (such as a pause menu or loading screen); I rarely spotted it during actual gameplay. Hisense has stated that it would address the problem in a future firmware update, but at the time of writing it was still present. This is a flaw that may give dedicated gamers pause, but we don’t consider it to be a dealbreaker for most people.

Finally, like most TVs that use vertical alignment (VA) LCD panels, the U8H has a limited horizontal viewing angle, which may be a bit annoying if you’re hoping to entertain a large crowd. Our upgrade pick uses a special wide-angle technology to address this.

If you’re watching in a darker room and want the most accurate picture you can get—preserving the director’s intent—select the U8H’s Filmmaker Mode as your picture mode. In a brighter room, we recommend the Theater Day picture mode. In either case, you should go into the backlight settings, disable the automatic light sensor, and set the backlight to your personal preference. This is true whether you’re watching SDR or HDR content.

In the same way that you install Photoshop™ or Zoombrowser onto a computer (by copying the software onto your hard drive from, say, a CD) CHDK is installed by copying the CHDK software onto one of the camera’s "drives" - the SD flash memory card.

CHDK can be copied to your SD flash card using a file manager such as Windows Explorer. A card reader is used to connect the SD flash card to your computer. Once connected, the SD flash card appears like any other hard drive on the computer. Your printer may contain a usable card reader. Card readers are fairly inexpensive, and can simplify transferring of files, and thus files can be transferred via USB. See also: Raw Parameters, and DNG visible via USB.

Visit this Wiki: Prepare your SD card to learn how do to find the correct CHDK version for your camera and how to prepare your SD card to use it. If this is your first time using CHDK, it is strongly recommended that you use the STICK Utility to download CHDK and setup your SD card.

Once CHDK is installed on the camera"s SD memory card, you will need to start CHDK on your camera. As explained earlier, CHDK does not actually change your firmware which is stored in the camera"s internal flash ROM, so it must be loaded into the camera"s RAM each time the camera is started.

There are two methods of loading CHDK: the Firmware Update Method and the Bootable SD Card Method. Both methods are fully described on the Prepare your SD card wiki page.

The CHDK port for the specific firmware of the camera you are using does not support this method. Check the wiki page for your camera model. If this method is not supported, you can use the "Bootable SD Card Method".

The CHDK files were not correctly installed on to the root of the SD memory card. If you installed from a Mac, be sure to check this section: Still Having Trouble?

The steps needed to use this method depends on the specific firmware of the camera you are using, the size of the SD memory card, and the OS of the computer used to install CHDK on to the SD memory card. See Prepare your SD card for details. After the SD memory card is prepared, CHDK will load automatically when the camera starts if the SD card is LOCKED. To disable CHDK temporarily, just unlock the SD card.

When CHDK starts, this splash screen appears on the LCD for about 2 seconds, showing that CHDK is loading in to the camera’s RAM. (The splash screen can be disabled in Main Menu > CHDK Settings).

The unit value is indicated in the top left-hand corner of the OSD. When doing this, first select the menu item to be changed, then change the unit value with the zoom lever/switch, then change the selected menu item.

When this feature is enabled, the CHDK OSD screen display shows the EV-compensation settings. You may wish to move the OSD EV override display to block the camera"s own EV display to prevent confusion.

BRACKET in the OSD. With all bracketing types, the first exposure uses the current exposure settings of the camera. The exposure settings are adjusted as follows:

The following three options require that you have a SYSCURVES.CVF file in your /CHDK folder on the SD card. This file is included in the "full" CHDK packages and can also be obtained from this link: CurveUpdate.zip (which also contains a curve editor).

Note 2: Bitrate control is not available on all cameras. If not available, the options will be Quality and Default. Bitrate and Quality settings that are set too high can cause memory buffer overload, and stop recording, a red ! will show on the OSD. Also - a low quality setting, or near to full/fragmented SD cards, can have an effect on these settings.

Only a few cameras are supported. Pause and unpause video by pressing LEFT / RIGHT while recording. Note: When using this function the remaining video-record time calculation is reset, so the change is shown immediately in the OSD.

When this option is not set to Off, the edge overlay will not update continuously, but only when images are taken. Except for the very first image, you will always see the overlay of the previous image in frozen mode. "FROZEN" is shown in the top left corner of the OSD.

The CHDK Settings menu is used to configure the look, feel and operation of CHDK. This menu allows you to configure the CHDK On Screen Display (OSD) through the selection and positioning of on-screen information and icons showing the current state of camera operations. Other operating display functions can also be configured with this menu and the menu allow access to the setup of the CHDK USB remote control.

