FOR MORE THAN 200 YEARS, CAMERAS recorded pictures as chemical changes in silver containing substances, on a strip of flexible, celluloid film. The digital camera records pictures in electronic form. At its heart is a specialized integrated circuit known as a charge-coupled device (CCD). This has millions of microunits known as pixels. It works in the opposite way from a miniature computer or TV screen. Instead of electric signals making pixels shine, when light hits a pixel it generates a tiny electrical signal, according to the light’s color and brightness. The signals from the CCD’s millions of pixels are analogue: they vary continuously in a wavelike fashion. They are converted by a microchip to digital codes of numbers, represented as on-off electronic pulses. The digital signals are processed and fed to the camera’s internal memory or a removable memory device such as a data card or memory stick. Photographs can be downloaded from a digital camera to a computer via a cable or in some cases a wireless link. Some digital cameras automatically reduce blurring caused by camera shake or fast movement, some can record video clips as well as still pictures.
Digital camera
in
THE MODERN WORLD
published on 8:37 AM
FOR MORE THAN 200 YEARS, CAMERAS recorded pictures as chemical changes in silver containing substances, on a strip of flexible, celluloid film. The digital camera records pictures in electronic form. At its heart is a specialized integrated circuit known as a charge-coupled device (CCD). This has millions of microunits known as pixels. It works in the opposite way from a miniature computer or TV screen. Instead of electric signals making pixels shine, when light hits a pixel it generates a tiny electrical signal, according to the light’s color and brightness. The signals from the CCD’s millions of pixels are analogue: they vary continuously in a wavelike fashion. They are converted by a microchip to digital codes of numbers, represented as on-off electronic pulses. The digital signals are processed and fed to the camera’s internal memory or a removable memory device such as a data card or memory stick. Photographs can be downloaded from a digital camera to a computer via a cable or in some cases a wireless link. Some digital cameras automatically reduce blurring caused by camera shake or fast movement, some can record video clips as well as still pictures.
