Zooming in on raw images shows obvious pixelation

[jpc]

I have psp x3 (SP 4) and I use a nikon d5000. Recently I started taking RAW photos.
When I open these in psp & zoom in I get odd looking pixelation (if this really is a word).
You can see it in the uploaded image.
IF I edit this image in PSP & save it as jpg, I can still see traces of these pixels.
Can anyone explain this? Is this normal?

[Joelle]

Does your Nikon come with it's own RAW converter?
I wouldn't know, I use Canon which has the excellent DPP software.

The PSPX3 Raw utility is awful, better to use the software that came with the camera.

Joëlle

[LeviFiction]

Well, first this isn't pixelation. This looks like chromatic aberration or red/green/blue channels are not properly aligned. The alignment is most likely as chromatic aberration, at least from what I've seen, is a bit smoother. Which is PSP's fault. And photographers all over the forums say stay away from RAW in PSP.

It's always a better idea to start off with the default RAW software that came with your camera because they know their own formats and it has the best chance to get the best result. You can then save it out as a TIFF to maintain the quality and open it in PSP for editing.

[ronzie]

Chromatic aberration is color fringing from lens optics. Due to the different wavelengths of various colors and as they pass through the different surfaces of lens optical elements the images from each color can go out of registration falling on different sensor pixels. This in a normal zoom shows up as tinted color fuzzy edges. Magnified greatly to individual pixels you'll see each pixel affected.

Canon's software contains chromatic aberration correction in its raw editor. Some of it may be done in the camera's processor if it has a lens profile stored.

In PSPPX3 I see a chromatic aberration tool under Adjust in the full editor you can try. This would be for distinct color fringing usually present at maximum lens zoom, wide aperture, and a filter in front. It looks like a fuzzy color edge at light to dark image edges.

Note that there is also in the full editor a 'purple edge' correction tool.

Pixelation at maximum magnification could also be seen due to the effects of antialiasing procedures where pixels are averaged in a pattern around edges.

The pixelation you are seeing would be any not extremely defined edge and usually shows when you magnify greatly beyond normal viewing. This is referred to as 'pixel peeping' in the vernacular of editing forums.