latent image

American  

noun

Photography.

1. an invisible image, produced on a sensitized emulsion by exposure to light, that will emerge in development.

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latent image British  

noun

1. photog the invisible image produced by the action of light, etc, on silver halide crystals suspended in the emulsion of a photographic material. It becomes visible after development

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Example Sentences

The acidity of the beer, combined with the added ingredients, creates a solution that can reveal the latent image on the film.

From BBC • Aug. 3, 2025

In conventional photography, the light which comes through the lens forms a "latent image" in the silver bromide of the film.

From Time Magazine Archive

The strength of Aaron's work owed everything to his belief that his task was to release the latent image from the log, where it was trapped.

From Time Magazine Archive

But the silver bromide outside the latent image remains soluble.

From Time Magazine Archive

Finally, as will be seen later, it is hardly adequate to account for the varying degrees of stability which may apparently characterise the latent image.

From The Birth-Time of the World and Other Scientific Essays by Joly, John