The process of how the sensor goes about gathering information is referred to as metering. The human eye can distinguish a range of about 16 f-stops; camera meters only have a range of about 5 f-stops. This is why camera meters are calibrated for a mid range exposure of 18% gray, because 90% of the time that is as close as they can get to the human eye. Its not the cameras fault that it can not see as well as you do, its simply a fact of life.
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