While we have all heard about pixels, what is pixel? The truth is that if you ask this question to most people, they won’t be able to give you a straight answer. So, we decided, in this post, to answer the question what is pixel.
The term pixel comes from Picture Element (PEL). Simply put, a pixel is the smallest part or portion of a display or of an image that a computer is able to display or to print.
Check out how to convert inches to pixels easily.
In case you are someone who prefers to see an image that to read an explanation, then you just need to look at an image on your computer, for example. Zoom in and you will be able to see tiny squares. These tiny squares are called pixels. In case you take a look at a print image, you will also be able to see these little blocks. However, in this case, they are called DPI (Dots Per Inch).
A pixel can either be a square or round and pixels are usually arranged in a grid with two dimensions. So, as it is easy to understand now, the more pixels an image has, the more it will be close to the original image.
DPI vs PPI – discover the differences.
Resolution Of An Image
The total number of pixels that an image has is, in most cases, called the resolution of the image. However, this isn’t exactly how this term should be applied. The truth is that when you want to determine the number of pixels that an image has, you can express it through the resolution by using the width and the height. For example, in the case of a monitor, some have a 1280 X 1024 resolution. By looking at this resolution, you can easily say that this specific monitor has 1280 pixels when you’re counting horizontally and 1024 pixels when counting vertically.
Discover everything you need to know about pixel density.
However, this is not the only way that you have to show the number of pixels. Let’s take a camera, for example. Let’s say that you have a 5-megapixel camera. So, if you take the same formula we used before, and multiply the width by the height of the image, this would give you a total amount of 5 million pixels. So, looking back at our previous example, and multiply the width by the height, we would have 1280 X 1024 = 1,310,720, which is the same of saying that it has 1.31 megapixels.
Now that you already know what is pixel and that you can find the resolution in different ways, it is important that you know how many pixels you actually need in an image.
Lear more about DPI in printing.
Simply put, the image resolution refers to the amount of detail that an image has. And this is why we mentioned the resolution before. This term can be applied not only to digital images but also to prints and even film images. Ultimately, the higher the resolution the image has, the more detailed the image is.
In case you are looking to buy a new camera, you will be able to see that most manufacturers try to sell you the cameras by only looking at the megapixels. However, you should take into consideration a lot more factors. After all, the truth is that most cameras on the market are a great option for a non-professional photographer. However, we are only looking at the megapixels. Since you need to look at other factors, there isn’t a specific number of megapixels that we can say for sure that a camera will work for you. The truth is that it really depends on what you want to do with the image, if you are considering printing it, enlarging it, among others.
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