What is Pixel?

What is Pixel?

The pixel (a word invented from "picture element") is the basic unit of programmable color on a computer display or in a computer image. Think of it as a logical - rather than a physical - unit. The physical size of a pixel depends on how you've set the resolution for the display screen. If you've set the display to its maximum resolution, the physical size of a pixel will equal the physical size of the dot pitch (let's just call it the dot size) of the display. If, however, you've set the resolution to something less than the maximum resolution, a pixel will be larger than the physical size of the screen's dot (that is, a pixel will use more than one dot).
The specific color that a pixel describes is some blend of three components of the color spectrum - RGB. Up to three bytes of data are allocated for specifying a pixel's color, one byte for each major color component. A true color or 24-bit color system uses all three bytes. However, many color display systems use only one byte (limiting the display to 256 different colors).