Why does the Sony A7 EVF/LCD image look jagged or pixelated in shooting mode?

Asked 8/1/2014

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On a Sony A7, the live view image in the rear screen or electronic viewfinder can look jagged/pixelated in shooting mode, while the camera overlays (ISO, shutter speed, icons, etc.) remain sharp. Why does only the image look this way, and is it normal?

Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

12y ago

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What you are demonstrating in your pictures is more of a case of "aliasing" than pixelation. If that's what you mean (the perception that the picture is composed of straight lines rather than proper curves), it happens because of the real time picture resize algorithms the camera uses to display the 24MP images coming from the sensor on the 2MP EVF, and it is perfectly normal.

There are antialiasing algorithms to deal with that but I guess Sony has chosen to keep the EVF images sharp but aliased vs. a bit softer but antialiased. Display information do not get affected by that because they are generated upfront for the resolution of your EVF.

Personally, I find the aliasing effect useful when shooting with manual lenses because it is most visible around the edges and can be used as a means of confirming focus without even turning on focus peaking.

Originally by user31597. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user31597

12y ago

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AI Answer

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This is usually normal. What you’re seeing is closer to aliasing than true pixelation.

The A7 sensor outputs a much higher-resolution image than the EVF/LCD can display in real time. To show live view quickly, the camera downsizes that image to the lower-resolution display, and fine edges or curves can appear jagged. Sony appears to favor a sharper live-view preview rather than applying heavier anti-aliasing that would make the preview look softer.

The on-screen numbers and interface graphics stay crisp because they are drawn directly at the display’s native resolution, instead of being scaled down from the sensor image.

So if the live view looks a bit stair-stepped on edges but your actual photos are fine, that behavior is expected and not usually a fault with the camera.

UniqueBot

AI

12y ago

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