What Is Megapixel On The Camera? Know The Meaning And How To Use Image Quality

Illustration of a high pixel phone camera. (Shutterbug75 / Pixabay)

YOGYAKARTA Digital camera resolution, both on smartphones and not, is often measured in megapixels (MPs). The higher the megapixel number on the camera, the better the image shots will be. So, what is megapixel on the camera?

Megapixel on camera is a resolution measure that can be recorded by a digital camera, precisely the sensor used on the camera.

One MP means one million pixels, namely a small box arranged into an image.

Because pixels are usually square and form boxes, a megapixel 1 camera can produce a resolution with a width of about 1200 pixels and a height of 900 pixels.

Large megapixel numbers are useful when zooming in or cropping photos. For example, some phones allow users to enlarge without losing quality, without optical zoom lenses. They do this by simply cropping 8 megapixel photos from the center of the original 23 megapixel image taken by the camera, quoted by VOI from the phonescope page, Friday, January 13, 2023.

Photos with a large number of pixels, have better details. However, it has a larger file size. It can take longer to transfer or send, and use more storage space

Most digital cameras, whether on mobile or not, have the option to take photos with lower (smaller) resolutions. This feature is very useful for saving storage space.

How Does Megapixel Measures recorded the Quality of Cameras?

In photography, lighting greatly affects the quality of the image. The reason is, pixels work by capturing light on the surface of the camera sensor.

The bigger the pixel size, the more light it can catch. The more light the pixels catch, the better your image will likely be, as it is adapted from the Makeuseof page.

On the other hand, the smaller the pixel size, the less light it can catch, the more likely it can produce worse images.

However, the size of the pixels is not the same as the megapixel number. Both are two different things.

Pixel is an element of the image or representation of a smallest point in a graphics image calculated per inch.

While megapixel is a measure of resolution recorded on a camera. Megapixel consists of a combination of the word mega which shows units of millions, and pixels which mean point of image element. So megapixel means a million point of image element.

Theoretically, a high megapixel number has the potential to produce good image quality. However, what you should know, there are other factors that also determine the quality of the image, namely the sensor and lens of the camera.

The size of a large camera sensor with a good lens can capture images with a sharper resolution and better detail. Therefore, you should not be fooled by a camera that offers a high megapixel number.

For example, a 12 MP camera with a large sensor can comfortably load 12 million large pixels without a pixel size. However, another 12MP camera with a smaller sensor, must use pixels to accommodate a total of 12 million pixels.

Demikian informasi tentang apa itu megapixel pada kamera dan caranya mempengaruhi kualitas gambar. Semoga bermanfaat!