A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z

P

PAL - The 50 field video format used primarily in Europe and other places outside of the U.S. and Japan. See also "NTSC" and "Video Out"

Palette - A thumbnail of all available colours to a computer or devices. The palette allows the user to chose which colours are available for the computer to display. The more colours the larger the data and the more processing time required to display your images. If the system uses 24-bit colour, then over 16.7 million colours are included in the palette.

Panorama - Capturing a series of images to create a picture wider than what you could capture in a single image. Requires special "stitching" software to combine and blend the images into one finished image.

Parallax - An effect seen in closeup photography where the viewfinder does not see the same as the lens due to the offset of the viewfinder and the lens. This is a non-issue if using the LCD as a viewfinder or if your camera is a SLR type.

PC - In camera terms it denotes a type of flash synch connector, popular on most film cameras.

PC - In computer terms it means a Personal Computer as in IBM-PC

PC Card - Refers to a credit card-sized device which can be a flash memory card, a network card, a modem or even a hard drive. Comes in two flavors: Type I/II which is a single slot height and Type III which requires a double-height card slot.

PCMCIA - The card slots found on laptop computers to use PC Cards. There are PCMCIA adapters for CompactFlash, SmartMedia, Secure Digital, MultiMediaCard and Memory Stick flash cards.

Photo CD - Kodak's professional service where they process your film and then scan the images using a very expensive drum scanner and output these images to a CD. You get several different sized resolution images of each of your film pictures, from small to very large. PhotoCD is multi-session which means more than one roll of pictures may be put on each PhotoCD disc.

PICT - A graphics file format used primarily on Macintosh computers. PICT files can contain both object-oriented and bit-mapped graphics. There are two types: PICT I and PICT II. PICT II is the current standard and supports colour up to 24-bit.

PictBridge - PictBridge is a new standard for direct printing from digital cameras to inkjet photo printers without the use of a computer. To get more information please go to the CIPA PictBridge web page.

PictureCD - Kodak's amateur service of putting your camera images (1,534-by-1,024) onto a CD disc. 35mm or APS camera pictures can be put on the PictureCD discs for about £8.95 - £10.95 on top of regular processing fees. One roll per PictureCD.

PIM - PRINT Image Matching - Epson's new standard of embedded colour and printing information for digital cameras. Many of the camera manufacturers have joined with Epson and now embed the PIM information in the Exif header of the JPEG images created. Epson just announced at PMA 2002 the new Exif 2.2 standard incorporating their PIM info.

Pixel - The individual imaging element of a CCD or the individual output point of a display device. This is what is meant by the figures 640x480, 800x600, 1024x768, 1280x960 and etc when dealing with the resolution of a particular digicam. Higher numbers are always better!!

Pixelization - The stair-stepped appearance of a curved or angled line in digital imaging. The smaller the pixels, and the greater their number, the less apparent the "pixelization" of the image. Also known as the "jaggies".

Plug-n-Play - An automated installation process used in MS Windows to connect peripherals to a computer. When new devices are plugged into the computer the computer recognizes the device and prompts the user to choose setup options and finish installation.

Polarizer - A photographic filter for eliminating glare and reflections. Just like your polarized sunglasses get rid of annoying glare, the polarizer filter does the same for your digicam. However - there are 2 types, linear and circular. Linear is for film only, it screws up most auto focus systems on digicams. Therefore be sure you use a circular polarizer filter. It can also be used to darken skies.

PNG - An image file format. PNG stands for Portable Network Graphics. It is a compressed file format similar to JPG.

Point and Shoot - A term used for a simple, easy to use camera with a minimum of user controls. Generally the user turns the camera on, aims it at the subject and presses the shutter button. The camera does everything automatically.

Polarizing Filter - A filter than helps eliminate light reflections by limiting the angle of light that reaches the lens. There are two types: Linear and Circular. Linear type filters should not be used with digicams as they hinder the auto focus system. The circular type filters can be rotated to adjust to the light angle needed.

PPI - Pixels Per Inch - A measurement to describe the size of a printed image. The higher the number the more detailed the print will be.

Pre-Flash - Some digicams use a low-power flash before the main flash to set the exposure and white balance. This does not allow the use of a normal photo slave strobe as it will be triggered by the pre-flash.

Programmed AE - the camera picks the best shutter speed and aperture automatically, also called "Automatic" or "Point-n-Shoot" mode.

Progressive Scan - Term used to describe an image sensor that gathers its data and processes each scan line one after another in sequence. See also "Interlaced" for the other method.

Prosumer - Refers to more expensive semi-professional digicams costing £1,000 and up. The average digicam is made for the consumer market and costs well under £1,000.

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z