Consumer digital photography: The big picture

Consumer electronic imaging began with the development of home video camcorders. Camcorder technologies enabled the creation of the first electronic still cameras, using the still video floppy (SVF) standard. This allowed still pictures to be captured, stored, displayed, and printed, but only within the constraints of NTSC or PAL television standards and components. Digital photography was enabled by the personal computer. Computer technologies allow images to be stored on many different digital media. Unlike an SVF disk, the computer does not force the image signal through a limited bandwidth channel, so digital images can offer a wide range of quality levels. The basement home darkroom has moved to the den, and become a ''desktop digital darkroom''. Instead of using chemicals, it's based on powerful multimedia computers, creative software applications, inexpensive memory, affordable scanners, digital cameras, and color printers. But consumer digital photography doesn't stop at the home. Connections to retail stores, and to service providers such as photofinishers, provide high quality, cost-effective ways to digitize, print, or transmit defacto images. These systems provide many options for creating and sharing personal images with family and friends at home and around the world.