Digital Photography Basics - Terms and Features

Getting started in digital photography should include an understanding of the different terms. These particular terms usually are connected with the various features that you will find in digital cameras. When you are shopping for a digital camera for the first time, here are some terms and features you should become acquainted with:

1. Pixel - means the tiniest part of a digital photo. These are the tiny little squares that contain the color data that when combined, make up the entire picture. Therefore, the more pixels that a digital camera can reproduce, the clearer and sharper the photo image.
2. Mega pixels - the number of pixels expressed in millions. One mega pixels is 1,000,000 pixels, five mega pixels is 5,000,000 pixels, etc.
3. Image resolution - the overall quantity of pixels in a photo. More specifically, this refers to the number of pixels that make up a picture.
4. Dots per inch (DPI) - this term is used to describe the quality of the computer monitor and printer. Specifically, laser printers have more dpi resolution than monitors. Hence, higher the dpi resolution means better quality.
5. JPEG (joint photographic experts group) - this is a particular file format (and most common) with which to save images in the digital camera.
6. Memory card - this is where the digital files are physically stored. As the term implies, memory cards are small, flat plastic cards but they do come in different sizes and capacity. A memory card with higher storage capacity obviously holds more images.
7. LCD (liquid crystal display) - the LCD is a small screen at the back of the digital camera where the photographer is able to view the subject first before capturing the photo.