Both - hides OSD in both playback and by "display button cycling", Helpful to those who don"t need the battery and other indicators in their playback screens.

Displays a small SD card shaped icon on the screen to show how much filespace is left on the SD card. Opaque means remaining free space. Transparent means that space has been used. Use the OSD Layout Editor to position the icon anywhere on the screen.

Display the SD card space left in percentage of its total capacity. (Toggles between this and the MB option.) OSD display element positionable in the OSD Layout Editor.

Setting used in conjunction with above "Warning Unit" feature. Set the amount of SD-card space percentage remaining when you want that OSD element to turn to your chosen warning color.

P - Shorthand version of A or P for AM and PM on the OSD Clock (to save real-estate space). Ultra-shorthand version of AM or PM. Displays a simple "." after the time to indicate PM, no character is displayed for AM. Examples: 10:30 = 10:30 AM, 11:15. = 11:15 PM (note the small period after the 15).

Displays the OSD when in REVIEW mode. Do not confuse this with Playback mode. Review mode is when the last taken photo is temporarily being displayed as you hold down the shutter-button (and press SET to lock it into Review Mode) or when you have the Canon"s Menu "Review" options turned on. This allows you to keep the on-screen grid and other settings visible when reviewing the photo to see if you got the framing or other settings as you had intended.

The on-screen position of OSD items can be rearranged to suit personal preferences and to avoid the Canon items on the display. All OSD items are available in the Layout Editor although they will not actually appear on the OSD unless they are enabled individually in the OSD Settings menu.

Resets all CHDK option to the default values used when CHDK starts for the first time. This reset can also be accomplished by deleting any *.CFG files from the CHDK folder on the SD card (including CCHDK4.CFG, OSD__4.CFG, UMENU4.CFG, or GPS__4.CFG).

Useful when: You keep a separate folder for RAW files. You set up the camera to create a new folder everyday (several days trek, holidays etc). You want to erase the occasional mischievous RAW file stored in a different folder. Go to CHDK File Browser, select DCIM folder, push the LEFT to display the popup menu and select "Purge RAW" (See image 1). A warning will ask you to confirm (See image 2) and voila! You have regained some SD space. This feature will search through all the folders in DCIM looking for a RAW file (CRW/CR2 prefix or file extension) and if it finds one then will look for its JPG partner anywhere inside DCIM (comparing the 4 digit number assigned by the camera). If it is not found, the RAW file is erased.

For cameras with fold out LCD. Turns the LCD panel into a flashlight! When in Record Mode and the LCD panel is swiveled facing forward, the LCD display turns all-white so you can see your way around in the dark, or to illuminate some close object while setting up to take a photograph.

Reformats SD card with a small FAT16 primary partition and a larger FAT32 parition that takes up the rest of the SD card. Warning : using this function will delete everything on your SD card - including all your photos. Be sure to backup first!

This option creates a 2 MB FAT partition on the SD card, that"s fixed on the code for now. Copy the CHDK firmware extensions to this partition and load them, (The DISKBOOT.BIN and PS.FI2 files). Then select "Make card bootable" in "Main Menu > Miscellaneous stuff", so it does not complain when you write-protect the card. Next step is to select "Swap partitions" in "Main Menu > Miscellaneous stuff", this will hide this small partition and make the larger FAT32 one visible. We need to format it, and copy CHDK files DISKBOOT.BIN and PS.FI2 to it too, so we can perform "swap partitions" again. So format it in FAT32, copy CHDK, insert it on the camera and load CHDK using "Firmware Update", Select "Swap partitions" and "Make card bootable", write-protect the SD card, (lock with slider on side of SD card) and power- cycle the camera. It should now load CHDK from the small 2 MB partition, but have access to the larger FAT32 partition to store pictures, video and the CHDK folders.

Option to enable auto load of CHDK at startup if there is a DISKBOOT.BIN executable file in the root of the SD card. For cameras released prior to January 2011, the memory card must have FAT12 or FAT16 format for the bootable partition. For cameras released after January 2011, memory cards can use FAT32 format on the bootable partition. Note that large cards formatted in camera will be FAT32 and so will not boot on cameras release prior to 2012. See [ Prepare your SD card ] for more information.

After selecting this option, turn the camera off, remove the SD card and write protect, or "lock", the card. Reinstall the card and CHDK should automatically load.

Test write and read speed of the camera and SD cards. To compare memory cards. Since this function during the first pass provides inaccurate values a 2nd run should always be carried out, only the values of this 2nd run are meaningful.

