A pixel is a unit of colour which is visible as a point on an electronic display device such as a monitor or television screen.

The pixel is the smallest element of the screen’s picture which can be controlled.

The word pixel comes from a fusion of ‘picture’ and ‘element.’ Frederic C. Billingsley, a member of the American JPL research and development centre, first published the word in 1965 when describing video images of the moon and Mars.