Explanation of Terms

Deactivated batteries

Leaving an Ni-MH battery unused in storage for a long period may cause a rise in the level of substances that inhibit current flow inside the battery and result in a dormant battery. A battery in this state is referred to as deactivated.

Because current flow is inhibited in a deactivated Ni-MH battery, the battery’s original level of performance cannot be achieved.

EV

A number denotes Exposure Value. The EV is determined by the brightness of the subject and sensitivity (speed) of the film or CCD. The number is larger for bright subjects and smaller for dark subjects. As the brightness of the subject changes, a digital camera maintains the amount of light hitting the CCD at a constant level by adjusting the aperture and shutter speed. When the amount of light striking the CCD doubles, the EV increases by 1. Likewise, when the light is halved, the EV decreases by 1.

Frame rate (fps)

The frame rate refers to the number of images (frames) that are photographed or played back per second. For example, when 10 frames are continuously photographed in a 1-second interval, the frame rate is expressed as 10 fps.

For reference, TV images are displayed at 30 fps (NTSC).

JPEG

Joint Photographic Experts Group

A file format used for compressing and saving color images. The higher the compression rate, the greater the loss of quality in the decompressed (restored) image.

Memory effect

If an Ni-MH battery is repeatedly charged without first being fully discharged, its performance may drop below its original level. This is referred to as the “memory effect”.

Motion JPEG

A type of AVI (Audio Video Interleave) file format that handles images and sound as a single file. Images in the file are recorded in JPEG format. Motion JPEG can be played back by QuickTime 3.0 or later.

Smear

A phenomenon specific to CCDs whereby white streaks appear on the image when there is a very strong light source, such as the sun or reflected sunlight, in the photography screen.

White Balance

Whatever the kind of the light, the human eye adapts to it so that a white object still looks white. On the other hand, devices such as digital cameras see a white subject as white by first adjusting the color balance to suit the color of the ambient light around the subject. This adjustment is called matching the white balance.

Exif Print Format is a newly revised digital camera file format that contains a variety of shooting information for optimal printing.

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