Digital Camera Design

This book describes the algorithms and computer architectures used to create and analyze photographs in modern digital cameras. It also puts the capabilities of digital cameras into context for applications in art, entertainment, and video analysis.

The RAW file format is the uncompressed data file captured by a digital camera's electronic sensor. When your camera saves an image in RAW format, settings like white balance, sharpening, contrast and saturation are not applied to the image but are saved instead in a separate header. Because RAW files remain virtually untouched by in-camera processing, they are essentially the digital equivalent to exposed but undeveloped film.

The process by which an image is formed, processed, and displayed can be conceptualized as a chain of physical events called the imaging chain. By mathematically modeling the imaging chain, we can gain insight into the relationship between the camera design parameters and the resulting image quality. The mathematical models can also be used to optimize and assess the design of a camera for specific applications before expenditures are committed to building hardware.

Digital Camera World is your guide to digital imaging and digital photography. Each issue is full of digital camera reviews, digital imaging tips and tricks, digital photography tutorials, digital imaging software and accessory reviews, and the opinions and advice of digital photography experts.