There are two general types of digital cameras in use today.

single-lens reflex and

the compact camera.

The single-lens reflex is more sophisticated and more versatile. Its special feature is that the scene is viewed through
the lens by a system of mirrors and prisms. This gives a very clear view of 95 percent or more of the picture area.
These cameras have a liquid crystal display on the back where images already in the camera and operational menus
can be viewed. These cameras use interchangeable lenses allowing a large selection of focal lengths. Most
professionals use this type of camera.

The other type of camera is the compact camera. Here, the scene is viewed on the liquid crystal display on the back
of the camera. Some of these cameras also allow viewing with another liquid crystal display in an eyepiece or by an
optical viewer above the lens. This optical eyepiece shows only about two thirds of the picture area and does not
exactly align with the lens, so this feature should not be used for scene selection in indication photography. Compact
cameras are the normal consumers choice because they are smaller, simpler and less expensive than the digital
single-lens reflex. They can often do an adequate job of indication photography.

The term video applies specifically to movie signals transmitted electronically. There have been three different
platforms for moving pictures.

1. Film projection was used for commercial cinema in the twentieth century. Each frame was in effect an individual
color slide, and they were sequenced on spools, or reels. A long movie consisted of thousands of frames and
required several reels. Film of smaller width, and hence less resolution, was widely used at home and by industry.
Some film was in black and white.

2. Analog video was used for television. The moving images were converted electronically into a series of horizontal
lines that scanned across the screen successively in a raster pattern. Analog television can be in color or in black and
white.

3. In digital displays, a movie consists of a series of still images, or frames, viewed in succession to recreate the
appearance of motion . Digital video can be viewed on a computer display or on a digital television screen.

Digital File Formats

Codecs
A codec is software that encodes or
decodes a data stream for digital
processing. Video codecs compress or
decompress video files for transmission,
storage or viewing. Most codecs are lossy,
sacrificing data for the sake of efficiency.
Many codecs are proprietary, designed to
work with particular commercial software
or hardware products; compatability
problems can arise among versions,
platforms and competing software.
A codec determines the format of the
video file created with it, so the visual
inspector selecting a codec for visual
testing purposes must consider what
format is desired for short term evaluation
of files and for their long term archiving.
The selection of codec also affects the
selection of hardware and vice versa.
Codecs define the video settings such
as the frame rate and size. There are many
video codecs and formats. Some are listed

in Table 4.