Image processing and page presentation: part 1

A brief history of image (page) processing is provided, followed by an explanation of certain basic parameters such as resolution, halftones and colour, the quantity of data in high quality pages, and the costs of storing and transmitting it. The article concludes with a note about the increasing power of microcomputers—now widely used for image processing. Although the article is about technology, it is not assumed that readers will be technologists. Certain terms which are often ‘taken as read’ are explained in some detail.