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Pixel is a unit of length and area

Published on: 2025-06-23 08:20:19

Pixel is a unit of length and area When measuring the size of a two-dimensional digital picture, the unit pixel is used in a weird overloaded way. Sometimes, it is used as a unit of linear length – for example, each frame of an animation is 1920 pixels wide and 1080 pixels tall. Other times, it is used as a unit of area – e.g. that camera sensor has 12 megapixels (or 12 000 000 pixels). Viewed mathematically through the lens of dimensional analysis, these conflicting definitions lead to illogical nonsense. Given that the formula for the area of a rectangle is area = width × height , if for example we have width = 1920 pixel and height = 1080 pixel, then we get area = 2 073 600 pixel2. That’s right, multiplying two linear dimensions – where each has the unit pixel – produces an area with the unit square pixel. This is analogous to how metres and square metres behave. On the other hand, if we trust the colloquial definitions of how pixels are used in practice, then an image that is 10 ... Read full article.