pixel

American  

[pik-suhl, -sel] / ˈpɪk səl, -sɛl /

noun

Computers, Television.

• pixels
  plural

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.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• pixels
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of pixel

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

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Explanation

A pixel is one of the small dots or squares that make up an image on a computer screen. The more pixels there are, the more the image looks real or accurate. Any digital image is made up of pixels, and when someone talks about the resolution of a computer monitor or TV screen, they're referring to the number of pixels. Older televisions have around 300,000 pixels, but new high-definition TVs can have more than two million pixels, which produces a very sharp, clear image. The word pixel came from pictures, or pics, and element, and was coined in 1969.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

pixel pixels

Quietly embedded within those videos, though, was a tracking pixel created by Facebook.

From Slate ● Oct. 17, 2026

“We don’t observe a meaningful inflection in pixel additions when weighting pixels by web traffic,” they write.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026

Each pixel in the imagery represents about 0.5 square kilometers.

From Science Daily ● Apr. 9, 2026

The research team used a method called pixel cross-correlation to examine the video frame by frame and measure how the ground shifted.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 27, 2026

The neighbors of a pixel determine where the threshold should be set for that pixel.

From Library of Congress Workshop on Etexts by Library of Congress

"For a lot of things there's no need to use AI…but for figuring out that six pixels in the distance are an airplane versus some other smudge, it is perfect territory," says Norcia.

From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2026

In the days since Parton’s death, commenters have flocked to the “Travelin’ Thru” music video, a compilation of pixels rendered in 240p, uploaded to an archaic version of YouTube some 19 years ago.

From Salon ● Aug. 28, 2026

These algae features often extend across many pixels, yet they usually account for less than one percent of an individual pixel.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 3, 2026

The futile paradox of these so-called live-action adaptations is they require a tsunami of pixels to surround actual human performers with everything audiences adored the first time.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 9, 2026

But what we observed and experienced in the natural world from afar was an aggregation of dots: pixels merging to form a seamless picture.

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee

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