History Main / Pixellation

* In the manga ''Manhwa/DemonDiary'', Eclipse attempts to teach Raenef a spell called "Death Drill" by demonstrating on one of the dragon guards. The aftermath is censored in this way.

* Music/{{Beck}}'s "Loser" video had a shot near the beginning with him wearing a [[Franchise/StarWars Storm Trooper]] helmet - for trademark reasons, the helmet had to blurred out when it was aired on MTV.

* ''Webcomic/EnnuiGo'' and ''Webcomic/BlackHole2019'' are both censored like this - you have to be a member of the creator's Patreon to get the comics uncensored. Otherwise, the strips are released with digital mosaics over the characters' genitals and the women's nipples.

* Played for laughs with Ayaka's swimsuit in ''Manga/HowHeavyAreTheDumbbellsYouLift'', when she's competing in the Miss Meat Island competition. Her BarelyThereSwimwear is ''so'' barely there that they simply blur out her entire torso when she reveals it... and promptly gets disqualified because it's too skimpy.

* ''Webcomic/EnnuiGo'' and ''Webcomic/BlackHole'' are both censored like this - you have to be a member of the creator's Patreon to get the comics uncensored. Otherwise, the strips are released with digital mosaics over the characters' genitals and the women's nipples.

* ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'' normally use BarbieDollAnatomy, except when Chisame walks in on [[RatedMForManly Jack Rakan while he's taking a shower]].

Used to blur out faces (of criminals, crime victims, and undercover police officers; people who didn't sign releases to allow a show to use their likeness), offensive body parts (mostly breasts on women, [[FlippingTheBird the middle finger when used as a rude gesture]], and anything below the waist on both sexes -- that includes front and back), obscene words and written messages (mostly on T-shirts, billboards, and signs), trademarked product names and logos which have not paid for placement (MTV does this a lot to their rap videos and on most of their reality shows, like ''Series/TheRealWorld''), extremely graphic injuries (particularly the bloody stumps left behind when someone loses an arm or a leg or wide open head wounds), depictions of marijuana (be they the actual leaf or a rolled joint that's been lit and smoked), and even the years on closed-circuit date stamps (done a lot on reality shows that focus on police chases and crime, such as ''America's Dumbest Criminals'' or ''World's Wildest Police Chases'').

* Used in ''Webcomic/TheKAMics'' [[http://www.theduckwebcomics.com/The_KAMics/4849994/ here]]

* Parodied in an episode of WesternAnimation/HouseBroken. When Elsa's owner removes her vest (to put on a more festive one) the area her vest covers up is pixelated. Played straight when Diablo gets an erection from an anti-anxiety medication.

-->-- From a ''[[Magazine/{{Cracked}} Cracked Magazine]]'' parody of ''Series/{{COPS}}''

* ''LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya'': When Haruhi summons a [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam "G** ]][[LawyerFriendlyCameo ** m"]] in ''Day Of Sagittarius''.

* ''LightNovel/{{Toradora}}'' - Taiga's [[TrashOfTheTitans messy sink]] was pixellated out, although the sickly green color was still clearly visible.

* In ''LightNovel/NyarukoCrawlingWithLove''[='s=] ''Nyaruani'' short "Cooking", Nyarko says that today's recipe will be cooked whole [[SoundEffectBleep *BLEEP*]] and holds up a writhing, pixellated object. [[OnlySaneMan Mahiro]] freaks out, demanding to know [[NoFourthWall why it's censored]].
* In ''LightNovel/MushokuTenseiJoblessReincarnation'' Hitogami's entire body is covered with mosaic pixellation, the only thing clearly visible being his near-perpetual smile.
* In ''LightNovel/TheRisingOfTheShieldHero'' when [[spoiler:Motoyasu]] unlocks a combination of the Envy and Greed series of his weapon, Naofumi is confused as to why the blade is covered with a mosaic. He's also rather disturbed that it's then specifically aimed at Firo's lower body.

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* ''Comicstrip/{{Zits}}'' pixellated everybody in a strip in the boys' shower room.

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[[folder:Film--Live-Action]]

* In ''Film/TheAdventuresOfRockyAndBullwinkle'', as the title characters and Karen are apprehended by Creator/JohnGoodman playing a sheriff, the group is filmed in a parody of ''Series/{{COPS}}'', complete with Rocky and Bullwinkle having their faces pixellated. This being ''[[NoFourthWall Rocky and Bullwinkle]]'', [[LampshadeHanging they immediately draw attention to it]], and have to ask for the effect to be removed.

