The “Zoom and Enhance” Cliché Compilation [movie montage]
On TV and the silver screen, when a computer is involved, it’s a magic box that can do whatever the story requires it to, even if it bears no resemblance to reality (but reality is catching up with a technique called compressed sensing).
Computers and their usage is sexed up by Hollywood — funny that sometimes it usually bears a direct impact on the plot. As such, it is one of the laziest tools at a writer’s disposal, serving as a sort of deus ex machina. “How do we connect the dots for the hero detective? Zoom and enhance that’s how!”