Note :RAM dumps are written to the SD card in the DCIM/100CANON directory as JPG files. Each dump is numbered sequentially from CRW_0001.JPG forward. These are not actually JPG files - the use of this file naming convention is simply to allow the file(s) to be transferred to the PC via standard ptp based digital camera software.

When the Canon firmware crashes, it usually stores a log of current state information at the time of the crash. Using this function lets you save that log as a file (ROMLOG.LOG) in the top level folder of your SD card . This can be very useful to CHDK developers when they try to debug the cause of a crash - posting this log while reporting a bug/crash to the CHDK forum can be very helpful.

The most advanced of these program is probably CHDKPTP. It supports both a command line and GUI interface, and provides advanced scripting capability on the PC side via Lua. Complete camera control, file browsing, and "live view" in real time of the camera"s LCD are all supported.

A note on the CHDK xxxxxx.CFG configuration files : CCHDK4.CFG, OSD__4.CFG, UMENU4.CFG, and GPS__4.CFG. These files are found in the CHDK folder on your SD card and are used to save the changes you have made to the CHDK configuration - including to CHDK Overrides.

If these file are corrupted for some reason, it can cause weird behavior with CHDK camera settings. To test for this, find and rename the files so that new ones will be created at the next start-up. If this eliminates the erratic behavior the old files should be deleted, even though all your personal settings will be gone. You might be able to just deleting the CCDHK4.CFG file in some cases - saving as result your OSD, User Menu, and GPS settings.

it is advisable to keep a copy of "known good" CFG files from your camera version to use as replacements for corrupted ones, or to add them to other CHDK enabled SD cards used with that camera, so that you have them loaded with your preferred settings.

The SD870 IS is most accurate when slightly underexposed, which is why the inner rectangles are brighter than the squares. Many of the colors are very close to their ideals, with the exception of a couple yellows and oranges. The graph below shows color accuracy in a different way. The background of the graph represents the color gamut, and the ideal colors of the chart are shown as squares, while the colors the camera reproduces are shown as circles. The lines connecting each square and circle show the color error.

The 8-megapixel Canon SD870 IS has the best resolution at ISO 80, f/5.6, and a focal length of 14.7mm. The camera resolves 1640 lw/ph horizontally with 11.6 percent oversharpening, and 1470 lw/ph vertically with 11.8 percent undersharpening. Not only are these unimpressive resolution numbers, but the sharpening levels are damaging to the image quality. Almost all photos taken with this camera are way too oversharpened horizontally, which introduces white "ghosting" lines along edges of high contrast (click the chart image above to see for yourself). Additionally, the vertical undersharpening leads to soft edges in the other direction. Another problem with the SD870’s optical performance is the significant chromatic aberration, or "color fringing," which is apparent on the edges of images. Overall, the SD870 IS scores poorly in resolution and significantly worse than its predecessor, the SD850 IS.

The SD870 IS has very low noise at ISO 80, and manageable noise from ISO 100 to 400. At ISO 800 and 1600, however, noise levels rise to extreme levels. This will be apparent when you click on the still life images further down the page. The noise itself is quite ugly; small sandy white specks litter the images, along with larger colored splotches. This is a camera you want to keep at as low an ISO setting as possible. Overall, the SD870 IS scores lower than average for a 2007 point-and-shoot, but a touch higher than the SD850 IS.

We also test the noise levels of each camera with ISO speed set to Auto. The SD870 IS chose ISO 200 under our bright studio lights, but still produced a significant amount of noise visible when viewed at 100 percent. It is worth keeping this camera at ISO 80 when shooting in bright light, especially if you are thinking of cropping your images or printing them large.

*Set to Auto white balance, the SD870 IS is extremely accurate using the flash, very accurate in fluorescent light, mediocre in outdoor shade, and terrible in tungsten light. However, poor auto white balance is the case for most cameras under tungsten light. Occasionally the yellow cast it gives is pleasing, but it usually isn’t. Overall, the SD870 IS does very well in Auto white balance.

Color accuracy holds up very well in low light. It is less accurate than in bright light, but still more accurate in low light than some point-and-shoots are in bright light. Noise levels are extremely high, which is why you should avoid using this camera at ISO 1600 whenever possible. However, shooting at such a high ISO speed is the only way to capture an even exposure at 5 lux, which the SD870 IS is able to do with no problem.

