Support

Pixel-Store Support provides you with valuable resources to assist you in any question you may have. Our online support offers a wide variety of FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) to help you buy online or to assist you with your product purchased.

Frequently Asked Questions: 

Buying online and after sales support:

Is the item  in stock?
Our stock indication levels are easy to use. On the top of the page, next to the checkout we use a simple colour code system. Green "in stock" - Red "out of stock" and Blue "due in"

How long is delivery?
As we only advertise products that we hold in our store - we aim to have all orders processed and dispatched within 24hrs. Some instances such as Weather, Technical Problems or Payment Reviews may delay this - in which case we would contact you.

What is the cut off point for ordering?
Usually, cut-off point is 12:00noon for next day delivery. 

Can I collect the order myself
Unfortunately, we do not offer a collection service. 

How can I pay for an item?
You can pay by any Credit or Debit Cards via our secure checkout or you can order over the phone on 0871 237 0808 (Mon to Fri 10am to 5pm)

If I purchase online or over the phone, what details do I need to give?
To buy from us, all we require is: 

• Delivery name and address
• Telephone number
• Email address (to send confirmation/dispatch email) 
• Card details.

If you have a PayPal account, you do not even need to supply any details to us, just log in.

Do you share my details with any third parties?
No. We have no interest in sharing your details to any third parties. 

How to I contact you?
There are three ways of contacting us:

• Phoneline: 0871 237 0808 (Mon to Fri 10am to 5pm)
• Email: sales@pixel-store.co.uk
• Post: Pixel-Store. 136 Albert Road. Plymouth, Devon, PL2 1AQ

Do you sell Grey Imports?
No. We have never stocked or sold any grey imports. All our products are 100% official UK products, with a UK warranty.

Returns and Cancellation:

I have purchased an item, but wish to return it. What is your policy?
Our policy is simple. If you are not happy with your item, just return it to us in the same condition as supplied. You have upto 14 days to inform us should you wish to return or cancel your order. For more information, click our "returns" page

My product has became faulty - what do I do next?
If the unfortunate happens, and your product is faulty. Just contact us and we will do the rest. Usually, we will offer a repair, replacement or refund. For more information, click our "returns" page

Digital Cameras Support

What memory is supplied with a digital camera?
All digital cameras are supplied with some form of memory, just to get you started, these tend to hold no more than 20x photos, depending on how you set the resolution to. The memory supplied is either an internal memory, or external. If the camera is supplied with an external memory, a memory card is usually supplied.

What does formatting the internal memory or the memory card do?
Formatting will delete all data in the memory including images, data and files and can repair a non functioning card with corrupted data. Formatting will not repair a card that is physically damaged or has bad sectors.

What is red eye, how can I eliminate it?
Red eye is caused by the light from the cameras flash reflecting off the retina in the subject’s eye. The picture will show the subjects eyes appearing to have a red glow.

• You can reduce this effect by trying the following.

• Ask the subject to look slightly to one side, this will reflect the light from the eye at different angle.

• Select the red eye reduction setting, this will fire the flash several times before the exposure and reduce the size of the subjects pupils to reduce the effect of red eye.

• Red eye be removed from an image using the picture editing software supplied with your camera.

What is PictBridge?
PictBridge is an industry standard that ensures manufacturers of printers and cameras are fully compatible. Using cameras and printers showing the PictBridge logo it is possible to print your images with out a computer, simply by connecting the camera to the printer via a USB

My camera drains batteries very quickly - is there something wrong?
Digital cameras require a lot of power, especially when the display and the flash are in constant use. To conserve battery power you could turn of the display when it is not needed, however for cameras using AA or AAA batteries we would recommend you use high capacity nickel metal hydride batteries ie: 2000mAh rather than alkaline batteries as these can be recharged and they will last longer.

What is ISO?
The International Standards Organisation (ISO) assigns a rating to the film used in traditional cameras, which defines the films sensitivity to light. Low ISO rating ie: 100 ISO means that it would require more light for a correct exposure than a film with a rating of 800 ISO.

In a digital camera it is the camera’s CCD that captures the image. Digital cameras can automatically adjust the sensitivity of the CCD by checking the available light conditions. In certain conditions you may decide to override the automatic control, as with film the higher the ISO the more pronounced the grain, with digital cameras the higher the ISO the more likely pictures will be subject to noise(randomly spaced, brightly coloured pixels). Prakitca cameras typically have an ISO range of 100-400, we would recommend that a setting of 100 is set for optimum results.

