Meaning & use
mega pixel
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountabletechnical
A unit equal to one million pixels, used to describe the resolution of a digital camera or image.
Grammar: Often follows a number: a twelve megapixel camera.
Patterns
- a number megapixel camera
- number megapixels
My phone has a forty-eight megapixel camera.
The photo is only two megapixels, so it looks blurry when enlarged.
A few more megapixels will not fix a badly lit picture.
adjectivebefore a nountechnical
Describing a camera, sensor or image that has a stated number of millions of pixels.
Grammar: Used before a noun, often with a hyphen: a twelve-megapixel lens.
Patterns
- a number-megapixel sensor
She bought a twenty-megapixel camera for her trip.
The megapixel race among phone makers continues.
Word forms
| plural | megapixels |
|---|
Common combinations
- high megapixel camera
- A high megapixel camera can produce large prints.
- twelve megapixel sensor
- The twelve megapixel sensor handles low light well.
- megapixel count
- A higher megapixel count means a larger file.
- megapixel resolution
- The megapixel resolution is enough for a poster.
- how many megapixels
- How many megapixels do you need for a billboard?
Synonyms and how they differ
- MP
- MP is the abbreviation used in spec lists, while megapixel is the full word.
- resolution
- Resolution is the broader term for detail, while a megapixel is one way of counting it.
- million pixels
- Million pixels is the plain-language equivalent of a megapixel.
Word family
Commonly confused: mega pixel or megabyte?
mega pixel vs megabyte
A megabyte measures file size; a megapixel measures image resolution.
Practice
A camera with 24 megapixels has ______.
Choose one answer.
Mega means million, so 24 megapixels is 24 million pixels. Megabytes measure storage, a different thing.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “mega pixel”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.