What are Megapixels?

We are very much familiar with the word ‘megapixel’. But how many of us really have the idea of what megapixels are? Very few and in most of the cases while we are going to buy a digital camera we just go with the familiarity of the term itself rather than the actual idea of what it is and how it helps in taking better picture. So, here is a simple guidance for you that will definitely help you to understand how many megapixel counts you need in your digital camera and how it works for you. Read on to know more.

To know the megapixel, first we need to know what the term ‘pixel’ stands for. The word pixel comes from the amalgamation of ‘pix’ taken from ‘picture’ and ‘el’ taken from ‘element’. Pixel indicates the picture element in an image and is the smallest informative item of that image. Still vaguely trying to grasp the idea? Well, let us try in another way. Most of us have seen what happens if we try to get a larger print out of an image than the size allows. It breaks into tiny squares or dots at the edge, right? These little two dimensional elements are called the ‘pixel’. Another definition of pixel is that, this is the smallest unit that senses light through CCD, a sensor, used in Digital Cameras. Now, the ‘megapixel’, a term always taken up in connection with digital camera, is nothing but a unit where one million pixels together make one megapixel.

So, now we have come to a point, where we don’t have to break our heads or waste our time searching for a clear conception of what megapixels are. But still, question may peep up in your mind, as to why and how important this megapixel counts regarding the picture quality with digital cameras. The simple answer to this important consideration is, pixels or megapixel counts determines the resolution of the image taken. That means the more megapixel you have in your digital camera, the larger the print out you can get.

How many Pixels does your camera need?

Having a clear idea on megapixel now prepares us for the next important question when you are seriously considering buying a digital camera. What should be the megapixel count of the digital camera that you are going to buy? The answer follows our former conversation when we were trying to grasp the idea of megapixel. It should always depend on how large you want your picture to be printed. An important point to remember in this regard is that the more megapixels you are getting the more space it will occupy and the more time it will take while downloading the pictures, saves other technical complications. Now here is a basic idea that can help you in considering exactly how many pixels you need in your Digital Camera.

Megapixel counts can vary starting from 1 to 8 or even more. While 1 megapixel will not make the picture very clear and of high resolution, a digital camera with 2 or 3 megapixel does the job that is bound to draw appreciations. From the digital camera that has megapixel counts of 1to 2, you can get print out of 4×6 and this is fairly enough for the regular picture-taking in occasions or for regular photography. However, if you want to take a print of 5×7 or 6×9, then it is always better to go for digital cameras that have 3 to 4 megapixels. But generally 5 to 8 or more megapixels are suitable for professionals and in SLR cameras.

While this consideration will help you to determine how many megapixels you are getting in your digital camera, there is another consideration. We have already mentioned that, more megapixel count means less space in your memory card and more complicacy while sending or downloading the pictures. Moreover, megapixel counts have almost a friendly association with the price of the digital cameras that may not sound that much inviting to the consumers! While you can pocket a digital camera of 2-3 megapixel cameras within almost $100 to $300, the more megapixels you will go for, the higher the price will be. So, check out your budget as well before you plunge head on in to the digital camera fishing!