ABSTRACT
Digital imaging is closely tied with the development of digital cameras and the television. It’s based on the idea that an image can be turned into electrical patterns that can be digitized, or turned into computer binary code. Once the image has been translated into computer language, it can be manipulated in ways that are limited only by the imagination of the user. Digital imaging can make the dead walk, or so it seems. For example, photos of Abraham Lincoln can be digitized and animated, giving the images the illusion of life. It is at its best when it produces images that enhance the understanding and facilitate the interpretation of large, complicated data sets. Imaging was originally produced by photomechanical means. This was a lengthy and complex method that was also costly. Later, drum scanners were developed, which cut the time and cost to produce the images. Then, in the 1970s, microprocessors were created that could take the signal from a photo multiplier tube and store it in a computer in which the images could be manipulated. These processes were very expensive. It was not until desktop computers, laser printers, and the PostScript computer language came in the late 1970s that digital imaging was made more affordable. Today it is increasingly found in our “everyday” lives.
