The Japan Camera Industry Association (JCIA) has today officially announced new guidelines for the measurement and marketing of digital camera 'megapixels'. The guidelines recommend the use of effective pixel count (the actual number of pixels captured). We've known about this for some time, but this is the first time JCIA have made it official. What these new guidelines mean is that from September 1st, 2001 all new Japanese digital cameras must carry a label which states the effective pixel count, not the total CCD pixel count. This is a more accurate, fairer and less confusing method of labelling and should make it easier for the consumer to know what they are buying.