What is a Sensor?
All digital cameras contain a solid state sensor which sits behind the lens in the camera body. 

What Does the Red or Yellow Hand Symbol Signify?
This is the ‘camera shake’ warning and indicates that lighting conditions are to low and that either the flash needs to be switched on or the camera is fitted to a tripod. If the camera is used with out flash or a tripod, the exposure meter will select a slow shutter speed and the resulting image will be blurred.  

Do I have to use the Photo Editing Software Supplied?
No, the cameras produce standard JPEG files so you can use any commercially available photo editing software.

What is the Difference between Optical Zoom and Digital Zoom?
Optical zoom works like the zoom on a traditional film camera. When you push the button to zoom in or out, physical lens elements move inside the camera, reducing the field of view and making the object you're shooting appear closer. Digital zoom, on the other hand, has no moving parts. The camera interpolates a small portion of an image to artificially restore the file to its original size. Using its electronic brain, the digital camera analyses what it sees and digitally zooms in, usually two or three times closer.  Depending on the number of output pixels and the magnification factor, recording with digital zoom can result in relatively lower image quality. The digital zoom range is from 3X (optical zoom maximum) to 24X.

Why Can’t I establish a Connection to my PC?
First make sure the camera is connected to your computer.

• Is the camera is turned on?

• Is the camera's battery supplying power?

• Is the USB cable plugged in as far as it will go? If it is, try connecting to a different USB port (if your computer has more than one). 

• If you are connecting through a USB hub, try connecting directly to your computer's USB port.

• If available, try connecting to a different computer. If operation is normal when connected to the other computer, it means there is no problem with the camera and USB cable. Check the other troubleshooting items. 

Some computers with special utilities installed or the BIOS of some computers may be configured so USB is disabled. You will not be able to install the USB driver with such a computer. If you want to install the USB driver, you will need to change the USB setting of the computer to "enabled." The procedure you need to perform to change the special utility or BIOS settings depends on your computer. See the user documentation that came with your computer for details. If there is something you are unsure of, contact your computer's manufacturer. 

Do other USB devices operate normally? If so the best solution may be to purchase a commercially available USB card reader or PC card adapter, and read images from the camera's memory card. 

What Can Cause the Memory Card to Become Corrupted?
Always re-format the card in your camera after downloading and saving the pictures on your computer. Create a backup by saving your files from the memory card to your computer. 

Maintain battery power as failure during taking pictures can result in the data corruption on the card and can even lead to card damage. 

Do not remove the card or turn off the camera during data transfer as this can result in the corruption of data on the card and lead to damaged memory  

My camera turns itself off, is this normal?
The camera has ‘Auto Power Off’ function, this is normally set to 3 minutes (factory default), but you can reset to another duration or switched it off, please refer to your instruction manual.

Do I need to install the driver.
Only if you are using Windows 98/98SE, for Windows XP there is no need to install the driver. No driver is required for Macintosh OS-9.1 onwards.

Problems with your memory card?
If using Windows 2000 or XP always flush the cache before removing your card from the camera or reader, this can be done by right clicking on the green arrow in the system tray and clicking on eject, the card can then be safely removed. 

• Before editing pictures in your graphics application always ensure you have moved the picture from the card to your computer first, doing this can extend the life of the card 

• If a memory card problem occurs, stop using the card immediately, do not reformat the card or delete pictures, contact your supplier for information on data recovery  

• Be careful with the "delete all" and "Format" functions on cameras using SD or CompactFlash card, as they are irreversible formats that cannot be recovered. 

Camcorder Support

Which format of camcorders are there, and which is the best?
There are a few formats available: 

• MiniDV Tape
• DVD
• SD Memory (via SD Memory Card) - also known as "flash"
• HDD (hard drive)

Can I download the movies to a computer?
Most models of camcorders are supplied with computer software and USB for downloading to a computer.

What accessories are supplied with Camcorders?
All camcorders are supplied with a rechargeable battery, charger, AV cables and instructions. Some may come with remote, software and USB. Please consult the description page for more information. 

Can I film in the dark?
Some camcorders have "night" mode, meaning the camcorder will adjust to low-light conditions. However, no camcorder can actually film in the total dark