A megapixel is 1 million pixels, and when used in terms of digital cameras, represents the maximum number of pixels which can be acquired by a camera’s sensor. In reality it conveys a sense of the image size which is produced, i.e. the image resolution. When looking at digital cameras, this can be somewhat confusing because there are different types of terms used to describe resolution.

For example the Fuji X-H1 has 24.3 megapixels. The maximum image resolution is is 6000×4000 or 24MP. This is sometimes known as the number of effective pixels (or photosites), and represents those pixels within the actual image area. However if we delve deeper into the specifications (e.g. Digital Camera Database), and you will find a term called sensor resolution. This is the total number of pixels, or rather photosites¹, on the sensor. For the X-H1 this is 6058×4012 pixels, which is where the 24.3MP comes from. The sensor resolution is calculated from sensor size and effective megapixels in the following manner:

• Calculate the aspect ratio (r) between width and height of the sensor. The X-H1 has a sensor size of 23.5mm×15.6mm so r=23.5/15.6 = 1.51.
• Calculate the √(no. pixels / r), so √(24300000/1.51) = 4012. This is the vertical sensor resolution.
• Multiply 4012×1.51=6058, to determine the horizontal sensor resolution.

The Fuji X-H1 is said to have a sensor resolution of 24,304,696 (total) pixels, and a maximum image resolution of 24,000,000 (effective) pixels. So effectively 304,696 photosites on the sensor are not recorded as pixels, representing approximately 1%. These remaining pixels form a border to the image on the sensor.

So to sum up there are four terms worth knowing:

• effective pixels/megapixels – the number of pixels/megapixels in an image, or “active” photosites on a sensor.
• maximum image resolution – another way to describe the effective pixels.
• total photosites/pixels – the total number of photosites on a sensor.
• sensor resolution – another way to describe the total photosites on a sensor.

¹ Remember, camera sensors have photosites, not pixels. Camera manufacturers use the term pixels because it is easier for people to understand.