We also test long exposure performance in low light, at ISO 400. The SD870 IS has a Long Shutter option hidden in the Exposure Compensation settings under the Function menu. The Long Shutter option allows shutter speeds from 1 to 15 seconds long. Color accuracy suffers a bit in long exposures, but noise levels are very reasonable. It is almost impossible to manually white balance accurately when in Long Shutter mode and there is no light meter telling you if your exposure is even, but it is still a fun addition to the camera.

The SD870 IS has solid dynamic range at ISO 80, but falls off quickly at higher ISO sensitivities. If you are shooting high contrast scenes, keep this camera on ISO 80. At higher ISO speeds, the high noise levels drown out detail in the dark areas of the photos. Overall, the dynamic range is below average, and not any better than the SD850 IS that came before it.

**Speed/Timing **– All speed tests are conducted using a Kingston Ultimate 120X 2GB SD Card, with the camera set to highest resolution and best quality.

The SD870 IS takes 0.8 seconds to process one full resolution superfine 3.2 MB photo taken at ISO 160. This is an impressive speed, and helps users take repeated photos quickly.

We test the Movie mode in bright light by recording footage of our color charts under evenly lit studio lights set to 3000 lux. Under tungsten lights, the SD870 IS has a frightening color error of 22.9, but this is actually common for cameras set to Auto white balance shooting under tungsten lights. Colors are also highly oversaturated in bright light video, making them vivid but unnatural. Noise levels in bright light are very low.

We also record footage in low light to see how the camera performs. Interestingly, SD870 IS has much more accurate colors in low light, with a mean color error of 12.3. Again, colors are quite oversaturated as well. Noise levels are fairly high, but manageable.

To test video performance in real life scenes, we take cameras down to the street and capture footage of moving cars and pedestrians. The SD870’s outdoor motion looks fantastic for a digital camera, showing great color reproduction, even exposure, excellent detail, very little moiré, and none of the highlight streaking we see in other camera video. It is still not camcorder quality, however, as you will see some jerkiness of moving objects leaving the frame. Overall, the video motion looks great, and caps off an impressive video performance.

The older Canon SD850 has an optical viewfinder, but the new SD870 chose to omit it because its larger 3-inch LCD screen took up all the space on the back of the camera. There is simply no room for a tiny window. This isn’t a bad thing, because the optical viewfinder on the SD850 was small, blurry at the edges, and not very accurate. Users are better off using the LCD screen with its 100 percent accuracy, exposure preview, and larger view.

The low-temperature polycrystalline silicon TFT color LCD has some of the widest viewing angles on any digital camera. It can be seen when held to the right or left of the eyes, or when held above and below. The SD870 is a great choice for concert-goers who like snapping pictures above the heads of the crowd.

The LCD has an anti-glare and anti-scratch coating, and while it seems durable it still catches glare from bright lighting. It could maybe pass as "glare reduction," but certainly wasn’t impervious to the lighting.

The display on the LCD screen can be changed with the designated display button in the lower right corner of the camera’s back , as well as with a few menu items. The display button leaves the screen blank or shows exposure and file information. There is also a Recording menu item that adds display features such as grid lines, a 3:2 guide, or both. In the Setup menu, the LCD brightness can be adjusted on a +/- 7 scale with a preview.

Overall, the Canon SD870’s LCD screen is large and has great resolution and very wide viewing angles. It works well for young concert-goers who snap pictures of the faraway band and crowd surfers, and also works for people who need a larger menu font and bigger view.

Both digital cameras have optical image stabilization systems, as designated by the "IS" at the end of the camera’s model name. The Canon SD870 IS has Continuous, Shoot Only, Panning, and Off modes available in the Recording menu. Continuous runs down the battery quicker, and is the only option in Movie mode – as it should be. The optical zoom lens isn’t functional in Movie mode, but it’s nice to have the stabilization system to keep jitters out of the videos.

There is a small zoom ring around the shutter release button that controls the lens. When pushed, it can stop at seven focal lengths zooming in and out. The Canon lens makes an annoying electronic noise when it moves. Unfortunately, there is no graphic on the LCD screen to show the approximate location of the lens; most cameras have a graphic or at least show, for example, "1.8x" in order to show how much zoom is left before it maxes out. The lens also backfires a little when zooming out and settling on a focal length.

The Canon PowerShot SD870 IS comes in silver and black, although both have a silver front. It is the back panel that has the color change, along with the base of the lens barrel. The SD870 carries on the tradition of its Digital Elph predecessors with the "perpetual curve" design; the side where the right hand grips the camera is rounded. This adds a little interest to the eye. The combination of chrome, black, and brushed metal components makes the SD870 an attractive digital camera.

