What is a Pixel?

What is a pixel?

How were they created? To what extent do we use them in our everyday lives? How would things be without them? These are just a fraction of some of the questions I asked myself when thinking upon this subject.

Pixels are fascinating. Tiny bits of information coming together to create one object as a whole. Without them, how would I do my work in digital marketing? One could even go far enough to say that there might not even be an internet if pixels weren’t created. And even if the internet was created without pixels, what information would we have to share? The internet would be a terribly boring place without a screen to carry information to the user. Imagery, streaming videos, text, fonts, and the websites we build through responsive web design would never exist without the creation of the pixel. What use would the internet even hold?

How many pixels do you think are right in front of you as you are reading this? It is actually quite simple to figure out. I am running a computer screen with a resolution of 1920×1080. So just multiply 1920 by 1080 and I have 2,073,600 pixels. That’s 2,073,600 pixels that can move at your command, your total control, your keyboard, your mouse. For a Florida digital marketing company focused on search engine optimization and website performance, every one of those pixels matters in how content is displayed and experienced.

As a designer, I always wondered how this actually works. Or how somebody came up with such a simple yet crazy idea. I came across an enlightening video that goes a little deeper in explaining the creation of the pixel and the man who helped lay the groundwork for digital information theory, Claude Shannon. It’s unbelievable how something so small can change everything as we see it today.

The Man Who Turned Paper Into Pixels from Delve on Vimeo.