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Jaggies

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Jaggies in a Bitmap Image

Example of Jaggies in a Bitmap Image

© J. Bear
Definition: The jagged edges on curves and diagonal lines in a bitmap image are commonly called jaggies. Because bitmap images are made up of square pixels on a grid, a curve or a diagonal line has stair-stepped pixels. Enlarging a bitmap image accentuates the effect or appearance of jaggies.

The jaggies can be minimized with a smoothing process called anti-aliasing which adds additional pixels to make the edges appear less jagged.

Also Known As: aliasing | jagged edges
Examples:
In the photo, the inset shows original bitmap image. Enlarged image shows aliasing or jaggies along curved lines.
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