The SD870 isn’t the slimmest digital camera on the market, but it is still one of the best-looking. It measures 3.65 x 2.32 x 1.02 inches, making it thicker than pocket models like the 0.68-inch thin Casio S880. The hefty body weighs in at 5.5 ounces, not including the battery and memory card. It won’t break wrists, but it still feels heavier than a chunk of camera that size should.

The SD870 made some slight handling improvements, the most significant being that its body doesn’t have the same slippery finish as the SD850. The earlier model handled like a live, wet fish. The Canon PowerShot SD870 IS still isn’t the easiest camera to handle, though. It is small, speckled with smooth chrome, and doesn’t have much to hang onto.

The multi-selector is slightly bowl-shaped, but not enough to make handling comfortable or navigation flawless. Users with large fingers will have trouble differentiating between the directions on the selector because it is a smooth-sided control. In the Setup menu, the "touch icon" feature can be activated to show which direction the selector is moving on the LCD screen. This is interesting, as it magnifies the icon (e.g. flash bolt) on the pressed side of the virtual selector. Modes can also be changed by caressing the selector like a rotary dial; this doesn’t work nearly as well as it should, but can be done.

The SD870 IS has the same menus included on other Canon PowerShot digital cameras – except they are bigger and more readable on the 3-inch LCD screen. The menu system is split into two: an easily accessible Function menu with the options on one screen, and a lengthier tabbed menu with recording, setup, and customization options. First things first: here is the Function menu.

The Canon PowerShot SD870 IS is fairly simple to use, especially if users are familiar with other PowerShot digital cameras. The layout and menu systems are the same. The large LCD screen makes the menus very easy to read and the buttons are properly spaced and labeled, although the multi-selector is quite cluttered with icons. Handling seems to have been tossed to the wind, but that’s common for tiny portable point-and-shoot digital cameras. All in all, the Canon SD870 isn’t a tough cam to figure out.

On most digital cameras, the Auto mode is easily located on a mode dial, but it’s a little more complicated than that on the Canon SD850 IS. The mode switch must be slid to the far right, where there is a camera icon. This icon is a position for several exposure modes: Auto, Manual, Digital Macro, Color Accent, Color Swap, and Panorama modes are found at the top in the Function menu. The Auto mode is the quickest to scroll to, but still requires entering a menu – which can be intimidating for beginners. In the Auto mode, only image size and compression options are available in the Function menu. On the multi-selector, the ISO can be changed from auto to high ISO auto, the Flash mode switched from auto to off, the single drive changed to any of the Self-Timer modes, and the Macro Focus mode enabled. The Auto mode works well as the almost-all-purpose mode, but the Manual mode is better for situations such as backlit subjects.

The Burst mode on the Canon PowerShot SD870 IS is unchanged from its predecessor. There is a Single Drive mode that takes a picture about every 2 seconds, along with a 1.3 fps Continuous Shooting mode. The performance of the Burst mode is largely dependent on the card put into the camera. When I used a standard SanDisk 512MB SD card, the camera snapped four pictures at its 1.3 fps pace but then started stuttering along at a slightly slower pace. When a Kingston Ultimate 120X 2GB SD card was used for our more formal testing, the camera smoothly shot a picture every 0.75 seconds until the card was filled.

The SD870’s Playback mode is accessible from a button in the upper right corner of the back. It can be pushed even when the camera is turned off, and will turn on directly to the Playback mode in that case. The button access makes it easy to return to shooting pictures by pushing the playback button or the shutter release button.

Pictures can be viewed in screens of nine images at a time and also chosen and magnified 2 to 10x. File information and histograms can be displayed along with pictures. And if the "focus check" feature is enabled in the Recording menu, users can view a magnified portion of the frame alongside the bigger picture on the nice 3-inch LCD.

The selection for erasing and protecting images has been updated on recent PowerShot digital cameras. Older models require users to check individual pictures before deleting them in batches. The Canon SD870, however, allows users to mark the first and last pictures in a series and delete them and everything in between. This is a much faster process.

Overall, the Canon PowerShot SD870 IS’s Playback mode is thorough with lots of ways to view pictures, a decent array of editing options, and great slide shows coupled with the large 3-inch LCD screen.

The Canon PowerShot SD870 IS’s autofocus system isn’t as quick as it should be. It’s a little slow to the draw on candid shots. It takes a few tenths of a second to focus and take a picture, and takes a little longer when the lens is zoomed all the way in. More details on its speed can be found in the Testing/Performance section.

