Digicam Components
- AA Filter
- Most digital SLR cameras employ
a Low Pass Filter (LPF) or Anti-Aliasing (AA) filter in front of the imager to
help eliminate color aliasing (moire) problems.
- A/D Converter
- A device that converts analog information (a
photograph or video frame) into a series of numbers that a computer can store
and manipulate. All digicams use an A/D converter, the higher the bit rate the
better the output. Modern hi-res digicams employ a 12-bit or 14-bit A/D to
increase the dynamic range (range of light from highlight to shadow).
- Firmware
- An often-used micro program or instruction set stored in
ROM. Usually refers to the ROM-based software that controls a unit. Firmware
is found in all computer based products from Cameras to Digital Peripherals.
- DRAM Buffer
- All digicams have a certain amount of fixed memory in
them to facilitate image processing before the finished picture is stored to
the flash memory card. Cameras that have a burst mode have much larger DRAM
buffers, often 32MB or larger. This also makes them more expensive.
- Low Pass Filter
- Most digital SLR cameras employ a Low Pass Filter (LPF)
or Anti-Aliasing (AA) filter in front of the imager to help eliminate color
aliasing (moire) problems.
- Orientation Sensor
- A special sensor in some cameras that
"knows" when your turn the camera in portrait orientation to take a
vertical shot and "tells" the camera to display it that way later
when viewed on the TV screen during playback.
- Interlaced
- Term used to describe an image sensor that gathers its
data by first processing the odd lines and then the even lines. See also
"Progressive Scan" for the other (preferred) method.
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