pixellatura

Pixellatura, or pixelation, is a visual effect produced by representing an image as a grid of square units called pixels. Each pixel conveys a single color, and the arrangement creates a blocky, low-resolution appearance. Pixelation can be intentional, used as an artistic effect or interface design, or applied to obscure details for privacy or censorship.

Technically, pixelation often results from downsampling an image to a small resolution and then upsampling without smoothing, usually via nearest-neighbor interpolation. The degree of pixelation depends on the block size: larger blocks yield a more pronounced mosaic. Other approaches involve quantizing colors to a limited palette or reprojecting image regions to uniform colors to achieve similar blocky effects.

Applications of pixellatura include privacy protection, where faces or license plates are obscured in media; censorship in film and television; and aesthetic or nostalgic uses in art and digital design. In contemporary media, it is also employed to convey a retro or digital-age vibe, particularly in video games and user interfaces that aim for a simplified, low-fidelity look.

Relation to other techniques is notable: pixelation differs from dithering, which uses patterned color distribution to simulate shades, and from mosaic, a broader term for block-based imagery. Historically, pixelation rose with the development of digital imaging in the late 20th century and has remained a versatile tool in art, media, and communication.