The SD870 IS can focus as close as 1.5 feet normally and 1.2 inches in Macro mode. Macro mode can focus as far as 2 feet before subjects start looking fuzzy. The Digital Macro mode can focus from 1.2 inches to 2 feet. Of note is the autofocus assist beam that can be turned on and off in the Recording menu.

The freshly upgraded face detection system is one of the biggest perks over the SD850, which can only recognize nine faces at a time. Is it worth it? It depends on how often users photograph incredibly large groups of people. The SD870 tracks faces at sharper angles too, instead of only the straight-ahead profile on the SD850.

When the Canon SD870 is tracking faces, it shows a white bracket around the primary face and gray brackets around the secondary ones. The live view doesn’t always show how many faces are truly recognized, though. I snapped several pictures of a large group of people, and on the screen I saw six frames around faces at most. When I looked at the picture in Playback mode, however, more frames would appear. The most I could eek out of the system was 11 recognized faces in one picture.

The Canon PowerShot SD870 IS has an ISO range that remains unchanged from the earlier model. It has 80, 100, 200, 400, 800, and 1600 options, along with Auto and High ISO auto modes. Like the SD850, it also has an Auto ISO Shift feature that detects blur and warns the user. Users can instantly up the ISO by having this feature turned on all the time, or activate it by pushing the print/share button. The ISO range maxes out at 1600, but users should be wary of setting it above 80. More details are available in the Testing/Performance section of this review, but there is a lot of noise that appeared in the images when the ISO is increased.

The SD870’s Canon lens is wider and has a nice f/2.8 aperture at its 28mm focal length. However, when the camera is zoomed to its full 3.8x power, the aperture diminishes to f/5.8 and lets only a small amount of light pass to the image sensor. The older Canon SD850 has a narrower lens, with the same f/2.8 max aperture, but shrinks the aperture to f/5.5 in Telephoto mode. Just to compare, the Fujifilm FinePix F50fd’s 3x optical zoom lens has an f/5.1 aperture in Telephoto, and the Kodak EasyShare V705 shrinks to f/4.4 at its 117mm longest focal length.

The Canon PowerShot SD870 IS has 8 megapixels on its 1/2.5-inch CCD. It has plenty of size and compression options easily accessible in the Function menu. Size options include 3264 x 2448, 2592 x 1944, 2048 x 1536, 1600 x 1200, 640 x 480, and 3264 x 1832 (widescreen). The 1600 x 1200-pixel size has a "postcard" mode that saves the date in the EXIF data. Compression sizes include Superfine, Fine, and Normal. In Playback mode, users can shrink images to 1600 x 1200, 640 x 480, and 320 x 240 so they can be directly uploaded to blogs and websites or transferred to camera phone albums. The resized files can be saved separately or they can overwrite the original file, depending on which choice is selected in the menu.

Custom Color mode allows users to scroll through different parameters and adjust them in five steps: contrast, sharpness, saturation, red, green, blue, and skin tones. Overall, the Canon SD870’s picture effects are thorough.

The SD870 comes with version 31.0 of Canon’s Digital Camera Solution Disk CD-ROM. This includes ImageBrowser 6.0, PhotoStitch 3.2, and EOS Utility 1.1 for Macintosh and ZoomBrowser EX 6.0, PhotoStitch 3.1, Camera TWAIN Driver 6.8, and EOS Utility 1.1a for Windows. Apple QuickTime 7 is also included on the disk.

Users can also edit video in this software program. Users can merge separate clips into one show and add text, filters, and transition effects. The filters are fairly interesting and include Monochrome, Sepia, Emboss, and RGB adjustment. The Canon SD870 has more color effects in its Playback mode, though.

There is a tab in the Playback menu devoted entirely to creating print orders. Users can select images individually or in ranges and then choose the quantity of each image to print 0 to 99 times. A running tally appears on the LCD screen so users know how large their print order is as they add and sort through pictures. Users can select images by date, category, or folder, and can select all images at once. The print type can be changed from standard to index or both. The date can be turned on and off, as well as the file numbers. The DPOF data can also be cleared. The Canon SD870 has DPOF version 1.1 and is PictBridge compatible. With Canon Pixma, CP, and Selphy printers, it can also create ID photos and movie prints. The camera connects to printers with the included USB cable and can transfer pictures and print orders with the touch of the LED-adorned print/share button.

The Canon PowerShot SD870 IS is powered by the same NB-5L lithium-ion battery pack that came with the SD850. The new SD870’s battery lasts 270 shots, which is decent considering the battery’s skinny size and the LCD’s large size. The camera also comes with a convenient wall-mount charger that takes a little more than two hours to fully revitalize the battery.

