Pixel

digital images · tiny building blocks · screens · computer graphics

Tiny colored dots. Every picture you see on a phone, tablet, or computer screen is made of thousands or millions of tiny squares called pixels, each one a different color.

You control each one. Each pixel can be changed independently, so a computer can tell every single dot exactly what color to be, and when you put them all together, your brain sees a complete picture.

Zoom in far enough. If you zoom way, way in on any digital image, you'll eventually see the individual pixels that make it up, looking like little colored squares.

Measured in resolution. When someone says a phone has a 1080p display, that number tells you how many pixels fit across and down the screen, and more pixels means sharper, clearer pictures.