What is a pixel?

Pixel is short for picture element. A digital image is made of tiny pixels arranged in a grid.

Each pixel has a specific color or tone that can be displayed, changed, or stored.
When the pixels are small enough, the eye merges the individual pixels into continuous tones.

Georges Seurat, A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, 1884-1886

From: http://www.iupui.edu/~histwhs/H114.dir/H114.webslides/i.ModArt/seurat.grande-jatte.jpg

So what does pixel really mean?

200 x 200

50 x 50

10 x 10

These are all the same picture! The only thing different about them, is the number of pixels used to describe each picture.

What is a Mega Pixel?

Simply put: Mega = 1 million Mega Pixel = 1 million pixels

Digital cameras are described as: 2.0, 4.2, 6.0 MegaPixel Camera etc.

This refers to AREA

Break it down:
- If you bought a camera that produced pictures that were 10 x 10 pixels, this camera would then be a 100 pixel camera (10 x 10 = 100)

- Let's say your camera produces pictures that are: 3456 x 2304 pixels - 3456 x 2304 = 7,962,624 pixels = 7.96 MegaPixels - The manufacturers round this up and call it an 8 MegaPixel Camera.

So how do I decide what camera is right for me?

Ultimately, you will want to print your photograph. A good print is 300 dots per inch (DPI). With a 5 x 7 inch print at 300 DPI: - Multiply 5 x 300 = 1,500 dots in five inches - Multiply 7 x 300 = 2,100 dots in seven inches (300 x 7) - 1,500 x 2,100 = 3,150,000 dots in the image.

To get 3,150,000 dots, youll need 3,150,000 pixels 3,150,000 pixels rounds up to 3.2 megapixels.

Maximum Print Size (inches) 4x6

Number of Megapixels Needed 2 megapixels

Resolution Needed 1600 x 1200

5x7

3 megapixels

2048 x 1536

8 x 10

5 megapixels

2560 x 1920

11 x 14

6 megapixels

2816 x 2112

16 x 20

8 megapixels

3264 x 2468