Digital cameras are everywhere nowadays. In phones, in tablets and in computers.
But how do they actually work?
Well, light goes into the lens and lands on a small sensor. The sensor is divided into millions of tiny squares β or pixels as theyβre called.
Each little square is a bit like a solar panel. You know that a solar panel takes light and makes it into electricity? Well the same thing is going on in your camera. As the image hits the sensor, each square gets a different electrical charge depending on the brightness and colour of the light hitting it.
The computer in the camera takes the grid of electrical charges and converts them into a picture. Itβs recorded as a computer file so it can be accessed as many times as you like and moved around.
Different cameras have different amounts of squares. βMegaβ means million, so a two megapixel camera has two million pixels β or squares, on its sensor.