* In an episode of ''Series/SevenDays'', pixellation was used to cover up the relevant bits during a college streaking event for exactly the opposite of its official purpose. Unfortunately, the pixellation wasn't thorough enough to hide the fact that none of the actors was actually nude.

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[[folder: Western Animation]]

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'': Parodied. The characters are watching a futuristic version of ''Series/{{COPS}}''. The two cops come to arrest a giant centipede alien and his face is blurred out (much like on the show to protect the identities of the would-be criminals). One of the cops tells the centipede alien to unblur his face, and the centipede alien does just that.

* Rap videos from the 1990s (and some even now) use pixellation to blur everything from women's asses in thongs (or women's breasts in skimpy or see-through tops) to marijuana leaves (and lit joints) to guns to brand-name logos and products that appear in the video without express written consent from the company.

* Ryan Stiles joked about this on ''Series/WhoseLineIsItAnyway'': "Hey, wanna see my finger get all blurry?"

* In an episode of ''Anime/FullMetalPanicFumoffu'', the class president tries to explain to Kaname why Sousuke had a reasonable excuse for blowing up the school's shoe lockers when he noticed they'd been tampered with. He asks Kaname to imagine what her reaction would be if she discovered a suspicious package in the mail with a "foul stench" and that's slightly damp. While he's doing this, Kaname has an ImagineSpot of her coming to the door and discovering the package--she drops it on the ground, which causes the package to open slightly. The contents are pixellated, but between the president's description and the reddish color of the pixels the viewer sees enough to be {{squick}}ed out.

* ''VideoGame/BugFables'' [[CensoredForComedy plays this for comedy]], where cooking the "Mistake" item (the result of incompatible ingredients) results in creating the "Big Mistake", which is so horrible it gets pixeled out. It has the same sprite as the Mistake item, just flipped and pixelated.

Video editors alter a section of the screen by averaging or mildly scrambling the color values of the image across larger areas than the original pixels, producing a blocky effect that obscures detail but retains much of the original hue and contour information.

* Parodied in the first episode of ''WesternAnimation/DrawnTogether'', where Princess Clara couldn't tell that Foxxy was flipping her off because her middle finger was blurred...then realized it when she extended her middle finger and saw that it got blurred[[note]]this also happens on the DVD version, even though the DVD is said to be uncut and uncensored. In this case, the pixellation is only used as part of a visual gag[[/note]].
* Parodied in ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}''. The characters are watching a futuristic version of ''Series/{{COPS}}''. The two cops come to arrest a giant centipede alien and his face is blurred out (much like on the show to protect the identities of the would-be criminals). One of the cops tells the centipede alien to unblur his face, and the centipede alien does just that.
* Played with on ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim''. Dib goes on a paranormal talk show with some footage of an unmasked Zim and [=GIR=]. When [=GIR=] eventually shows up as a surprise witness, his face is pixellated...even though he makes no other attempt to hide his robotic identity. He moves a lot as he speaks, even occasionally leaving the cover of pixellation.
** He also claims to be a woman named "Stacy" during this appearance.

* Similarly to the "Dubious Food" example above, ''VideoGame/BugFables'' [[CensoredForComedy also plays this for comedy]], where cooking the "Mistake" item (the result of incompatible ingredients) results in creating the "Big Mistake", which is so horrible it gets pixeled out.

** Gets taken UpToEleven in the story arc that has everyone suffering from a FreakyFridayFlip. [[ButtMonkey Hasegawa]] somehow transforms from a normal pixellated pile of poop into a pixellated, anthropomorphic pile of poop using his Yamazaki-possessed sunglasses. Then he gets pixellated vomit everywhere after witnessing a pixellated case of explosive diarrhea, which leads to Hijikata complaining about not being able to see anything due to all the pixels on top of pixels and somehow turns everyone into pixellated piles of poop.

** Cranked up to eleven for the MB episodes used in the new Science Channel show HeadRush. Even the writing on Adam's shirts gets blurred out. But then, the Science Channel is a commercial-free zone. It's probably simpler to blur out anything that might qualify as ProductPlacement than risk a lawsuit.

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* Clothing brands and store names receive this treatment in the Korean Series ''Series/YouAreBeautiful''.
** Korea has recently allowed dramas to show product names, but puts a disclaimer at the start of each episode informing the viewer.
* Korea blurs it out whenever someone uses a knife as a weapon on a television series.

