Specsmanship

Specsmanship is the often inappropriate use of specifications or measurement results to establish putative superiority of one entity over another, generally when no such superiority exists. It is commonly found in high fidelity audio equipment, automobiles and other apparatus where uneducated users identify some numerical value upon which to base their pride or derision, whether or not it is relevant to actual use of the device.

Specsmanship has recently been quite active in the field of digital cameras ^[1] and electronic display devices.^[2][3][4]

References

1. ↑ Don Williams: "Debunking of Specsmanship: Progress on ISO/TC42 Standards for Digital Capture Imaging Performance", IS&T's 2003 PICS Conference, pp. 77–81
2. ↑ Edward F. Kelley : "What Do the Specifications Mean?", SID04 ADEAC, pp. 15-18
3. ↑ M. E. Becker: International Display Standards: Status & Agenda, SID'06, pp. 93-96
4. ↑ M. E. Becker: Display usability, performance specifications and standards, Symposium on Display Usability: Modelling, Specification, Measurement & Assessment, NPL Teddington, 7 March 2006, co-organised by ORM, SID, UKDN

External links

• The "Mass" of Pixels or the "Mess" of Pixels? The more pixels, the worse the image. 6MegaPixel.org/