Glossary

The key terms of real gigapixel photography – clearly explained, from capture to processing.

Capture

Bracketing

Capturing a series of the same subject at deliberately different exposure values – the basis for HDR processing.

Chromatic Aberration

Colour fringing at high-contrast edges, because a lens does not focus all wavelengths at exactly the same point.

Depth of Field

The zone in front of and behind the focal plane that appears acceptably sharp. Depends on aperture, focal length and shooting distance.

Diffraction Blur

Loss of sharpness from light diffraction at a very small aperture. Limits how much detail a lens can deliver regardless of sensor resolution.

Dynamic Range

The brightness range between the darkest and brightest detailed image areas a sensor can capture in one exposure.

Focus Bracketing

A series of the same subject with the focal plane shifted step by step – the basis for focus stacking.

Gigapixel Image

A photographic image with at least one billion pixels (1000 megapixels). Usually created by stitching many individual frames into one extremely detailed composite – without AI upscaling.

A methodology developed in our own practice that combines HDR exposure series with gigapixel stitching while handling moving image elements in a controlled way, rather than turning them into artefacts.

HDR Processing

A technique that combines several differently exposed frames to render high-contrast subjects with detail retained in both highlights and shadows.

Hyperfocal Distance

The focus distance that maximises depth of field – everything from half that distance to infinity appears sharp.

ISO / Image Noise

ISO controls the sensitivity of the capture. Higher ISO values allow shorter exposures but increase image noise.

Large-Format Focus Stacking

Focus stacking applied to large format and gigapixel resolution: several focal planes are combined into continuous sharpness across very large image surfaces.

Megapixel Resolution

Image resolution in millions of pixels. Current cameras deliver 20 to 200 megapixels on the sensor — but the actually resolvable detail is usually lower, as lens and diffraction set limits.

Multiviewpoint Gigapixel

A methodology developed in our own practice combining several deliberately chosen viewpoints within a single gigapixel image, to depict subjects more completely in space.

Nodal Point

The point in the lens around which the camera must be rotated to avoid parallax error – more accurately called the no-parallax point.

Panoramic Head

A specialised tripod head that rotates the camera exactly around the nodal point, enabling parallax-free frames for panorama and gigapixel stitching.

Parallax Error

The apparent shift of foreground against background when the camera is not rotated around the nodal point – the main cause of stitching errors.

Polarising Filter Use

The use of a polarising filter to reduce reflections, deepen colours and increase contrast – with particular considerations for panorama and gigapixel images.

Sensor Size / Crop Factor

The physical size of the image sensor. It affects rendering, noise behaviour and – via the crop factor – the effective angle of view of a focal length.

Terapixel

An image of at least one trillion pixels (1000 gigapixels), assembled from tens of thousands of frames. A single image in a special format – a rare special project.

Terapixel Process

A methodology developed in our own practice for creating terapixel-range images from tens of thousands of frames – the first terapixel image was produced in 2012 as a feasibility study.

Vignetting

Darkening towards the image edges and corners, caused by lens or aperture. Especially troublesome in stitching, as it creates visible brightness patterns.

White Balance

Adjusting the colour temperature so that white appears neutral and colours look correct under different light.

Processing

Colour Management

The end-to-end control of colour reproduction from capture through editing to print, so that colours remain predictable and consistent across devices.

Colour Space (sRGB / AdobeRGB / P3)

The defined range of reproducible colours. Common colour spaces are sRGB, AdobeRGB and Display-P3 – they differ in how many and which colours they encompass.

ICC Profile

A standardised file describing a device's colour behaviour. A fundamental building block of colour management for correct cross-device colour translation.

Panorama Stitching

A form of stitching joining offset frames into a wide panorama. The normal case is a wide section — full 360-degree surround views are a special case, not the rule.

RAW Workflow

The end-to-end processing of uncompressed camera RAW data – maximum latitude in exposure, colour and detail for high-quality large-format output.

Stitching

The software-assisted joining of many overlapping individual frames into one seamless composite. The basic technique behind every gigapixel and panorama image.

Stitching Artefacts

Visible errors in the composited image – such as offset edges, ghosting or brightness jumps – caused by imprecise capture or assembly.

Tone Mapping

Mapping a high dynamic range into the displayable range of print or screen without losing detail in highlights and shadows.

Production

Gigapixel Serial Production

A methodology developed in our own practice that produces gigapixel images reproducibly and at consistent quality in larger quantities, rather than treating them as one-off pieces.

Print

DPI at Large-Format Printing

DPI (dots per inch) indicates the number of print dots per inch a printer places. It must not be confused with image resolution (PPI) and is judged differently in large format than for small formats.

Dye-Sublimation Printing

A printing method in which dye penetrates the material – usually textile – as a gas under heat. Produces brilliant, smudge- and wash-resistant results.

Large-Format Printing

Printing methods for very large output formats – from wall images and exhibition surfaces to stretch ceilings. Places particular demands on image resolution and colour management.

Latex Printing

Digital printing with water-based latex inks – low-odour, environmentally friendly and versatile, especially for indoor applications like photo wallpaper.

Pixel Pitch

The distance between the centres of adjacent image points, usually in micrometres. At the output stage it determines how finely the image appears resolved.

PPI vs DPI

PPI (pixels per inch) is the file's image resolution, DPI (dots per inch) the printer's dot density. The two are often confused but must be kept clearly apart.

Pre-Press

All steps between the finished image file and printing – such as colour conversion, profile assignment, sharpening and format adjustment – that ensure correct print output.

Resolution per m²

A practical measure of how many image points are available per square metre of print area – decisive for whether a large format appears detailed.

UV Printing

A digital printing method in which UV-curing ink hardens immediately under UV light. Enables brilliant, smudge-proof prints on almost any material.

Viewing Distance

The distance from which a print is viewed. It largely determines what output resolution is needed for an image to appear sharp.

Media

Acrylic Glass / Reverse Print

Image presentation behind or on acrylic glass. Creates depth, brilliant colours and an elegant, glossy impression.

Aluminium Dibond

A composite of two aluminium layers with a plastic core. Stable, light and perfectly flat – a popular image carrier for high-quality wall images.

Canvas Print

Printing on textile canvas, usually stretched onto a frame. Gives motifs a classic, painterly character.

Technology

AI Upscaling / Interpolation

Methods that computationally enlarge an image, inventing additional pixels. The result looks more detailed but contains no genuinely captured detail.

Deep Zoom

A viewing technique allowing seamless, smooth zooming into extremely high-resolution images – based on a tile pyramid.

Embedding Image Search

An image search that translates images and queries into numerical vectors (embeddings) and finds results by content similarity – not just by keywords.

Gigapixel Viewer / Zoomify

A web-based viewer that makes very large images smoothly displayable via a tile pyramid – with seamless zoom down to the finest detail.

Resolving Power

The ability of an optical system to render fine structures separately – often stated in line pairs per millimetre (MTF).

Tile Pyramid

A tiered image structure of pre-computed tiles at several resolution levels, enabling smooth viewing and zooming of extremely large images in the browser.