pixelated

This term describes a specific visual failure where the underlying grid of a digital image becomes apparent to the human eye. It carries a negative connotation of poor quality, technical inadequacy, or outdated technology, evoking a sense of jaggedness and lack of clarity.

In modern usage, the word is frequently applied to real-time streaming contexts to describe compression artifacts. It differs from blurriness; while a blurred image is smooth and out of focus, a pixelated image is sharp but blocky, consisting of distinct square segments.