Researchers at Western University in Canada have developed a method for restoring damaged daguerreotypes, including plates so degraded that no portion of the original image remains discernible to the eye. The method, the university explains, involves using rapid-scanning micro-X-ray fluorescence imaging to analyze the silver-coated plate and identify the mercury element used to develop it.
“Mercury is the major element that contributes to the imagery captured in these photographs. Even though the surface is tarnished, those image particles remain intact," explained study co-author Tsun-Kong (TK) Sham. "By looking at the mercury, we can retrieve the image in great detail."
Whereas a human hair is around 75 microns thick, the X-ray beam used in this method is as small as 10 x 10 microns, resulting in about 8 hours of scanning time per daguerreotype plate. This method can be used by art conservators to reveal a daguerreotype's image when cleaning the degraded plate is not possible.
There can't be that many daguerreotypes in the world. If they went at this for a few years they'd probably be able to duplicate all of the surviving ones.
Super. Good job. Wondering, if 100 years down the road, scientists will be developing some software or methods that would allow them to view jpg files!!!
But we already have the software and it's less complex format than say MPEG. Either the existing software will be ported to new systems or the images will be converted to new image format.
More important would be way how to read degraded hard drive or even solid state memory where the charge dissipated for good.
In most cases the storage can be retrieved (in clean rooms) but the process is very expensive. I received a quote of $1700 to retrieve data from a 500GB HDD.
Damaged storage sure. They were even able to get the data off the exploded space shuttle hard drives but a hard drive left on a shelf for 100 years might be a problem and flash storage near impossible (or just not worth it).
These kinda exist already. Depends if it failed electronics, then you can recover with regular data recovery company but it still needs expensive machines and manhours.
I went through my dad's archives recently. I looked at and enjoyed his prints from last century, especially the ones from the 40s-70s. I didn't look at his slides because the slide projector I need isn't available. I also didn't go through his millions of digital images. I'm happy to know they are backed up but I doubt anyone will ever look at them again. All anybody besides me will ever look at again are the old prints, not the digital files.
It is amazing to know that in 300 or 800 or 1000 years from now people will be looking at perfect picture of our time in digital form. History is changing. I only hope there will be people living still to look at them.
Assuming backwards compatibility of course. Big assumption. Jpeg may not be the standard in 100 years (much less 1000). Of course, they will be intelligent enough to hopefully backwards engineer ours, but then again, if a catastrophe happens and we go back to the dark ages, our science may be looked at as we see Atlantis today except we really are a high tech society (but then can we say if Atlantis actually existed that they weren't? lol). Just call be a skeptic when it comes to digital and archiving. Old reliable hard-copies in protective enclosures has at least a history of being effective for most captures; digital has yet to prove it's storage prowess. Just saying. :)
I'd argue we are still far from perfect pictures in digital form. Also look at photos from the previous decade and see that the resolution was limited, as well as color accuracy, particularly in low light. In couple decades people will laugh at our generation and our puny 50MP 2D pictures or 8MP low frame rate video. Or very poor 360 panoramas. Besides the few stationary gigapixel ones, those will be in museums.
Pretty cool concept but I imagine the costs are such that it will only be used when it’s a potentially high value photo and not for just any random one.
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