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What is a Mega Pixel?
If you have not read: What is a Pixel? then do so before reading this topic.
You may have noticed that digital cameras are described as:
- 1.3 MegaPixel Camera
- 2.1 MegaPixel Camera
- 6.0 MegaPixel Camera
- etc.
Mega = 1 million
Using our example of a 6 x 6 pixel image:
Let's say you bought a camera that produced pictures that were 6 x 6 pixels.
This camera would then be a 36 pixel camera, (6 x 6 = 36).
Let's say your camera produces pictures that are: 1280 x 960 pixels.
1280 x 960 = 1,228,800 pixels = 1.2288 MegaPixels
But the manufacturers round up and call it a 1.3 MegaPixel Camera.
All Cameras Were NOT Created Equally
Just because a camera says it is a 2.1 Mega Pixel camera does not mean it has the same quality as another
camera reported to be a 2.1 Mega Pixel camera.
There are two things to consider:
- How many pixels does the camera produce?
- How many pixels is the CCD (Charged Coupled Device) inside the camera?
CCD = Charge Coupled Device -
This is the little sensor that records the picture when you snap the shutter.
This sensor has X number of pixels. Some cheaper cameras use a cheaper CCD sensor that has
a smaller number of pixels than the camera produces. These cameras then
resize the picture, to produce a larger number of pixels - just so they can claim their camera is a
1.3 MegaPixel camera. But the CCD sensor is probably much less.
Before purchasing a camera, make sure you check the technical specifications of the camera's CCD Array size.
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