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S
Saturation
- The degree to which a colour is undiluted by white
light. If a colour is 100 percent saturated, it contains
no white light. If a colour has no saturation, it
is a shade of gray.
Scanner
- An optical device that converts images - such as
photographs - into digital form so they can be stored
and manipulated on computers. Different methods of
illumination transmit light through red, green and
blue filters and digitize the image into a stream
of pixels.
Scene
Modes - Many digicams now have an exposure
mode called SCENE where the user selects the best
preprogrammed scene to suit the current shooting conditions.
The camera will automatically change many settings
to capture the best possible image.
SCSI
- A high-speed input/output bus used mainly in Macintosh
computers but also popular in many high-end PCs. Abbreviation
for Small Computer Systems Interface.
SD
- Secure Digital card, a flash memory card used in
digicams and MP3 players. It is identical in size
and shape to the MultiMedia Card (MMC) flash cards.
The difference being that SD cards were designed to
hold protected (copyrighted) data like songs. Not
all cameras that use SD cards can use MMC cards so
be sure to read your owner manual before buying additional
cards.
Secure
Digital - Secure Digital. See "SD"
above.
Self
Timer - Preset time delay (2, 5 or 10 seconds)
before the shutter fires. Allows the photographer
to get into the picture without using a cable release
or remote control. It is also great for taking macro
shots as you don't touch the camera to trip the shutter
and thus eliminates any camera shake.
Sepia
- The (brown) mono-toned images from the "good
ole days" now often found as a special image
effect on some digicams.
Serial
Port - Same as "RS-232" above.
Shutter
- The physical device that opens and closes to let
light from the scene strike the image sensor. Digicams
use both electronic and mechanical shutters.
Shutter
Lag - The time between pressing the shutter
and actually capturing the image. This is due to the
camera having to calculate the exposure, set the white
balance and focus the lens.
Shutter
Priority AE - the user chooses a shutter speed
and the aperture is automatically determined by lighting
conditions. Shutter speed priority is used to control
motion capture. A fast shutter speed stops fast action,
a slow shutter speed blurs a fast moving subject.
Skylight
Filter - This is an UltraViolet absorbing filter
that helps overcome the abundance of blue in outdoor
photographs. Not really necessary in digital photography
as the camera's white balance system adjusts for the
colour temperature of the scene. We do use them to
protect the camera's lens from scratching, fingerprints
or dirt.
Slow
Sync - A flash mode in some digicams that opens
the shutter for a longer than normal period and fires
the flash just before it closes. Used for illuminating
a foreground subject yet allowing a darker background
to also be rendered. Good for night time shots of
buildings with people in the foreground. Often called
Night Scene or Night Portrait mode.
SLR
- Single Lens Reflex - Means the camera has a viewfinder
that sees through the lens (TTL) by way of a 45°-angled
mirror that flips up when the shutter fires and allows
the light to strike the image sensor (or film).
SmartMedia
- (aka SSFDC), a flash memory card that consists of
a thin piece of plastic with laminated memory on the
surface and uses a gold contact strip to connect to
the camera. SmartMedia cards are available from 4MB
up to 128MB in size. For more info see Flash Memory
Cards/Readers
Smoothing
- Averaging pixels with their neighbors. It reduces
contrast and simulates an out-of-focus image.
Spot
Metering - The camera's auto exposure system
is focused on a very small area in the center of the
viewfinder to critically adjust the overall exposure
value ONLY for that area. see also: "Center-weighted"
and "Matrix metering"
SSFDC
- Solid State Floppy Disc Card - See "SmartMedia"
above
Stitching
- Combining a series of images to form a larger image
or a panoramic photo. Requires special graphic software.
Subtractive
Colour - Photographs and objects of nature
create colour by subtracting or absorbing certain
wavelengths of colour while reflecting other wavelengths
back to the viewer. This is called subtractive colour.
Example - The common apple, it is seen as "red"
by the human eye or a digital camera. The apple really
has no colour (light energy of its own), it merely
reflects certain wavelengths of white light that cause
us to see red and absorbs most other wavelengths.
Colour paintings, colour photography and all colour
printing processes use the subtractive process to
reproduce colour. In these cases, the
reflective substrate is canvas (paintings) or paper
(photographs, prints), which is usually white.
SuperCCD
- Fujifilm's image sensor used in their line of digital
cameras. For more information, read their SuperCCD
press release.
SVCD
- "Super Video Compact Disc"
A CD-ROM disc that contains high quality video and
audio. Typically, a SVCD can hold about 35~45 minutes
(650MB) of video and stereo-quality audio (depends
on the data rate used for encoding). The video and
audio are stored in MPEG-2 format, much like a DVD.
SVCD video has better quality than VHS video.
SVCD Video Parameter Settings
Frame Size: 480x480 (NTSC) or 480x576 (PAL)
Frame Rate: 29.97frames/second (NTSC) or 25 frames/second
(PAL)
Video Data Rate: Variable bit rate up to 2600 kbps
Audio Settings: 32~384 kbps MPEG-1 Layer 2 audio bit
rate
SVGA
- Refers to an image resolution size of 1024 x 768
pixels.
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