One more CSI faux paux
October 12th, 2005 ~ Posted in: GeneralWe all know that CSI isn’t the most realistic tv show— in what world do the CSI order detectives around, grill hostile witnesses, and such? But I can’t believe I let this one slide: in one episode of Miami CSI, they were using a gamma imaging device to view the insides of some crates. The images produced were 3d wireframes, nicely colored, and absolutely bogus!
Show me the imaging device that can reconstruct geometry like that… that’s like claiming to have found the holy grail. That’s simply not the way imaging technologies work; they all depend on Fourier transforms, which means that information is collected as intensities and energies. So what you get is a picture, a rather blurry 3d picture, one from which no current technology can unambiguously recover such crisp geometry— that kind of processing requires a human level intellegence. Again, show me such a reconstruction technology, and I’ll show you a million bucks.
That’s making me wonder about some of the more dubious image enhancements they pull on that show: can I believe it when they recover license numbers from blurred photos, or is that more dramatic license? Making fast and loose with the truth like that on a forensic science show is irresponsible, IMO.
6 Responses to “One more CSI faux paux”
November 11th, 2005 at 9:57 pm
(faux pas.)
Circa 1994, in the context of some sensational shooting, an expert said that bullet matching isn’t as conclusive in real life as on television. At the time I wondered aloud whether that tidbit would make it into television, but I’ve heard no echo of it.
June 5th, 2007 at 3:07 pm
It drives me nuts how they never turn on the lights on CSI. But I still watch it, especially the miniture killer episodes.
July 11th, 2007 at 11:31 am
Remember this important advice when watching any of the CSI shows. Take the Blue (Fantasy) pill, not the red (Reality) pill.
Disclaimer: The foregoing in no way constitutes a recommendation to abuse pills of any color. It is intended to be a facetious comment on the state of “reality” forensics shows on TV these days.
March 6th, 2008 at 3:03 pm
As far as I know, none of these shows claims to be anything but FICTION. I’m pretty sure there are very few, if any, television series’ - dramatic or otherwise - that could stand the cold, hard glare of REALITY on them. These shows are for entertainment purposes, ya know. They are not intended as documentary educational programs.
March 13th, 2008 at 6:59 am
Obviously no pun was intended in the line “can I believe it when they recover license numbers from blurred photos, or is that more dramatic license?”
June 11th, 2008 at 12:09 pm
I watch CSI for, among other things, the beautiful colours, and I love what’s his name!…(I know I know, Horatio, or sometimes Hero-tio). It grates me how these people of science have “personalities”, “emotions”, and “sarcasm” when talking to each other, when they’re supposed to be professionals doing professional work. I just hope the killers don’t catch them in a “sensitive” moment and use it against them in court! And the way these people come up with “creative” ideas, deductions, solutions, intuition and guesswork to solve a mystery is unbelievable or maybe that’s what they’re paid for…being creative scientists… kind of like being creative accountants…we need a show on that, not. Do these things get written up in their “by the book” for the next investigation/investigators. And the suspects! …does everybody in the States who’s not an actor really talk to police in this sarcastic, condescending manner? “Excuse me, I can’t talk to you right now Detective, gotta go”. If I was the police, I’d pretend to smack ‘em! All in all, a really good program and never boring…but that’s just me…I love to solve a good mystery.
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