What is meant by a 16 megapixel camera?

Answer 1

It is the size oft he digital file you will get. The more your sensor has mega pixels the bigger your file will be. Technically that means that when you multiply the number of pixels your sensor has on its length and its width and that you multiply both numbers you will find the resolution of your sensor in Millions of pixels. On a DSLR which usually has an image ratio of 2 x 3, a 12 mo pixel cameras will have a length of 4000 and a width of 3000. 3000 x 4000 = 12 millions. The bigger your sensor is the larger you will be able to print your images at a given resolution. The resolution of a sensor does not make the quality of an image. Some old 6 mo pixels DSLR produce exceptional image quality. The maximum prints sizes you can make then are just smaller than with a larger sensor. hope that helps. JF

Answer 2

"pixel" is a contraction of "picture element". This is the name for one sample in a digital image. The number of samples places an upper limit on the resolution or "sharpness" of the image....which in turn limits how big an enlargement you can make.

Using the standard 4:3 aspect ratio, "16 megapixel" might have a format of something like 4600 X 3450 pixels