Underwater Housing – The Canon WP-DC17 underwater housing fits this camera and can take it to depths of 130 feet. The SD870 accommodates this with an Underwater scene mode.

The Canon PowerShot SD870 IS retails for $399, the same price its predecessor was introduced at. The SD850 came out in the spring, and after a few months the price dropped to slightly more than $300. Perhaps in a few months, the same will happen to the SD870? We hope so. The $399 price tag is just too high, even when considering the large LCD screen and updated face detection.

Canon PowerShot SD850 IS – This digital camera is nearly a twin with its 8 megapixels and similar body size and shape. It is a few tenths of an ounce heavier as its body includes more metal, and its slick surface is harder to handle, too. The SD850 also has optical image stabilization and comes with a longer 4x zoom lens. The lens isn’t as wide, though, at 35-140mm, so it can’t capture large group photos as well as the new model. The SD850 has a smaller 2.5-inch LCD screen but the same 230,000-pixel resolution. It has the same exposure modes and 1.3 fps Burst mode. It has an older version of the face detection technology that recognizes nine faces compared to the newer version’s 35 faces. It has a Creative Light Effect scene mode that allows users to turn highlights in pictures to shapes like hearts and stars. It was announced in spring 2007 for the same $399 tag, but the price has since dropped to slightly more than $300.

Fujifilm FinePix F50*fd* – Fujifilm was the first to introduce true face detection to the masses with the F50*fd,* able to recognize 10 faces at a time. The 12-megapixel digital camera has a 3x optical zoom lens and optical image stabilization. It also has an intelligent flash component that uses the metering to determine how bright the flash output should be. This FinePix has an all-metal body that is nearly the same size, although the Canon has a classier look to it. Still, the F50*fd* has a decent 2.7-inch LCD screen, 15 Scene modes, and more manual control with aperture and shutter speed Priority modes, and IrSimple wireless transfer technology. It accepts xD-Picture and SD memory cards. The Fujifilm FinePix F50*fd* retails for $100 less at $299.

Kodak EasyShare M883 – This 8-megapixel camera comes at a budget price of $199 but has some similar specs. Its all-metal body looks very similar to the SD870, with a flat body and wide chrome lens barrel. It has a shorter 3x optical zoom lens that is much narrower at 38-114mm, and its face detection can only recognize up to 10 faces at a time. The Kodak M883 has a 3-inch LCD screen with 230,000 pixels and high definition output. Its ISO range extends up to 3200, but it skimps on the white balance with only four presets and no Custom mode. There is an extensive list of Scene modes and a Movie mode that records the same 640 x 480 pixels at 30 fps. It has 64 MB of internal memory and a slot for SD and MMC cards.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3 – This digital camera isn’t quite as sleek and flat, but is still small enough to fit in a pocket and comes with a 28mm wide, 10x optical zoom and optical image stabilization. It has a bit less resolution at 7.2 megapixels, but handles better and produces colors nearly as accurate. Like the SD870, the TZ3 has a 3-inch LCD screen with 230,000 pixels. It has 21 Scene modes and ISO that extends to 3200, but doesn’t have the face detection so many other cameras are now including. Still, it retails for $349 and can be found for $50 less online.

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T200 – This skinny digital camera is crammed with features and comes at the same $399 retail price. The 8.1-megapixel camera has a similar series of Exposure modes, including 10 Scene modes, Auto and Program modes, and a Movie mode. The T200 comes in a thin metal body that is completely flat and very sleek looking. It has a 5x optical zoom lens with image stabilization. Other trendy features include high definition output and face detection that recognizes eight faces at a time. Its Burst mode is faster at 2.2 fps and it includes 31 MB of internal memory, although it requires Sony Memory Stick Duo or Duo Pro media that is generally more expensive than the SD cards other cameras use. The Sony T200 has an enormous 3.5-inch LCD touch screen that would give the SD870 an inferiority complex if sat side-by-side.

Budget Consumers – The SD870 is the newest and latest gadget, and is priced higher than it should be. Budget consumers are better off with PowerShot models that are a few months old, but still great cameras.

The Canon PowerShot SD870 IS offers a few practical upgrades from its predecessor. The 3-inch screen makes it easier to read menus and check pictures. It has a wider 28mm lens that can fit larger portraits. The SD870 also boasts a new face detection system that recognizes up to 35 faces at a time – but how often do users photograph that many people? And in general, the SD870’s autofocus system is a bit pokey. There are few pluses to the camera’s performance, though. Its colors are very accurate and its movies are among the best we’ve seen.

