Hardware

A computer's hardware consists of its physical parts, including its internal pieces and
connected external devices. Hardware components perform a computer's tasks like
calculating data storing information, processing input, and providing output. Any part
of a computer that you can physically touch is hardware. All hardware devices,
whether internal or external, include chips on a circuit board to perform a function. All
hardware also requires a way to interface with the rest of the computer, usually by
connecting to a port, socket, or wireless radio. After that, pieces of hardware will
include other parts that help them fulfil their function, like buttons, sensors, protective
cases, or even cooling fans to prevent overheating.

Capture

Camera have become better and better and are now very impressive devices with
good optical lenses, high resolution and low costs. Choosing a digital camera involves
the best price, lens and how many megapixels the camera has. The lens should
provide an optical zoom to give control over how much is in the picture. Digital zoom
can be carried out later using a computer with a photo editing software.

CCD stands for charge coupled device. It is an image sensor used in digital cameras
and other devices that converts the image to digital signals.

Megapixel is a million pixels it is a unit of image sensing capacity in a digital camera.

The number of megapixels in a digital camera is how many pixels the CCD can
capture. A 12 megapixels camera will be able to take pictures in a variety of sizes, up
to 123 million pixels, which is big enough for 4000 x 3000 picture to be taken. A lot of
pixels are useful if you want to be able to use small parts of the picture later, when
editing or if the picture is needed for a very large printout such as a road-side poster.

Composition

Composition in photography can be defined as positioning and arranging objects in

the frame in a way that the viewers eyes is automatically drawn to the most
interesting or significant are of the capture. In landscape photography involves
working with objects that are immobile or slowly moving so there’s usually enough
time to compose an image before filming. However, street photography or
photojournalism composing can be done in seconds for this to work a photographer
needs a combination of knowledge, practice and creative courage.

Composition in photography is also how you arrange things in your photo to make it
look good and interesting. One common rule is the Rule of Thirds, where you divide
the photo into three parts and place the main subject off-centre for balance. Leading
lines, like roads or rivers, guide the viewer’s eyes to the subject. Framing is when you
use things like windows or trees to surround your subject. Symmetry and patterns can
make your photo feel calm and balanced, while negative space gives your subject
room to stand out. Depth can be added by showing things in the front, middle, and
back of the photo. Balance means spreading out the elements in the photo, so it
doesn’t feel too heavy on one side. Using contrast (light vs. dark or colours) makes
your subject pop. Finally, changing the angle you take the photo from can give it a
new look. Good composition helps tell a story and makes your photos more appealing.
Connectivity

Cameras have several ways and several devices that they can be used to connect and
retrieve data. Manufactures now create new cameras with necessary cables and
driver software to allows connectivity and make it easier for the users to use.

USB which is Universal Serial Bus in cameras is a widely used connection that allows
the camera to transfer data to and from other devices, such as computers,
smartphones, or printers. One of the most common uses of USB in cameras is to
transfer photos and videos. When you connect a camera to a computer via a USB
cable, the camera’s memory card is recognized as a storage device, allowing you to
easily copy or move your files from the camera to the computer.

The flash sync port on a camera is a connection used to sync an external flash with
the camera’s shutter. This port ensures that the flash fires at exactly the right moment
when you press the shutter button. It’s important for photographers who want more
control over the lighting in their photos, especially when using professional or
powerful external flashes that the camera’s built-in flash can’t handle.

Microphones allow cameras to record sounds through a microphone instead of the one
located in camera. However not al cameras except microphones it depends on what
type of camera you have the more modern your camera is the better quality and
better sound.

A basic monitor output for your rear LCD screen (short for Audio Visual out), allowing
you to display your menu and image review on a separate screen. This is often in the
form of a 3.5mm jack, though may also be combined with the USB port.

HDMI Outputs a high-res digital signal from your camera – much like the AV out –
which can be used to review your images, or videos on TV or monitor.

What is photo sharing and connectivity?

Photo sharing websites allow users to upload their images to share wit their friends
online or even the entire website, so you don’t have to publish pictures in hardware.
Digital photography is usually used by young people they are keen users of digital
photography. Many teenagers like taking pictures of social activities and friends and
they often share the images online through social networking sites such as Instagram
and Facebook.

Here is a list of some of the most popular and widely used photo sharing websites:
Flickr:

Flickr is perhaps the most popular photo sharing website around. It’s probably one of
the oldest too, having been on the go since photo sharing became popular. It allows
users to join groups like their interests to share images and there is a big focus
tagging.

Picasa: This is Google’s photo sharing offering. It’s easy to use for Google Mail
subscribers and offers many of the same things as the other sites. It also offers users
the chance to upgrade their package to have more space and editing tools in return
for a fee.

Photobucket: According to some, the most popular photo sharing site in the US,
Photobucket is fast becoming popular in Europe. The site has many of the same
features but also includes instant chat options and operates closer to the way
traditional social networking websites do.

