History:
Frederic Billingsley (1921-2002), an engineer who helped develop computerized image processing, published the term “pixel” in 1965. He took the word from another engineer who had no idea where the word originated.
Etymology:
“Pixel” is a combination of the words “picture” and “element.” An early incarnation of “pixel” is the word “pix,” which was used as an abbreviation for movies as early as 1932.
Association:
Megapixels are commonly associated with digital cameras. The more megapixels a digital camera has, the better the image resolution. Buying a camera with too few megapixels causes pixelation, which happens when pixels are rendered as small, single-colored, square display elements visible to the eye.
Combination With Other Factors:
Although megapixels are related to the quality of a camera’s pictures and printouts, this is not the only factor. Good lighting, proper focus and the optical quality of the lens are other elements that make a difference.
Determining Megapixels:
Deciding on the number of a camera’s megapixels can depend on the print size you plan to make for your pictures as well as the amount of editing you plan to do.
megapixel:
A “megapixel” is simply a million pixels. If you require a certain resolution of detail (PPI), then there is a maximum print size you can achieve for a given number of megapixels. The following chart gives the maximum print sizes for several common camera megapixels.
| # of Megapixels | Maximum 3:2 Print Size | |
|---|---|---|
| at 300 PPI: | at 200 PPI: | |
| 2 | 5.8″ x 3.8″ | 8.7″ x 5.8″ |
| 3 | 7.1″ x 4.7″ | 10.6″ x 7.1″ |
| 4 | 8.2″ x 5.4″ | 12.2″ x 8.2″ |
| 5 | 9.1″ x 6.1″ | 13.7″ x 9.1″ |
| 6 | 10.0″ x 6.7″ | 15.0″ x 10.0″ |
| 8 | 11.5″ x 7.7″ | 17.3″ x 11.5″ |
| 12 | 14.1″ x 9.4″ | 21.2″ x 14.1″ |
| 16 | 16.3″ x 10.9″ | 24.5″ x 16.3″ |
| 22 | 19.1″ x 12.8″ | 28.7″ x 19.1″ |
cameraspixels 