How big is a Lytro picture?
How big are Lytro’s Lightfield images actually? This question allows for several interpretations, which we will try to answer in the following article:
Sensor- and image resolution
The image sensor in a Lytro camera can register 11 million light rays (11 “megarays”) – i.e. a color and luminosity value as well as the direction of the lightray.
A computed lytro picture, at this time, contains 1080 x 1080 pixels (=1.17 megapixels). Depending on software, however, the picture size can theoretically be increased without loss of much quality. Living Pictures that are uploaded to the web are resized and compressed to 540 x 540 pixels, but they can also be viewed in fullscreen mode.
Since the sensor resolution isn’t the only factor that influences a lightfield picture, these numbers are only valid for Lytro’s first generation Lightfield camera.
Pictures that are exported to JPG (max. 1080 x 1080 px, no longer interactive) can be printed up to a size of 12 x 17 cm (5 x 7 inches). Bigger print size is not recommended.
File format and file size
All the information stored in a lytro picture require a new file format: the lightfield picture (.lfp) file. A single file is about 16 MB in file size and contains all information which is necessary to refocus, modify depth of field*, set all in focus*, create 3D pictures* and change perspective* at any later point of time.
* According to Lytro, these features are scheduld to be integrated into the desktop software in 2012.
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