Instagram: Instagram is perhaps the fastest growing photo sharing website. It is

popular with Twitter and Facebook users as it allows people to upload to their profiles.
It works well on mobile platforms. Instagram also has good and easy-to-use editing
tools which makes it popular.

Scanner

Scanner is used to input paper images unto your computer. In scanners, optical
resolution refers to the amount of information the scanner can gather in each
horizontal line. In other words, resolution is the amount of detail a scanner can
capture. Resolution is measured in dots per inch (dpi). A higher dpi means higher
resolution and higher-quality images with more detail.

Scanners, digital cameras and computer monitors use red, green and blue (RGB) light
to display color. Commercial printing presses print with cyan, magenta, yellow and
black (CMYK) ink, called process printing, instead of RGB light, and therefore produce
a different range of color.

Graphics Tablet

A graphics tablet often has a special pen to operate it in a similar way to how a mouse
is used. The great advantage of the graphics tablet is that it is much more precise
than a mouse and positioning is absolute, because when the pen is touched to a point
on the tablet it will always represent the same spot on the screen. In contrast, if a
mouse is lifted and then put down on a different part of the surface, the mouse
pointer will continue from where it was on the screen. The pen of a graphics tablet
usually has a pressure sensitive tip, so if the user presses harder the line thickens.
This gives the pen a very natural feel. Digital drawing is just like normal drawing in a
sense—you draw a line, and a line appears. However, what this line looks like,
depends on your choice of the brush.

Graphics Card

A Graphics card is needed to produce a display at a resolution and colour depth that
meet the requirements of the user within the capabilities that the monitor has. The
main function of the graphics card is that it takes digital transformation from
operating system specifying what needs to be shown on the screen and kames this
into a signal that display understand. This signal usually travels along a video cable to
the monitor, which then is used to create a picture that is required. Modern graphics
card is very capable of producing an image that meets the highest needs of a monitor
without slowing down the system.

The Graphics Card has a GPU. A graphics processing unit (GPU) is a specialized
electronic circuit designed to rapidly manipulate and alter memory to accelerate the
creation of images in a frame buffer intended for output to a display device. GPUs are
used in embedded systems, mobile phones, personal computers, workstations, and
game consoles.

Random-Access Memory (RAM)

The internal memory of a computer system is called RAM. It is used to hold programs
when they are running and any documents or graphic files that the user has opened.
So basically, the RAM is your system's short-term data storage which it stores the
information your computer is actively using so that it can be accessed quickly. The
more programs your system is running, the more memory you'll need. It also allows
you to switch quickly among these tasks, remembering where you are in one task
when you switch to another task. So, the more memory you have the better it is.

Cache

Cache memory is a type of high-speed Random Access Memory (RAM) which is built
into the processor and devices. Data can be transferred to and from cache memory
and then than from RAM. Also, cache memory is used to temporarily hold data and
instructions that the processor is likely to reuse. This allows for faster processing as
the processor does not have to wait for the data and instructions to be fetched from
RAM. The more cache memory a computer has, the faster it runs. However, because
of its high-speed performance, cache memory is more expensive to build than RAM.
Therefore, cache memory tends to be very small in size. To get around this issue,
different types of cache exist: L1 cache has extremely fast transfer rates but is very
small in size. The processor uses L1 cache to hold the most frequently used
instructions and data. L2 and L3 caches are bigger than L1. They are extra caches
built between the CPU and the RAM. Sometimes L2 is built into the CPU with L1. L2
and L3 caches take slightly longer to access than L1. The more L2 and L3 memory
available, the faster a computer can run.

Processor (CPU)

A process is a central processing unit which is also known as a processor. A processer

is a chip that fits into a socket on the motherboard which is inside your computer.
Modern CPUs are usually made by AMD, Intel or Apple. A central processing unit, or
CPU, is a piece of hardware that enables your computer to interact with all the
applications and programs installed. A CPU interprets the program’s instructions and
creates the output that you interface with when you’re using a computer. A processor
is made up of hardware that works together to deliver information, allowing your
computer to complete the tasks that you request when you open an application or
make changes to a file. Whether it processes quickly or painfully slowly can make a
big impact on your computing experience. Processor cores and clock speeds
determine how much information can be received at a time, and how quickly that
information can be processed on your computer. The speed at which your computer’s
cores and clock speed work together is considered its processing speed
Processor (Processor cores) Most computers now have multiple processor cores that
enable your computer to complete multiple tasks at once. Having the ability to run
numerous programs and request multiple tasks like making edits to a document, while
watching a video, while opening a new program, is made possible with multiple
processor core units

Clock speed of processor

Processor (clock speed) A computer’s processor clock speed determines how quickly
the central processing unit (CPU) can retrieve and interpret instructions. This helps
your computer complete more tasks by getting them done faster. Clock speeds are
measured in gigahertz (GHz), with a higher number equating to higher clock speed.
Multi-core processors were developed to help CPUs run faster as it became more
difficult to increase clock speed. Faster clock speeds mean that you’ll see tasks
ordered from your CPU completed quicker, making your experience seamless and
reducing the time you wait to interface with your favourite applications and programs.