Researchers unveil the one-pixel snapper

Behold, a major breakthrough in digital photography: the one-pixel camera. Yep, you heard right. A single pixel. From the Rice University researchers' site, the pictures look, well, not exactly crystal clear. (So, don't worry. You won't have to ditch your mega-mega-pixel snapper just yet).

The important development is not the quality of the first batch of photos, but rather the concept: namely, researchers have demonstrated a new approach for a single pixel to record more accurately an image. Under this concept, the digital camera of the future will have fewer, but more efficient pixels to capture the clearest possible images.

Here's how it works: Conventional digital cameras use each pixel to record the image, then condense the image using compression algorithms. In other words, the digital camera captures the closest possible approximation of the image, not the true image. "The single pixel camera, on the other hand, compresses the image data via its hardware before the pixels are recorded. As a result, it's able to capture an image with only thousands of pieces of information rather than millions... If a single pixel can do the job of an array of pixels, as the Rice University team shows, then you could potentially get each of the pixels in a megapixel camera to do extra duty as well," reports the blog Physics Buzz.

There are drawbacks, Physics Buzz reports. It takes roughly 15 minutes to record a shot with a one-pixel camera. Asking a six-year-old to wait that long before blowing out birthday candles could be problematic. But these kinks presumably will be worked out by the time he graduates.