In August 2005, Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. will launch the "DMC-LX1," the world's first digital camera featuring a 16:9 aspect ratio image pickup sensor. The sensor's effective resolution reaches 8.4 megapixels. Matsushita explained the reason for using a 16:9 aspect ratio image sensor as: "Most existing digital cameras only support a 4:3 aspect ratio, because they use image pickup sensors originally designed for video cameras. When these image sensors were first introduced into digital cameras, most TV and PC displays only supported a 4:3 aspect ratio, but they are currently shifting to 16:9. Above all, a 16:9 aspect ratio is so close to the range of human vision that it can express the sense of the expanse of space, which was difficult to convey using 4:3 aspect sensors."
The aspect ratio can be switched to 4:3 or 3:2. It should also be noted that the camera has enabled wide-angle shooting. Based on the 35-mm film format, the minimum focal distance is 28 mm. The optical zoom ratio extends to 4x. The camera is also capable of displaying the depth of field on the screen so users can easily emphasize objects by pushing other parts of the picture out of focus.
Tomohiro Ootsuki, Nikkei Electronics
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