Short for picture (pix) element. One spot in a rectilinear grid of thousands of such spots that are individually “painted” to form an image produced on the screen by a computer or on paper by a printer. A pixel is the smallest element that display or print hardware and software can manipulate in creating letters, numbers, or graphics. See the illustration. Also called: pel.
(derived from picture element) Single dot on a computer screen. All screen images are made up of a collection of pixels, with each pixel being either off (dark) or on (illuminated, possibly in color). The number of pixels available determines the screen's resolution. Typical resolutions of microcomputer screens vary from 320 x 200 pixels to 640 x 480 pixels, but screens with 1,024 x 768 pixels are now quite common for high-quality graphic (pictorial) displays.
The number of bits (binary digits) used to represent each pixel determines how many colors it can display: a two-bit pixel can have four colors; an eight-bit (one-byte) pixel can have 256 colors. The higher the resolution of a screen and the more colors it is capable of displaying, the more memory will be needed in order to store that screen's contents.
(Computer science) The smallest discrete element of an image or picture on a CRT screen (usually a single-colored dot); SYN. pel, picture element.
Picture element. Definable locations on a display screen that are used to form images on the screen. For graphic displays, screens with more pixels provide higher resolution.
any of number of minute units making up a picture on e.g. a computer screen.