Part of the Multimedia and graphics glossary:

The adjective pixilated is unrelated.

Next Steps

1) Pixelation is a term sometimes used to describe the act of turning a printed image into a digitized image file (such as the GIF file that is used to display an image on a Web page). As the image is captured, it is processed into a vectorized or rasterized file that can be used to illuminate color units called pixel s on a display surface.

2) Pixelation is the display of a digitized image where the individual pixels are apparent to a viewer. This can happen unintentionally when a low-resolution image designed for an ordinary computer display is projected on a large screen and each pixel becomes separately viewable.

This was last updated in September 2005
Contributor(s): Amy Kucharik
Posted by: Margaret Rouse

Related Terms

Definitions

  • pixels per inch (ppi)

    - In computers, pixels per inch (ppi) is a measure of the sharpness (that is, the density of illuminated points) on a display screen. (WhatIs.com)

  • picture element (pel)

    - The term pel has been replaced by pixel, another contraction of "picture element. (WhatIs.com)

  • Ultra High-Definition TV (UHDTV)

    - Ultra-high-definition (UHD) television, also abbreviated UHDTV, is a digital television display format in which the horizontal screen resolution is on the order of 4000 pixels (4K UHD) or 8000 pixe... (WhatIs.com)

Glossaries

  • Multimedia and graphics

    - Terms related to multimedia, including graphics, animation and video definitions and words and phrases about images and sound.

  • Internet applications

    - This WhatIs.com glossary contains terms related to Internet applications, including definitions about Software as a Service (SaaS) delivery models and words and phrases about web sites, e-commerce ...

Tech TalkComment

Share
Comments

    Results

    Contribute to the conversation

    All fields are required. Comments will appear at the bottom of the article.
    Back to top