The digital camera is the most remarkable of the shift from analog to digital information.  Most of the technological breakthroughs in electronics have been part of one larger breakthrough and that is the process of converting analog information (fluctuating waves) into digital information, ie: into ones and zeros called bits.  This process has totally changed the way we handle visual and audio information. 

Conventional cameras are dependent entirely on chemical and mechanical processes without even using electricity. On the other hand, digital cameras have a built in computer and all digital cameras process images electronically using electricity which in turn requires batteries or plug in to electrical outlets. Digital imaging technology is constantly improving, thus digital cameras are increasingly becoming more popular. Digital cameras are amazing digital-age devices.

The digital camera computer recognizes bits and bytes and converts an image being photographed into a long string of 1s and 0s representing all the tiny colored dots called pixels that represent the entire image.  The digital camera immediately breaks up the light pattern from the image down into a series of pixel values representing the image and converting it into digital data.  All the fun and interesting features of digital cameras come as a result of this process. The digital computer focuses the light onto a semiconductor that records light electronically, and then broken down into digital data.

Cool Facts: With a 3-megapixel camera, you can take a higher-resolution picture than most computer monitors can display.. You can use your Web browser to view digital pictures that are in a JPEG format.  The first consumer-oriented digital cameras were sold by Kodak and Apple in 1994.  In 1998, Sony inadvertently sold more than 700,000 camcorders with a limited ability to see through clothes.        

Henry Leyva