AP Photo

There was a moment late in this season of “Homeland,” when Carrie Mathison's CIA colleagues were trying to track down the terrorist mastermind Abu Nazir. The analysts were looking at security camera footage of Nazir in a gas station, his SUV visible through the station's front window. With a few clicks of the mouse and keyboard, grey lines started to streak across the screen as the monitor zoomed in on the car's license plate. In a few seconds, the plate sharpened from a pixelated blur into a high-def, perfectly legible close up.