* ''Series/MythBusters'' will (over)do this with the names of hazardous chemicals used in experiments that they don't want the viewers to know and, summarily, use to [[DontTryThisAtHome recreate the experiment]]. Also, when part of the process that uses such chemicals is needed to be stated in a scene, a variety of humorous sounds (from a cat's meow to a firetruck siren) will [[SoundEffectBleep play to block over]] [[AndSomeOtherStuff the chemical's name]], and - if the Mythbuster's face is being shown as they explain what they're doing, their mouths will be masked over by a graphic of whatever sound is being used to cover the chemical name, just in case any of the viewers can read lips.
** This was {{lampshade|Hanging}}d by Adam: "This ingredient is made of blur. Ha! And this has blur in it too. Blur is very dangerous. You don't wanna mix blur with blur."
** He lampshaded it again when going into a swear-heavy myth, noting that blurring the footage costs money so to save everyone the trouble, he's making mouthguards for people to wear to cover up their foul mouths without the need for editing. {{Sound Effect Bleep}}s are okay, though; "bleeps are cheap."
** Cranked up to eleven for the MB episodes used in the new Science Channel show HeadRush. Even the writing on Adam's shirts gets blurred out. But then, the Science Channel is a commercial-free zone. It's probably simpler to blur out anything that might qualify as ProductPlacement than risk a lawsuit.
* The ''Walking with Prehistoric Beasts'' series documents the rise of mammals post-dinosaur all the way up to humans. In one scene it shows protohumans engaged in the revolutionary new method of having sex face-to-face rather than back to front, and apparently they're close enough to humans for this new method to be blurred out.
* A lot of the gore was pixellated on Takashi Miike's six-episode TV series ''Manga/MPDPsycho''.
* In the Discovery Channel program ''Man vs Wild'', host/survival expert Bear Grylls must occasionally be completely nude when drying his clothing to avert hypothermia. For obvious reasons, he is seen blur-clad in these shots.
* The quiz show ''Series/NeverMindTheBuzzcocks'' has a round called ''What Have We Pixelated?'' where they play sections of music videos with a pixelated item which the panel must guess the identity of. A hard round which has included items such as a person, an upside-down table on a ceiling, and a hand in a box.
* In one episode of ''Backpackers'', which takes place in D*** Land, EVERYTHING but the main characters is pixelled out. However, due to the motion of the images and the objects being filmed, it's easy enough to recognise Mickey and Goofy.
* British automobile MagazineShow ''Series/TopGear'' often uses pixellation of a person's mouth in conjunction with audio bleeping when presenters or guests let loose with profanities on the show. Very common during the "Star in a Reasonably Priced Car" segment, as the celebrity drivers get a bit excited doing the lap around the ''Top Gear'' test track.
** And their survival instructor in the Arctic episode, a former special forces guy, is described as "a man with a pixellated face".
** And the Porsche-branded tobacco pipes, in syndication after [[MoralGuardians someone with too much free time]] complained at the three smoking said pipes in the original broadcast, shortly after smoking in workplaces was made illegal.
** For one of the 2010 [[ChristmasEpisode Christmas Specials]], whilst driving through Iraq, Jeremy Clarkson "brought in our special weapons man, who had learned in the armed forces how to have a pixellated face."
** One challenge was to see how long it would take a car thief to breaking into their cheap car. Three professional car thieves were brought on the show under the condition their faces to be pixellated... but the guy handling special effects had apparently just had his car stolen, so their shirts were pixellated instead.
* ''Series/TheDailyShow'' uses pixelation to obscure things that would otherwise upset the censors, such as Jon giving the finger. A RunningGag during the Bush presidency, based on the way that the Vice President's residence was blurred out on Google Maps, was that "Dick Cheney can pixelate things just by touching them".
** One segment about Jason Jones getting a vasectomy included various bizarre pixellated shots of Jason celebrating his times with his genitals, [[spoiler:and is then averted when we see the procedure with a shot of Jones's completely uncensored scrotum (though not his penis).]]
* When the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame aired its induction ceremony of 1998 on Creator/VH1, Music/PaulMcCartney was joined onstage by his daughter Stella, and her shirt was pixelated. It was hiding an F-bomb on the shirt but, since Stella was a fashion designer, there may have been people wondering if it was hiding something else.
* In one episode of ''Series/GarthMarenghisDarkplace'', a giant eyeball raping a hospital patient (seriously) had its phallus pixellated. This is followed by an interview clip of Dean Learner saying he feels it's sad that they had to pixellate it.
* Both pixellation and blurring were part of the game on ''Series/HeadlineChasers''.
* Older episodes of ''Pizza'' pixelated the advertisements on the eponymous pizza place's cars to hide the store's telephone number. Oh, and they censored the frequent nudity.
* There was a ''Series/{{MADtv}}'' sketch where a man (Will Sasso) goes to his doctor (Aries Spears) with a bad case of pixellation which appears whenever he takes off his pants. The doctor tells the man that pixellation is normal and commonly found on genitals, women's breasts, and middle fingers when shown on network television.
* On most National Geographic documentaries about developing countries, topless women and naked children are censored. Often, they will just censor the nipples of the women.
* Buster's stump on ''Series/ArrestedDevelopment''. Instead of creating a fake stump for Tony Hale to wear, they just made him hide his clenched fist in his sleeve and pixellated it. In some episodes, you can recognize fingers on Buster's "stump".
* On Creator/HowardStern's televised version of his daily radio show on the E! network, pixels were almost always present to cover up the graphic images, acts, and women that had appeared naked on his radio show days before.
* ''Series/TheColbertReport'': Stephen's interview with [=WikiLeaks=] founder Julian Assange parodies this; intended to obscure Assange's face and voice, the effects are instead applied to ''Stephen'', while leaving Assange uncensored. Realizing this mistake, he turns to Jimmy, his director:
-->'''Stephen''': You know what, uh, Jimmy? I think you were right. I think it's only better to pixellate [Julian] and affect his voice rather than mine. Has his face been on camera? Have they seen him?\\
'''Jimmy''': Yes, they have.\\
'''Stephen''': Oh, he's a dead man. Go ahead and take it off. Take it off. [''Pixellation disappears and his voice returns to normal'']
* Used to interesting effect in some "surprise camera" sections of Japanese variety shows. When the host visits an unsuspecting celebrity at home, all background around their house is pixellated, making it look like they live in [[WebAnimation/HomestarRunner Cubeland]].

