Appendix > Glossary
Noise
Misinterpreted pixels in a digital image that may appear as misplaced or random, bright pixels. Noise usually occurs when photos are shot with a high sensitivity or when a sensitivity is automatically set in a dark place.
Quality
An expression of the rate of compression used in a digital image. Higher quality images have a lower rate of compression, which usually results in a larger file size.
NTSC (National Television System Committee)
A video color encoding standard used most commonly in Japan, North America, the Philippines, South America, South Korea, and Taiwan.
Optical zoom
This is a general zoom which can enlarge images with a lens and does not deteriorate quality of images.
PAL (Phase Alternate Line)
A video color encoding standard used in numerous countries throughout Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.
RAW (CCD raw data)
The original, unprocessed data, collected directly from the camera’s image sensor. White Balance, contrast, saturation, sharpness, and other data can be manipulated with editing software before the image is compressed into a standard file format.
Resolution
The number of pixels present in a digital image. High resolution images contain more pixels and typically show more detail than low resolution images.
