Photography Related Glossary & Reference (P)

Paintshop - A graphics editor and vector graphics editor originally developed by Jasc Software.

Parallax - This is the difference between what is seen through a camera’s viewfinder and what’s actually saved or recorded onto film.

Passive Auto Focus - This feature allows your camera to auto focus by analyzing what it sees in a particular scene.

PC Card Adapter - An adapter that allows your PC to read your storage card from the digital camera.

PC Cards - This small card is compatible with PCs or laptops and enables the user to insert storage cards from digital cameras for easy transfer and sharing of information.

PCMCIA - This small card is compatible with PCs or laptops and enable the user to insert storage cards from digital cameras for easy transfer and sharing of information.

Phase Detection - A mechanism which determines values from different parts of the camera’s lens to bring the camera into focus automatically.

Phase Difference - A mechanism which determines values from different parts of a camera’s lens to bring the camera into focus automatically.

Photoshop - A graphics editor program developed by Adobe, mostly used by professional photographers and designers.

Photosite - A small electrode on the sensor that captures a single pixel per photosite.

Picture Elements - Pixels, or the smallest color pattern that can be picked up by digital cameras and displayed on monitors.

Pincushion Distortion - This distortion causes the image to bend inward towards the center.

Pixel - Picture elements, or the smallest color patterns that can be picked up by digital cameras and displayed on monitors.

Pixel Mapping - This feature enables the camera to exclude the bad pixels from images, by actually mapping all pixels on the image sensor.

Pixellate - This is when individual picture elements, or pixels, to be visible in an image.

Plug-ins - Specialized software that can be added to your image editing application to add additional functionality.

Polarizer - This is a type of filter that lets the user block out glare and reflections, or in other cases increase contrast.

Posterization - Process that reduces the number of tones in an image making it look flat.

PPI - The amount of Pixels per Inch in an image.

Pre-Focus - Essentially this is auto focusing achieved by holding the shutter button half way down.

Pre-Focus Time - This is the wait time for the camera to pre-focus.

Prime Lens - This is a lens with only one fixed focal length.

Profile - Detailed information about the color qualities in a digital camera, also referred to as a device profile or ICC profile.

Proportional Zoom Control - The zoom is determined on how long you hold down the control.

Prosumer - This is a camera that is somewhere in between a professional and consumer option. A very good choice for someone looking for a quality affordable option.

Purple Fringing - Also known as Chromatic Aberration. This is when the lens is not able to achieve focus of various colors in the focal plane resulting in a fringing effect around the other image.

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