Gigapixel Imaging

Simply stated, a “gigapixel” image is comprised of one billion pixels or more. When you click on the image at right, it will re-launch in a new window.

Modern digital SLR cameras generally use a sensor with more than 20 million pixels. No commercial camera is capable of directly imaging a gigapixel image, but by precisely combining many images, we can achieve a similar result. This image of the daguerreotype is composed of rows of images that have been overlapped and precisely blended to create the final image. The method is very much like aerial or satellite mapping. In this case though, a camera and microscope were used to capture the 112 images that result in an exceptionally detailed final image.

Click on the image to the right to open a new window with the zooming and panning gigapixel image.

Click here for a video viewing the gigapixel image.