- Can be high, medium or low resolution.
- Acompresseddata fileproducedby the information
given in the camera. - Lossy (some information is discarded).
- JPEGsare currently thought to be the most widely
recognized file format, easily accessible and usable
over a wide variety of platforms. - Some,higher-endprofessionaldigitalSLRsandMILCs
willalsoofferthephotographertheoptiontocapturea
combinationoftwoformatstogether,RAWandJPEG
mostcommonly,eitheronthesamememorycardoron
twoseparateones–aninstantmethodofbackingup
important files.
Thesensorwithinmostdigitalcamerasiscomprisedofa
number of light-sensitive areas – red, green and blue
channels– setout in agrid-like pattern, namedafterits
inventor Bryce E. Bayer. The RAW output from the
majorityofdigitalcameras issometimesreferredtoasa
Bayerpatternimage.Thearrangementandfunctionofthe
sensorsweredevisedinsuchawayastorecordthemost
life-likerepresentationofanimageincameraascloseas
possible to that seen by the naked eye.
Thegreenchannelsofthepatternaccountfor 50 percentof
thepixelsofthesensor,asthehumaneyeismoresensitive
tothiscolourlight.Whenthecamera’sshutterisopenedto
capturetheimage,eachofthesesensitiveareaswillreactto
theamountoflightfallingonit,inthesamewaythatthe
brain would react to light hitting the retina of the eye.