What on Earth is Pixelization?
Friday, July 11, 2008 @ 09:35
Pixelization is a concept that refers to the process of blurring an area of pixels within an image deliberately to distort the image. Now why would someone want to distort an image they worked so hard to photograph? Well, the technique is used mostly as a video or audio editing tool, with pixelization being used to purposely distort areas of an image to stop the viewer from clearly seeing it, such as in the case of distorting a subject's lip movements when they are saying something offensive, or blocking a portion of their body, such as exposed breasts, etc.
Pixelization can also be used if a television station needs to block out information to protect an individual, such as the face of a child walking into a courtroom for an arraignment hearing. State and federal law do not permit minors' likenesses to be displayed on television when they are accused of a crime, so naturally television broadcasters would want to block out their faces, or else face substantial penalties from the Federal Communications Commission and other government agencies.
In the audio world, broadcasters used pixelization to take out words and sentences that they don't want their audiences to hear, such as obscenities and proper names of certain people.
Pixelization is used by all broadcast venues that are governed by the FCC. That is why you rarely see pixelization used on cable television stations, such as HBO or Showtime, since they aren't controlled by FCC guidelines or standards.
Pixelization is most often accomplished with graphics filters, common in most bitmap editor programs, and the technique can also be used in film photography in cases where the publication (such as a newspaper) wants to run the photo for its newsworthiness, but needs to protect the identity of someone in it that is not so easy to crop out using conventional techniques.
