Digital image processing involves manipulating digital images using a computer. It has two main applications: improving images for human interpretation and processing images for machine perception tasks. A digital image is composed of pixels arranged in a grid, each with an intensity value. Key steps in digital image processing include image acquisition through sensors, enhancement, restoration, compression and segmentation. The human visual system has adapted to a wide range of light intensities through mechanisms like brightness adaptation and color vision. Digital images are formed by sampling and quantizing a continuous image function.