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 imagesetters 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.
URL
Uniform Resource Locator, the global address of documents and other resources on the World Wide Web. The first part of the address indicates what protocol to use, and the second part specifies the IP address or the domain name where the resource is located.
