The term 'digital negative' refers to a RAW image file format, which, unlike compressed JPEGs, stores complete unprocessed camera sensor data. JPEGs are popular due to their color display capabilities and their compressed file sizes, allowing for efficient storage.
The term “digital negative” typically refers to a RAW image file format used by digital cameras. Unlike JPEGs, which compress the image data to create smaller files, RAW files store the complete, unprocessed data from the camera's sensor.
This allows for greater flexibility in image editing, akin to how a traditional film negative can be used to produce multiple photo prints with various adjustments.
Two main reasons for using the JPEG format for digital photos are: firstly, JPEGs have the ability to display millions of colors, making them suitable for vivid photography. Secondly, due to compression, JPEGs result in significantly smaller file sizes, allowing for more efficient storage and sharing.