CAN A COMPUTER HELP MAKE A BETTER CAMERA? (Yes, but We’re Talking About Much More than Instagram Filters.) Imagine everything that happens when you snap a photo on your smartphone. A “shutter” opens within the sensor of your phone (most shutters are electronic, not mechanical these days). Millions or even billions of light particles, called photons, excite electrons within the sensor to generate current that is converted into digital ones and zeros—bits—that are the digital facsimile of your photo. However, the picture isn’t perfect; the lighting could be too bright in the background, the phone’s flash may make skin tones too blue, and the sensor itself might add blocky noise to your perfect composition. Your phone’s software magically corrects all of these blemishes, and voila, you have a beautiful masterpiece displayed on your screen.
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