A pixel is the smallest controllable element that appears on a display screen. It is a rectangle unit that can be programmed to different colors. The color is a blend of red, green, and blue intensities. Higher resolution screens have smaller pixel sizes. Pixels are generated using either beam penetration or shadow mask methods in CRT displays. Beam penetration directly activates color phosphors, while shadow mask uses 3 electron guns and a mask to combine colors. Resolution is specified as number of pixel columns and rows.