A/V outputs
Video or A/V outputs are fairly common on digital cameras; they let you send an image to a TV for viewing. Of course, an A/V output will also let you send sound (if your camera has that capability, and you recorded a sound clip), while a video output only sends an image.

Aperture
A camera's aperture works like the iris of your eye, expanding and contracting to adjust the amount of light which passes through. The smaller the aperture, the less light it admits. As a result, aperture settings are directly related to exposure, permitting you to control the amount of light admitted. Some cameras offer manual aperture adjustment; others offer an aperture priority mode for changing exposure settings.

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C
CCD (charge coupled device)
A digital camera's image sensing element. The CCD's job is to convert light to electrical energy, which can then be stored in digital form in the camera's memory. CCD size is measured in pixels. Sometimes, you may see two slightly different pixel counts listed for the same camera's CCD. These numbers represent effective pixel count and actual pixel count. For an explanation of the difference, see our Digital Cameras FAQ.

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Digital zoom
Most digital cameras provide two methods for zooming: optical and digital. Unlike optical zoom, which uses the optics of the lens to magnify the size of an image, digital zoom discards pixels around the edge of an image, fitting the remaining pixels into the same space to give the appearance of zoom. Since digital zoom comes at the expense of resolution, you should always choose a camera based on its optical zoom, not the digital or combined figure.

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Extended Zoom
Extended zoom digital cameras offer 8x optical zoom or greater, providing far more telephoto power than most other digital cameras (the average digital camera offers 3- or 4x optical zoom). On most digital cameras, a 10x optical zoom is approximately the equivalent of a 380mm lens.

Exif Print
An Exif Print-capable camera is great if you're going to be printing out photos on an Exif Print-compatible photo printer. The camera records information like exposure settings and light metering at the time when a photo was taken, and attaches that information to the picture file. A compatible printer takes note of this info and adjusts its settings accordingly, to permit the most accurate, lifelike photo print possible.

Exposure
Exposure means the amount of light to which the CCD is exposed. Three factors go into exposure: aperture, shutter speed, and sensitivity. By adjusting these factors, either separately and manually, or by using predefined exposure settings, you can affect the way your digital camera handles photos taken in unusual settings (such as photos taken of people running, or photos taken at twilight). Different digital cameras have greater and lesser levels of control over exposure settings.

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Film speed
See sensitivity.

Focus (auto & manual)
Nearly every camera we sell possesses some kind of autofocus, a technology which lets the camera focus automatically on the central subject in the frame as you press the shutter button. Many offer multipoint autofocus,which makes it easier to take tricky shots like off-center portraits. Multipoint autofocus uses several points (often between 3 and 9) to assess a framed shot and set focus. Selectable multipoint autofocus gives the user control over which point is used as the focus point.More sophisticated cameras may also offer manual focus, either as a set of predetermined focus settings (such as Portrait or Landscape), or as a manual focus ring or lever. Manual focus gives you increased control over the detail and clarity of your photos, especially if you plan on taking non-traditional shots and close-ups.

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H
I
Image Noise
Image noise creates specks of the wrong color in a digital image. Image noise usually occurs in low-light conditions when a camera's light sensor registers an incorrect value, for instance recording yellow when it should record black. This error causes small dots to appear in the image. Higher quality cameras should have very little noise, even at high ISO settings.

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JPEG
An acronym for Joint Photographic Experts Group, a JPEG is the most commonly used type of digital image format. By eliminating very subtle color distinctions that the human eye usually cannot detect, JPEG images are compressed so that they can save faster and use less space. Because JPEG format actually alters an image, it's compression is said to be "lossy," meaning that a certain amount of data is lost every time a JPEG is edited, saved, and compressed again.

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LCD viewscreen
Color LCD "viewscreens" are pretty much the norm on today's digital cameras; they can operate in place of, or in addition to, traditional viewfinders. With screens typically in the 1.5"-3" range, images are larger and easy to see, during both shooting and playback.