* When Creator/CraigFerguson swears on his show, they cover his mouth with an Italian, Spanish or French flag (pardon my French) and dub over with his own impression of a stereotypical person from that country.
** It'sa cominago!
** Eye caramba!
* ''Series/TheOfficeUS'' uses this from time to time, which makes sense given its mockumentary style. But it's quite hilarious in the episode "Benjamin Franklin" when a few characters visit an adult bookstore and pretty much the ''entire'' backdrop behind them is pixellated.
* Used once on ''Series/CakeBoss'', when they had an order for a stripper-themed bachelorette party cake.
* On ''Series/ArrestedDevelopment'', whenever Oscar smokes a joint it's blurred out. Six years later on ''Series/{{Community}}'', when Britta does the same, they don't have to.
* In ''Series/CanadasWorstDriver'', stop signs cover the mouths of the contestants when they swear (along with the accompanying bleep). Punk rocker Jakob and his nominator Stacy from season 5 got anarchy symbols instead. Blur is also applied to license plates on the contestants' cars and on brand names (labels on fast food containers, for instance).
* Some ''Series/{{Reno 911}}'' skits had the actors who normally played the police officers portray perps. The "perps'" faces would be pixellated much like on ''COPS'' when the criminal's or victim's identity must be kept under wraps.
* Ryan Stiles joked about this on ''Series/WhoseLineIsItAnyway'': "Hey, wanna see my finger get all blurry?"
* ''Series/ParksAndRecreation'' does this whenever Andy takes off (at least) his pants. Its most extensive use of pixellation comes when Tammy [[ItMakesSenseInContext strips completely in the public library to keep Jamm from breaking up with her]].[[note]]Fortunately, Jamm is NotDistractedByTheSexy.[[/note]]
* ''Series/DirtyJobs'' applied Censor Blur to the naughty bits of horses in the episode where Mike collected semen from a stallion and inseminated a mare.

* Played with on ''The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency'', since they would blur women's breasts and genitals but not their hindquarters.

* Happens in two of the Jackie Chen sketches in ''Series/SzeUTonight''. Before a colleague allows Johnson to interview him on camera, he requests pixellation to be used. [[ComicallyMissingThePoint The first time, they pixellate his body; and the second time, Johnson's face is pixellated.]]

* On ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball'', Gumball's crotch is pixellated every time he's naked. It's also a RunningGag that pixellation is applied to characters without some sort of accessory or other clothing that's normally the only thing they wear, like Leslie's soil without his flower pot, or Darwin's feet without his shoes.

* In ''LightNovel/MushokuTensei'' Hitogami's entire body is covered with mosaic pixellation, the only thing clearly visible being his near-perpetual smile.