Will GE become 100% hi res?

[stefankarakashev]

How long before GE becomes 100% High Resolution?

Currently 33% of the world population rooftops are covered by <1m/pixel resolution data.

[SpiderX22]

Never. Why would they bother making the open ocean high resolution? Its just a waste of memory.

[stefankarakashev]

You're right, there's no point in having hi res water.. I meant 100% hi res land

[SpiderX22]

Well. Never once again. Who needs 100% resolution in the middle of like a desert for example? With nothing there. GE will become very high resolution as technology advances, to probably a resolution as good as aerial photos. But I doubt they would make the entire globe (land-wise) 100%, especially since somethings are not meant to be seen.

[stefankarakashev]

Well. Never once again. Who needs 100% resolution in the middle of like a desert for example? With nothing there. GE will become very high resolution as technology advances, to probably a resolution as good as aerial photos. But I doubt they would make the entire globe (land-wise) 100%, especially since somethings are not meant to be seen.

Currently there's a good deal of desert land covered in hi res.

If some things are not meant to be seen, it doesn't matter, still 99.9%.

[tizerist]

i would like to see hi-res deserts and water, but only after the important stuff has been done

[beau99]

Well. Never once again. Who needs 100% resolution in the middle of like a desert for example? With nothing there. GE will become very high resolution as technology advances, to probably a resolution as good as aerial photos. But I doubt they would make the entire globe (land-wise) 100%, especially since somethings are not meant to be seen.
I guess you've not seen the deserts of the Middle East. A good majority of the Dead Sea is in high-res as well.

[SpiderX22]

I guess you've not seen the deserts of the Middle East. A good majority of the Dead Sea is in high-res as well.

One last check-in before I leave for a month. Actually, I have seen these (I have like 20 files from here). But that's not what I meant. I mean like real desert, with nothing there. It would just be a waste of space on their servers. They could get it to 100%, but it wouldnt be logical.

[BradG7]

To Google, server space isn't an issue ;)

[sladys]

Israel and surrounding countries are now in Hi-res.

[stefankarakashev]

Never. Why would they bother making the open ocean high resolution? Its just a waste of memory.
They've already began: here's a glimpse of what it will be like:

[stefankarakashev]

Well. Never once again. Who needs 100% resolution in the middle of like a desert for example? With nothing there.
A fair amount of desert land with nothing there has been covered in hi res already. I bet in less than 5 years' time the whole planet will be in hi res.

[stefankarakashev]

They've also made the first step in covering the Atlantic with hi res imagery:

[tizerist]

yeah, why not?
only problem is, water and waves dont stay the same like streets and roads do, if you dont do it all in one go, it wont match!!!!

also in that pacific file above, it looks too "stripey"

wicked idea, but i think they need to execute it differently

[tizerist]

it looks like we'll see increased patchiness at it gets higher res. its still a good trade off, but tricky problem

[tizerist]

i wonder how they will do it

[dapascha]

Apart from the occasional island or ship there doesn't seem to be much reason (or demand) to do the oceans in hi-res. They could save up a lot of server space by covering the bulk of the oceans by the same picture of water. Ocean is ocean, wherever you look. (Apart from some color variations, perhaps.)

What would be really cool however is if Google would upload topographical data of the ocean-floors. Add a transparant layer of surfacewater, and below that, just show the shape of the bottom of the oceans. It would be nice to fly down the deepest canyons near the Philipines or see the mid-Atlantic mountains in 3D.

Not much point in showing actual pictures of the ocean floor (well, there would be a point, but this does seem practically impossible), so just the elevation info.

You can already see the contours of these sub-surface structures right now in GE, but it's not in 3D...

[tcoker]

They've also made the first step in covering the Atlantic with hi res imagery:

Was just looking at your Atlantic Hi Res post and saw this.

[Acman3192]

Do you "moderators" and "super moderators" and such have access to the Google Earth server? because you mentione earlier about adding hi-res images. I was just wondering.

[Metnik]

I'd prefer if they just got every town and settlement into high rez. Got family in montana in this small town that is just a green and grey blur... It's good property too... *sigh...

[Metnik]

Alas, Havana is a beuatiful city. but it's not that great of a resolution such as Vegas or San Fransisco... Not to mention the clouds covering up parts...

*sigh

[tcoker]

It even has a yacht under way.

[midget_nick]

It amazing when you look at hi-res in the middle of nowhere and find things like small villages and stuff... Just unbelieveable how people live in places like this.

[kindley]

i reckon that the ocen should be hi res so we can search the ocean for ships and icebergs and stuff! and we could find interesting things in the desert

[dogpile]

You're right, there's no point in having hi res water.. I meant 100% hi res land
What about the artic? what's the point of having high-res there? do you want to see the penguins? lol :rofl:

[sladys]

LOL. you will NEVER find any penguine in the Arctic. They live on the Antarctica, South America and South Africa.

[d1v0r]

I vote more than 5 but less than 10 years

I also voted basing it on land coverage + important parts of the ocean. I think its been covered already the implications/point to/worthiness of having global hi-res. Its not impossible, but very difficult!

I'd be very happy to see all land covered without the ocean, but more than happy with whatever is possible.


Dave