Pushing Pixels

What are BITMAPs

Pixels are the basis of "BITMAP" or "RASTER" graphics that are displayed on computer and television screens.

• Pixels are usually square or rectangular

• The pixels are arranged in a grid, so that they can appear "jaggy" when they are enlarged

• Each pixel requires a certain amount of memory to store it and make it work. The amount of memory allocated is measured in "BITS"

• Pixels have a range of colors based on their "bit depth"

  • Typical computers use 24 bits (16.777 million colors)

  • The 8-bit graphics on older tablets have a range of 2 ^ 8 (256) colors

  • The more pixels are, the less they appear to the naked eye

Anti-Aliasing

Same resolution - it gives a smoother look

"Jaggies" can also be hidden by using color shades to "smooth" the edges of a bitmap

By "softening" the irregular angles, an image seems to be of better quality - but it's actually the same resolution