Pixel

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A pixel (or pel or picture element) may refer to either the smallest discrete element of the physical display or to the smallest element of the image. Voxel is a its 3-dimensional equivalent, as employed in CT and other cross-sectional imaging modalities.

History and etymology

The history of the term pixel is long and complex ³. A pixel is a portmanteau of the shortening of the words 'picture' and 'element'. Picture element' as a phrase is first seen in a publication in 1927, one of the first articles about the new technology of television ¹!

Pixel does not appear in print until 1965, in a paper presented at SPIE (Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers) by an engineer working at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) called Fred Billingsley². Although it was already being used in engineering circles a couple of years earlier. Picture was already being shortened to pix in various fields and therefore the jump from picture element to pixel is not as great as one would first imagine.

The term 'pel' has also been used previously as another synonym for pixel but outside specialised fields has never caught on and it is not used in medical imaging.

The term pixel was commonly appearing in the radiology literature in the 1970s with the advent of CT.

~~-A pixel is a <h4>History and etymology</h4>A pixel is a shortening of the words 'picture element'.~~
+A pixel (or pel or picture element) may refer to either the smallest discrete element of the physical display or to the smallest element of the image. <a href="/articles/voxel">Voxel</a> is its 3-dimensional equivalent, as employed in CT and other cross-sectional imaging modalities.<h4>History and etymology</h4>The history of the term pixel is long and complex 3. A pixel is a portmanteau of the shortening of the words 'picture' and 'element'. Picture element as a phrase is first seen in a publication in 1927, one of the first articles about the new technology of television 1! Pixel does not appear in print until 1965, in a paper presented at SPIE (Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers) by an engineer working at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) called Fred Billingsley 2. Although it was already being used in engineering circles a couple of years earlier. Picture was already being shortened to pix in various fields and therefore the jump from picture element to pixel is not as great as one would first imagine.The term 'pel' has also been used previously as another synonym for pixel but outside specialised fields has never caught on and it is not used in medical imaging.The term pixel was commonly appearing in the radiology literature in the 1970s with the advent of CT.<h4>See also</h4><a href="/articles/voxel">Voxel</a>

References changed:

1. Dinsdale A. Television demonstration in America: A successful public demonstration of television between Washington and New York. Wireless World and Radio Review. 1927; XX: 680–686.
1. Dinsdale A. Television demonstration in America: A successful public demonstration of television between Washington and New York. Wireless World and Radio Review. 1927; XX: 680–686.
2. Billingsley FC. Digital video processing at JPL in Eugene B. Turner (ed.) Electronic Imaging Techniques I, Proceedings of SPIE, 1965;3: XV-1–19. https://doi.org/10.1117/12.970964
3. Lyon RF. A brief history of 'pixel'. Paper EI 6069-1. Digital Photography II — Invited Paper. IS&T/SPIE Symposium on Electronic Imaging. 15–19 January 2006, San Jose, California, USA. doi: 10.1117/12.644941; https://doi.org/10.1117/12.644941
3. Lyon RF. A brief history of 'pixel'. Paper EI 6069-1. Digital Photography II — Invited Paper. IS&T/SPIE Symposium on Electronic Imaging. 15–19 January 2006, San Jose, California, USA. doi: 10.1117/12.644941; https://doi.org/10.1117/12.644941
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3. Paper EI 6069-1. Digital Photography II — Invited Paper. IS&T/SPIE Symposium on Electronic Imaging. 15–19 January 2006, San Jose, California, USA.

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