Quick review of digital terms

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• Pixel—(PICture ELement) The smallest element of a digitized image. One small dot of light among the many dots that make up an image on a computer screen.
• Megapixel—A unit equal to one million pixels. The higher the resolution, the more pixels in an image and therefore the greater the image quality. An image file that is 1 megapixel (MP) can make a photo realistic print of 5 x 7 inches; a 2 MP file can make an 8 x 10-inch print; a 3 MP file can make an 11 x 14-inch print.
• Resolution—The number of pixels in an image. A higher number correlates to a higher quality image.
• DPI—Dots Per Inch. Number of dots a printer or device (like a monitor) can display per linear inch. For example, most laser printers have a resolution of 300 dpi, most monitors 72 dpi, most PostScript image setters 1200 to 2450 dpi. Photo quality inkjet printers now range from 1200 to 2400 dpi.
• PPI—Pixels Per Inch. The number of pixels per linear inch is used to describe image resolution. A higher ppi means more image detail and correlates to higher image quality. Monitors display images at 72 ppi, inkjet printers require at least 150 ppi to produce photo realistic prints.
• Megabyte—An amount of computer memory consisting of about one million bytes. The actual value is 1,048,576 bytes.
• Kilobyte—An amount of computer memory, disk space, or document size consisting of approximately one thousand bytes. Actual value is 1,024 bytes.
• JPEG—A standardized format used by many digital cameras for storing images. This format is also commonly used for images on the web and images attached to e-mail messages. JPEG, which stands for Joint Photographic Experts Group, the group that established this file standard, is one of the most widely used formats today. JPEG is a standardized image compression mechanism designed for compressing full-color or gray scale images of natural, real-world scenes. JPEG uses lossy compression, which can damage image quality.
• LCD—Liquid Crystal Display. A full-color display screen on cameras used to preview and review pictures and view information, such as menu options and camera settings.
• Memory card—A storage device used to store data, such as picture and movie files. Available in a range of sizes, such as 8 MB, 32 MB, and 256 MB.
• Digitize—To convert analog information into digital format for use by a computer.