Focusing the Light

• Begin with the camcorder lens. Most camcorders have adjustable zoom lenses to focus in on the image. Many also have adjustable apertures to control the exposure of the image, variable shutter speeds which control brightness and regulate motion blur, special low light settings to capture images in near-darkness and other settings that can be tweaked. On many systems, the camcorder automatically adjusts these settings, but on some, the user can opt to adjust them himself.
  
  

Creating an Image

• A lens in the digital camcorder focuses incoming light on a grid of tiny light detectors called the imager. Each detector has a tiny filter over it, only allowing red, green or blue light through. When light of the correct color strikes a detector, it creates a charge, and the detector sends a signal to the computer. It then resets itself and records the next image. Generally, an imager can record up to 30 frames per second.
  
  

Processing and Storing the Image

• The computer pieces all of the tiny red, green and blue dots from the image detector together into a picture. The dots are so small that, when they are all pieced together, they look like a seamless image. It then stores the image on a storage device. Many Digital camcorders use Mini-DVDs, which etch the video onto small disks using a laser. Others have internal hard drives which store the image magnetically on a spinning disk. Most modern digital camcorders also have a transfer cable which can be used to transfer the video onto a computer for storage or editing.