What is a Pixel?
A pixel (or picture element) is a single point in a picture. Pixels are arranged in a 2-dimensional grid, represented as dots or squares. Every pixel has a unique color assigned to it and all the pixels combined display an image. The process of digitization takes an image and turns it into a set of pixels. If you take a JPG or any Raster Graphic and zoom into the image you will see the image is made of many-colored squares; these little squares are pixels. Each pixel has a specific Hex code, and this code tells the computer what color the pixel is. Pixels are much like paint to an artist, but much less messy and easier to change.
Measurement
Pixels or px for short, indicate the size of an image.
An image size of 100×100 means 100 pixels width and 100 pixels height.
Usually, digital images and video displays are measured in PPI (Pixels Per Inch). PPI measures the density of pixels within an inch. The greater the PPI, the greater the detail in the image or display. PPI is used to indicate the resolution of a digital image, as well as the resolution capacity of a computer monitor, screen display, camera, or scanner.
In graphic, web design, and user interfaces, a “pixel” may refer to a fixed length rather than a normal pixel on the screen. A typical understanding, such as in CSS, is that a “physical pixel” is 1⁄96 inch (0.26 mm).
Monitors
TV screens and computer monitors use their own kind of pixels. Like digital images, pixels on a monitor are also the smallest element of display. On a screen each pixel is made up of red, blue, and green lighting elements that are used in different intensities and combinations to make millions of colors.
Pixel Meaning
Pixel is short for Picture Element.
Pix (Picture) el (Element)
History of Pixels
The history of pixels goes all the way back to 1839, when practical, commercially available photography was born.
Russel Kirsch who invented the pixel in 1957 died at the age of 91 at his home in Portland, Oregon. Back in 1957, Kirsch created a small, 2-by-2 inches black-and-white digital image of his 3-month-old son, Walden.
In color TVs, electron beams hit an array of triads that created 512 horizontal lines to make up a picture. Those lines were later divided into rectangles. This made digital representation of images possible. Not long after, in 1965, the term “pixel” appeared for the first time.
But where did the term pixel come from? Pixel is an abbreviation for picture element. The word was coined to describe the photographic elements of a television image. In 1969, writers for Variety magazine took pix (a 1932 abbreviation of pictures) and combined it with element to describe how TV signals came together.
Example:
To give a better perspective on pixels, typically when someone says pixels, they are referring to the tiny squares that make up a digital image.
Pixel Art is a genre of its own, with many subcategories. This is when images are purposely made with less detail rather than HD or a high resolution. Both contain pixels, though with a large image with a lot of detail may have you zooming in the see its building blocks.
Pixel (px, pel) is short for Picture Element. The smallest bit of information on a monitor screen or digital image.