Date: Tue, 10 Dec 1996 03:31:42 GMT Server: NCSA/1.4.2 Content-type: text/html The Pixel Calculator

The Pixel Calculator

Computer Science & Engineering Department,
University of Washington, FR-35,
Seattle, WA 98195 USA

The Pixel Calculator is intended primarily for use by students of ages 12-17 in a variety of enrichment activities involving mathematics and digital image processing. The actual computations supported by the program are manipulations of pixel values using operations of "pixel arithmetic." The Pixel Calculator program provides a good introduction for students to digital images by allowing students to easily view and manipulate images as both visual and mathematical objects. For example, the user may magnify the image to view particular pixels and their numeric values. Using the Pixel Calculator's viewing capabilities and following activity suggestions in the users' guide, students can quickly and enjoyably familiarize themselves with the relationship between pixel value and visual brightness.

The program also provides a calculator interface, which allows students to arithmetically manipulate the pixel values. Students quickly discover that very simple operations may have stark visual effects. For example the "255 - #" operation creates a negative of the image.

Here's a picture of the Pixel Calculator's user interface. And here's how you can order your very own copy of the Pixel Calculator for Microsoft Windows. Click here if you would rather order the Macintosh version of the Pixel Calculator.

The pixel calculator was written as part of the METIP project and was supported in part by the National Science Foundation under grant number MDR-9155709.


bricker@cs.washington.edu or tanimoto@cs.washington.edu
Last modified: Wed Mar 9 00:03:58 PST 1994