M+Cardenas

[|Melanie Cardenas_]

Megapixels :   A [|megapixel] is one million pixels. It is commonly used to describe the [|resolution] of digital cameras. For example, a 7.2 megapixel camera is capable of capturing roughly 7,200,000 pixels. The higher the megapixel number, the more detail the camera can capture. Therefore, the megapixel count is a significant specification to look for when buying a digital camera A camera's megapixel number is calculated by multiplying the number of vertical pixels by the number of horizontal pixels captured by the camera's sensor, or [|CCD]. For example, the original Canon Digital Rebel captures 2048 vertical by 3072 horizontal pixels, for a total of 6,291,456 pixels (2048 x 3072). Therefore, it is estimated to be a 6.3 megapixel camera. Megapixels are helpful in marketing digital cameras, because it is easier to say, "6.3 megapixels" than "6,291,456 pixels." It is also a little easier to remember. However, while megapixels are important, it is helpful to know the other specifications of a camera as well. For example, shutter speed, shooting modes, start-up time, flash quality, and color accuracy can also make a big difference in the camera's performance. After all, it doesn't matter how many megapixels your camera has if all your pictures turn out blurry and have poor color. Therefore, while you should check the megapixel count on a camera before buying it, make sure you check the other specs too. Pictures link: []

Do megapixels matter? Every digital camera has one, and upon it resides an organized array of indescribably small photodiodes called pixels. When digicams first appeared on the scene circa 1990, sensors were capable of perhaps two or three hundred thousand pixels. That sounds like a hell of a lot of pixels, but the truth is that a photo captured on a sensor of that caliber looks, for want of a better expression, “noisy.” Object edges look jagged, smooth textures look irregular, and the entire shot appears rough – especially when enlarged and printed. And that’s why film camera buffs of the time remained rightfully convinced that digital temporarily wasn’t up to snuff. But technology never sleeps. Soon, we’d figured out how to ram a million pixels (one //megapixel//) onto a single sensor. Still, the quality of even a small 4×6 digital camera print paled in comparison to that taken by a film camera. Those in the know knew that one day we’d have a digital camera that could take comparable, if not superior, shots – if only we could cram even more pixels on a sensor. And so began the megapixel wars. Megapixel counts soon became the most important parameter, by a long shot, in a digital camera, and people spoke of the number of megapixels in //their// camera as if bragging about something quite a bit more personal. A megapixel is a unit of measurement which represents one million pixels. Pixels are those tiny dots of color which make up an image. Megapixels represent the resolution, or size and quality. The higher the number of megapixels a camera can capture, the higher quality the image it produces will be.

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