Pixzilla

Pixzilla is a new way of looking at ultra-high resolution images.

Pixzilla offers a new way of looking at ultra-high resolution images. By stitching together twelve high-resolution displays into a single wall display that is capable of showing 23 million pixels, Pixzilla allows a user to see details of an image while at the same time maintaining the “big picture.” The display system was created by AT’s Vislab to provide an interactive, collaborative display environment capable of handling the increasingly large imagery used by researchers and educators.

Members of the Northwestern community can browse Pixzilla’s catalogue or upload their own images through Pixzilla’s web interface and then view them on the wall display located in the NU Library InfoCommons.

Pixzilla represents a movement in Academic Technologies and the research and academic community towards ultra high-resolution imaging. NUAMPS has been an active content producer in this field with image production work ranging from the in-house digitization of special collections items to the complete high-resolution documentation of the Shuilu’an Temple near Xi’an, China.

NUAMPS worked with Vislab to design the Pixzilla interface and branding used on both the website https://pixzilla.at.northwestern.edu/ and the display wall touch screen. NUAMPS media developers also contributed high-resolution images to the initial publicly accessible catalogue of Pixzilla.

The same technology behind Pixzilla is being used to drive the Adler Planetarium’s Moonwall, created by Vislab and unveiled on November 10 as part of the Adler’s newest exhibit, Shoot for the Moon.