Which statement best describes how a digital camera works?

Which statement best describes how a digital camera works?

• A. Light is emitted to scan a hand-drawn image
• B. Light falls onto a grid of photosensors arranged as pixels; resulting data is then stored; quality of image is directly related to the number of pixels
• C. Images are stored only as analog signals without conversion
• D. The camera records video only, not still images

Answer: (B)

Digital cameras turn light into digital information using a grid of photosensitive elements called pixels. Light from the scene hits the sensor, and each pixel records how bright that point is. This electrical signal is then converted to digital data by an analog-to-digital converter and stored as a digital image file. The more pixels the sensor has, the more detail the camera can potentially capture, so image resolution generally improves with more pixels. Of course, other factors—like the size of the sensor, the quality of the lens, and processing—also affect overall image quality. This description matches the idea that light is captured by a grid of photosensors, the data is stored digitally, and higher pixel counts can yield more detail. The other statements don’t fit because a camera does not emit light to scan a scene, images are not stored only as analog signals, and cameras can capture still images in addition to video.

Digital cameras turn light into digital information using a grid of photosensitive elements called pixels. Light from the scene hits the sensor, and each pixel records how bright that point is. This electrical signal is then converted to digital data by an analog-to-digital converter and stored as a digital image file. The more pixels the sensor has, the more detail the camera can potentially capture, so image resolution generally improves with more pixels. Of course, other factors—like the size of the sensor, the quality of the lens, and processing—also affect overall image quality.

This description matches the idea that light is captured by a grid of photosensors, the data is stored digitally, and higher pixel counts can yield more detail. The other statements don’t fit because a camera does not emit light to scan a scene, images are not stored only as analog signals, and cameras can capture still images in addition to video.