Digital Cameras

Digital cameras are growing in popularity because they allow users to manipulate images on their home computers.

*

The electrical charges are converted to digital signals that represent the values of each pixel--the individual dots that make up an image. The camera’s on-board processor uses a complex set of equations to convert the data to create natural-looking colors. On cameras with displays, this is when the image appears.

*

Digital cameras capture images with a light-sensitive chip about the size of a fingernail. The chip converts light into electrical charges. Because the sensor chips are colorblind, they keep track of only the total intensity of the light that strikes their surfaces. To get a color image, most cameras filter light into the primary colors of red, green and blue.

*

The image information is then stored in the camera’s electronic memory. These images can be easily transferred to a computer where they can be viewed and manipulated. The pictures can be printed, attached to an e-mail message or uploaded to a Web page.

*

Researched by VICKI GALLAY/Los Angeles Times

Source: www.howstuffworks.com

How Stuff Works: www.howstuffworks.com