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Glite Dictionary
🟦 Visible squares 🧱 Chunky shape
blockiness

blockiness

7.2
Visible square areas in a picture or video that make it look low quality
  • noun
  • /ˈblɑːkɪnəs/
  • Specialized
translation icon : pixelación
  • The designer worked to minimize the blockiness in the graphics to create a smoother visual experience.

Examples

  • Due to the blockiness in the image, many viewers found it hard to appreciate the artwork.

  • The blockiness of the low-resolution video made it difficult to see the details clearly.

  • But basically the two by two blockiness here has to do with positive and negative energy.

Synonyms

pixelation
vsblockiness
1 4.8

A blocky look when a picture shows large square pixels because of low quality

is caused by compression rather than by low resolution or processing
chunkiness
vsblockiness
5.0

A broken, uneven quality that makes movement or sound stop and start

is a specific visual effect of visible square artifacts rather than general unevenness

Antonyms

clarity
30 2.7

How easy it is to see through something like clean water

smoothness
1 2.6

How something works without pauses or problems

How Blocky

blockiness
  • Specialized
7.2

Surface Forms

blockiness singular
blockinesses plural

Morphology

blockiness = blocky (semi-transparent) = ness

The step from 'blocky' to 'blockiness' is regular, but this sense is a specialized technical extension referring to compression or resolution artifacts.

Etymology

Blockiness comes from block, meaning 'solid piece' or a toy block, and the ending -ness, meaning 'state or quality'. So when a photo or video loses detail and starts to look like it is made of square 'blocks' because of low resolution or compression, we call that effect 'blockiness'.