The SD870 keeps the optical image stabilization from the SD850, along with the automated Exposure modes and few manual controls. The specs and features are great, but there is a lot of competition from other manufacturers in this point-and-shoot segment of digital cameras. The Canon PowerShot SD870 IS is a nice digital camera, but its price tag is still on the higher end of what it should be. Perhaps in a few months when Canon releases the next version of this camera (maybe it will recognize 36 faces at a time?), the SD870 IS will be more favorably priced.

The first Digital IXUS, released in June 2000 fitted the technology of the PowerShot S10 into a body similar to the APS IXUS II.CF cards to SD cards to create thinner cameras.

All models introduced before 2010 use RGBG Bayer filter (except the original Digital IXUS, which uses a CYGM filterCCD sensors made by Sony. IXUS 300 HS/PowerShot Digital ELPH SD4000 IS/IXY 30S introduced in May 2010 and all following models have back-illuminated CMOS sensor. Images are recorded as JPEGs. Raw image files are not accessible without the use of third party firmware such as CHDK.

5. Optimization - One of the most important factors in optimizing software and hardware. Having optimized software and hardware is a get-to-go because having optimized software and hardware is more likely more efficient and less heating. The software and OS control the hardware (consists of Chipsets, LCD/AMOLED Display, Battery+Consumption, Throttling, and Cooling systems if they have or no cooling system at all.)

The GT has a passion for gaming, which is evident in the 144Hz display – the fastest refresh rate in the family. The touch sampling rate is 270Hz. This is a 6.6” LCD with 1,080 x 2,460px resolution (20.5:9) and it can render 1 billion colors (it supports Dolby Vision as well). Peak brightness is 650 nits (500 nits typical) and the panel uses DC dimming. Also, it is guarded by Gorilla Glass 5 (the X3 GT had Victus).

A slimmer Ixus model with a wide-angle zoom lens, high resolution and some useful new functions.Replacing the Ixus 860 IS, Canon’s new Ixus 870 IS features the new DiG!C 4 image processor and a slightly larger imaging chip with 10-megapixel (effective) resolution. The weight of the two camera bodies is the same but the new model is slightly longer, not quite as high and almost 2 mm slimmer. Available with a silver or gold metal front panel, the new model has a slightly longer zoom range but retains its useful 28mm (equivalent) wide-angle coverage. The image processor has also been upgraded.. . [more]

Replacing the Ixus 860 IS, Canon’s new Ixus 870 IS features the new DiG!C 4 image processor and a slightly larger imaging chip with 10-megapixel (effective) resolution. The weight of the two camera bodies is the same but the new model is slightly longer, not quite as high and almost 2 mm slimmer. Available with a silver or gold metal front panel, the new model has a slightly longer zoom range but retains its useful 28mm (equivalent) wide-angle coverage. The image processor has also been upgraded.

Cosmetically the changes reflected in the new model – aside from the new colour option – are relatively minor. On the front panel, the electronic flash tube is slimmer and the matte black ring surrounding the lens module is replaced by a shiny metallic ring. The top panel controls have undergone minor re-styling but their functionality remains the same.

On the rear panel, the Print/Share and Playback buttons have been swapped around and the knurled Control Dial around the arrow pad is slightly wider. When a double-ended arrow appears in the top right corner of the LCD (see illustration below), you can shift between the Auto and the new Program shooting mode by rotating this Control Dial.

Replacing the Camera Manual setting on earlier Ixus models, the Program mode provides similar functionality, allowing you to adjust a wider range of camera settings than the alternative Auto and Special Scene modes. Program AE is accessed by turning the Control Dial that surrounds the Function/Set button. You must first select the Camera mode from the slider on the top panel (which has positions for the Movie, Scene and Camera shooting modes).

The actual operation of the arrow pad hasn’t changed. The Menu and Display buttons are slightly larger and more closely integrated into the camera body. The LCD panel, which is the same as the Ixus 860 IS covers most of the rear of the camera. No viewfinder is provided and the rechargeable NB-5L battery is the same. Both cameras come with 32MB SD cards. No internal memory is provided.

Maximum length of video clips is one hour and recording will stop when the file size reaches 4GB. Use of SDHC cards with speed class of 4 or higher is recommended.

Pressing the Playback button on the rear panel displays the last image taken. You can scan through other images on the memory card by turning the Control Dial. Moving it clockwise displays images in the order they were taken; going anti-clockwise shows the reverse order. Images can be deleted one-by-one in playback mode or tagged for automatic printing.