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resolution — English
The capability of a film and/or a lens to capture and record spatial detail. In order to identify the finest detail on a photographic image the resolution should be as high as possible. From a very grainy photographic image very little or no fine detail could be identified. Such an image is of little value. Compare a grainy (that is a photographic image composed of dots spaced far apart), semi-focussed photograph of a lovely bride to a sharp, fully focussed photograph of the same bride. On the first photo one can hardly see any of the detail on her dress, and even her face might be somewhat vague. But on a high resolution photograph one can see every pearl, frill, fold and detail of her dress and her happily smiling face is sharp and perfectly recognisable. The resolution of a photographic image is inversely proportional to grain size; that is, the smaller the grain size of the photographic image, the higher is its resolution. For military purposes, high resolution images are essential. It is of little value to be able to see that some construction is going on in an enemy country, but when the construction is photographed with high resolution equipment and the images reveal that a missile launching pad is being built the neighbouring states would react differently! The global military industry is always involved in progressive remote sensing techniques (see “remote sensing”) in order to obtain more detailed remotely sensed images. Scientists doing research in these fields often work directly or on contract for the military. Eventually some of these techniques make it to the public domain where they become available for use to all.
