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@nelsnelson
Created April 28, 2011 18:35
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To store a 1:1 (one pixel = 1/72 inch) image of the entire surface of the Earth
Assuming image resolution:
72ppi = 5184 pixels per square inch
Surface area of the Earth:
510,072,000 km2 = (7.90613181 × 10 to the 17th) square inches
Assuming (for a lossless PNG) an average storage size of:
~7.76 bits per pixel
7.90613181 × 10 to the 17th square inches
* 5184 pixels per square inch
_______________________________
4.09853873 × 10 to the 21st pixels
4.09853873 × 10 to the 21st pixels
* ~7.76 bits
_______________________________
3.36744942 zettabytes
((7.90613181 × 10 to the 17th) * 5184) * 7.76 bits
3.36744942 zettabytes
or
3.70254979 × 10 to the 12th gigabytes
or
3,702,549,790,000 gigabytes
Note:
I realize that ppi is somewhat contentious. I only chose
the 72ppi figure because it was convenient-ish. According
to Wikipedia, photographs should be printed at 300 ppi to
look decent.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pixel_density
In that case, a 300ppi image will weigh in at:
58.5 zettabytes
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