What does resolution determine in digital photography?

In digital photography, resolution refers to the amount of detail an image holds, which significantly impacts image sharpness. Higher resolution means more pixels are used to represent the image, leading to finer details and sharper images. When a photo is taken at a high resolution, it can be enlarged or printed without losing clarity, allowing the viewer to see intricate elements more distinctly.

While color depth, file size, and compression are all important aspects of digital photography, they do not directly define the sharpness or detail level of an image. Color depth relates to the number of colors that can be displayed, file size pertains to how much storage space an image requires based on its dimensions and bit depth, and compression is about how the image data is reduced to save space, which can affect quality but is not synonymous with resolution. Thus, resolution is primarily associated with the sharpness of an image, making it the correct choice in this context.