Certified Professional Photographer (CPP) Practice Exam

A mega pixel equals how many million pixels?

1. Two

2. One

3. Five

4. Ten

The correct answer is: One

A megapixel is defined as one million pixels. The term "megapixel" comes from the metric prefix "mega," which means million. In digital imaging, the number of megapixels indicates the resolution of an image, essentially referring to the total number of individual pixels that make up the image. Therefore, when considering an image with a resolution of, for example, 12 megapixels, it contains 12 million individual pixels. Understanding this concept is critical for photographers, as higher megapixel counts typically allow for more detailed images and greater cropping flexibility without significant loss of quality. This principle is essential when discussing camera specifications and the impact of resolution on image quality.