How is a digital camera’s megapixel rating related to its image resolution?

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Diagram showing the negative-positive photographic process: a scene is captured on film in a camera, developed into a negative, projected onto paper with an enlarger, and developed again to produce a positive print. — technology of photography Figure 1: Sequence of negative–positive process, from the photographing of the original scene to enlarged print (see text).

A digital camera’s megapixel rating is a direct measure of its image resolution, representing the total number of light-sensitive receptors, or pixels, on the camera's semiconductor device (such as a CCD or CMOS).1

Because one megapixel equals one million pixels, the rating indicates the level of detail a camera can capture. For instance, a 24.2-megapixel camera produces an image with a resolution of 6,016 by 4,016 pixels. When light strikes these individual pixels, the camera translates the intensity and color information into binary digits, which determines the final resolution of the digital recording. Higher megapixel counts generally allow for larger prints and greater image clarity by providing a denser grid of data points.1