Photographic emulsion

A light-sensitive layer of silver-halide crystals dispersed in gelatin or another binder. Exposure creates a latent image in the crystals, which chemical development turns into a visible photograph.

Silver halide: A family of light-sensitive silver compounds, including silver bromide, silver chloride, and silver iodide. These crystals are the emulsion’s light-sensitive image-forming material.
Silver bromide: A silver halide widely used in photographic emulsions because of its sensitivity to visible light. It is a common crystal composition in conventional black-and-white emulsions.
Black-and-white film: Photographic film that records images as variations in monochrome density rather than color. Its image-forming layer commonly uses silver-halide emulsion.
Louis Daguerre: French artist and inventor whose daguerreotype process produced photographs on silver-coated copper plates. His process predates gelatin emulsions and shows an earlier silver-based photographic method.
Digital photography: Photography that captures images with electronic sensors and stores them as digital data. It records light electronically rather than through chemical changes in silver-halide crystals.
Latent image: An invisible chemical change that records an image in a photosensitive material after exposure. Exposure creates this hidden pattern within the emulsion before development.
Silver chloride: A silver halide less sensitive to light than silver bromide and used in some photographic materials. Its lower sensitivity suits certain printing and photographic emulsion applications.
Color film: Photographic film that records color through multiple light-sensitive layers and dye-forming chemistry. Layered emulsions respond to different parts of the visible spectrum.
Frederick Scott Archer: English inventor who introduced the wet-plate collodion photographic process in 1851. His process supplied a major alternative before gelatin dry plates became widespread.
Photographic plate: A rigid support coated with a light-sensitive material for photographic image capture. Plates are one format that can carry a photographic emulsion.

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