pixelates
Breaks into squares
Pixelates means breaks an image into visible square blocks, either as a digital effect or as a result of low resolution.
News broadcasts pixelate faces to protect identities.
When video quality degrades, the image pixelates: The stream kept buffering and pixelating.
The effect can be deliberate—censoring nudity or creating retro video game aesthetics—or unwanted, signaling insufficient data or bandwidth.
Soft and unclear
- indistinctUnclear, hard to perceive
- unclearNot easily understood
- hazyUnclear, indistinct
- obscuredMade hard to perceive
veiled · misty · blocky · jagged · grainy · coarse · aliased · chunky
Pixel-based image format
- rasterGrid of pixels
- resolutionFormal decision or determination
- graphicsVisual design elements
- renderingInterpretive depiction or performance
compression · artifact · screen · display · monitor · scanline · dithering · anti-aliasing
Lower in standing
- corruptDishonest, open to bribes
- scrambleMix into disorder
- garbleDistort into confusion
- fragmentIncomplete portion of whole
break-up · glitch · artifact · noise · interference · buffer · stutter · freeze-frame
fuzzy
Soft and unclear
- indistinctUnclear, hard to perceive
- unclearNot easily understood
- hazyUnclear, indistinct
obscured · veiled · misty · blocky · jagged · grainy · coarse · aliased · chunky · bitty
bitmap
Pixel-based image format
- rasterGrid of pixels
- resolutionFormal decision or determination
- graphicsVisual design elements
rendering · compression · artifact · screen · display · monitor · scanline · dithering · anti-aliasing · downsampling
degrade
Lower in standing
fragment · break-up · glitch · artifact · noise · interference · buffer · stutter · freeze-frame
redact
Conceal text for secrecy
blur · conceal · hide · block · privacy · moderation · NSFW · scramble · obfuscate
8-bit
Vintage computing standard
- retroEvoking recent past
- video-gameInteractive electronic entertainment
- arcadeArched passageway or gaming hall