Five billion pixels are the technological fix for preserving murals in Tibet's Potala Palace. The digitization project is part of ongoing efforts to safeguard temple art throughout the Tibet Autonomous Region.

　　Potala Palace paintings preserved

The Potala Palace, in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa, has a history of over 1,300 years. And the images in its murals include religious stories, historical figures, and biographies of eminent monks.

"The murals in the Potala Palace are very precious. They can be traced back from the Tubo Regime to the Qing Dynasty. In addition, they have covered a lot of themes," Nyima Tenzin, director of Management Office of Potala Palace.

The total area covered by wall paintings in the rooms, hall, and corridors of the Potala Palace is some 2,500 square meters - the equivalent of six basketball courts. In order to help preserve them, conversion to digital images began in 2012.

　　Potala Palace paintings preserved

Another benefit of the project is increasing accessibility to the great art.

"There are various ways to present the digital images. For example, we can print them and display the pictures; we can hold multimedia exhibitions, digital exhibitions, and all-round displays. More people will be able to enjoy the exhibitions and the cultural relics through the Internet," Wan Jie, leader of Digital Mural project.

"There are some inscriptions on the murals, but the characters are small. Through the digitization and then putting them together, we can magnify or narrow them, so we can see the inscriptions clearly. It greatly helps our research," Dawa, deputy director of Digital Center of the Potala Palace.

According to administrators, the Potala Palace saw a total of 830,000 visitors in 2014 - that's more than 2,000 people per day. Meanwhile, the region's culture bureau is using the same techniques for other temples in Tibet.

Editor: Lucia Su