pixel

American  

[pik-suhl, -sel] / ˈpɪk səl, -sɛl /

noun

Computers, Television.

1. the smallest element of an image that can be individually processed in a video display system.

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pixel British  

/ ˈpɪksəl /

noun

1. any of a number of very small picture elements that make up a picture, as on a visual display unit

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pixel Scientific  

/ pĭk′səl /

1. The most basic unit of an image displayed on a computer or television screen or on a printer. Pixels are generally arranged in rows and columns; a given combination among the pixels of various brightness and color values forms an image.

2. ◆ A subpixel is one of three components of a pixel used in the representation of a color image. Each subpixel represents the contribution of a single color—red, green, or blue—to the overall color and brightness of the pixel.

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Closer Look

The images on a computer screen are composed of tiny dots called pixels (short for picture element). The computer controls each pixel individually. Most monitors have hundreds of thousands, or often millions, of pixels that are lit or dimmed to create an image. Each pixel of a color screen is made out of one red, one blue, and one green subpixel, generally arranged in a triangle, adjusted individually to create the combined effect of a single color but treated as a unit pixel for determining resolution. Pixels vary in size according to the size and resolution of the monitor. Smaller pixels provide higher resolution, and therefore sharper images, but require more memory to store the color and intensity data of each pixel and more processing time to refresh the screen. Resolution is frequently referred to in terms of dpi, or dots per inch.

Etymology

Origin of pixel

1965–70; pix ² (in the sense “pictures”) + el(ement)

Example Sentences

The diamond-white pixels perform a little choreographed welcome when the car is activated, like the chasing lights of a Broadway marquee.

From The Wall Street Journal

By rotating the light source and recording how the scattering signal changes, researchers can reconstruct the direction of the fibers within each pixel of an image.

From Science Daily

Its stock price has been rocketing higher for years on a growing realization that the highly parallel computing used to draw videogame pixels is a good fit for AI, too.

From Barron's

You have been an active participant in the thing that Pixar accomplished, the transition of animation from paper and pencil to pixels and screens.

From The Wall Street Journal

By pinpointing an issue where electric charge slightly spreads to neighboring pixels -- a phenomenon called the brighter-fatter effect -- the team designed algorithms that digitally corrected the images, fully restoring AMI's performance.

From Science Daily