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.