picture element
- noun
- Specialized
:
píxel
- I will begin this article by discussing how an electronic display uses many small, discrete, spatially independent building blocks called picture elements, or pixels, to create an image.
- picture element (pixel)
Examples
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In a digital image, each picture element (pixel) has an associated numerical value.
Academic text (1994) -
A paint program is a type of graphic program that treats images as a collection of individual dots or picture elements (pixels) rather than a collection of shapes.
Academic text (1993) -
The shapes and lines on a computer screen are composed of millions of tiny dots called picture elements, or pixels, for short.
Fiction book (1997) -
When a color image is digitized, the resulting pixels, or picture elements, lend themselves to processing by computer.
Academic text (1992) -
Because the shades of the image are broken down into picture elements, the computer can increase or decrease brightness values of individual pixels, thereby exaggerating their differences and sharpening even the tiniest details.
Academic text (1990) -
Resolution is expressed in numbers of pixels, or picture elements, such as 640 x 480 = 307,200 or 2160 x 1440 = 3,110,000 (3.1 megapixels).
Academic text (2000) -
A digital image is made up of millions of tiny dots known as picture elements or pixels.
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Each picture element in the display contributes to the overall clarity of the image.
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The resolution of an image is determined by the number of picture elements it contains.
Synonyms
52
3.6
A tiny square on a screen that shows one color
9
9.9
A tiny dot of color on a screen that helps make the picture
Surface Forms
Morphology
The noun-noun compound is directly compositional: 'picture' = image and 'element' = a component, so a learner who knows both words can infer it refers to a component or element for images (in web contexts, an HTML element). While the precise technical detail about multiple sources and responsive behavior is domain-specific, the basic meaning is transparently derived from the constituents.
Etymology
Picture element paints a simple image: a picture made of many tiny elements, like colored tiles or dots. So picture element means the 'smallest colored part' of a digital image, the tiny dot that builds the whole picture.