Pixels

A pixel is a tiny dot on a screen. Thousands or even millions of pixels work together to make a picture. Each pixel can glow in a different color. When you look from far away, they blend into a clear image. The word 'pixel' comes from 'picture element'.

Colors and Dots

Each pixel is made of three smaller parts. The parts glow red, green, and blue. By mixing these three colors, a pixel can make any color you see. If all three are bright, you get white. If all three are off, you get black. This clever trick is how screens show every color of the rainbow.

More Pixels, Better Picture

The more pixels a screen has, the sharper the picture looks. A phone screen might have millions of pixels packed in tight. A 4K TV has more than 8 million pixels. High definition means lots of pixels. If a picture has too few pixels, it looks blurry or blocky.

Fun Facts

• The word 'pixel' was first used in the 1960s.
• A single pixel is usually smaller than the head of a pin.
• Old video games looked blocky because they used very few pixels.

Did You Know?

When you zoom in really close on a phone picture, you can sometimes see the tiny square pixels that make it up.