Talk:Display resolution

Incorrect Fact

"Currently 1280×1024 (SXGA Super eXtended Graphics Array) is the most common display resolution"

The website that fact comes from actually says that 1024x768 is the most common, not 1280x1024.

Incorrect concepts throughout

This is from chief large-panel analyst with the largest flat panel market research firm:

"Resolution is measured in spatial frequency such as lines per inch (pixels per inch is a reasonable substitute because flat-panel pixels are rectangular).

"The writer of this entry mistakes display format with display resolution. A full HDTV display has a format of 1920 x 1080 pixels REGARDLESS OF ITS SIZE. The resolution of a 25-inch HDTV is TWICE the resolution of a 50-inch set. The smaller TV shows 88 lines per inch while the larger TV shows 44 lines per inch.

"Some knowledgeable person should re-write this whole entry."

70.112.223.53 (talk) 22:57, 30 December 2007 (UTC)

Tell your friend that, as with most English words, "resolution" has multiple meanings depending on context. In the digital world, it refers to the number of pixels (squares) that construct the image. For example 320x200 is the resolution a Commodore 64 displays. ----- In the analog world, "resolution" can mean lines per inch (monitor specs), or lines per picture height (television specs), or line-pairs displayed on a movie screen. Alternatively resolution can be measured in terms of dot pitch (monitor specs). It all depends what subject is being discussed, which is why it is crucial to always follow numbers with units, so the reader knows precisely what is being measured. ---- Theaveng (talk) 14:46, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

Article Image

Someone, with good intentions I'm sure, updated the image in the article to an SVG. Either it's a bad file or the vector renderers in both Firefox 1.5 and IE 6 suck - the image doesn't appear on its own page, and in firefox it is horrendously slow at full screen. Also SVGs don't work with automatic image scaling and plugins like image zoom. Can we change it back to a PNG? I'm all for adoption of SVGs, but this is causing problems for me. GTMoogle 23:50, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

• (added 28.6.07) how come an article about "display resolution" doesn't put on display a simple illustration to exemplify the notion? check out the parallel Hebrew wikipedia page for an excellent pic that could be implemented here.

Second image is wrong

The second image comparing aspect ratios (near bottom of article) is entirely wrong. Look at the red rectangles that are supposed to indicate an ordinary non-widescreen 4:3 computer monitor. They clearly indicate an aspect ratio considerably higher than 4:3, i.e. 'wider' and 'shorter', more widescreen.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/6/64/Aspect_Ratios_and_Resolutions.jpg/240px-Aspect_Ratios_and_Resolutions.jpg

Richardsaccount 19:59, 19 October 2007 (UTC)

D1 and DVD Resolution

I removed the Sony D1 entry, because, as mentioned in the page comments, it isn't a display resolution. I also correct DVD resolution from 704xnnn to 720xnnn. 704xnnn is a SUPPORTED resolution, but essentially all DVDs use the more common 720xnnn resolution. Alereon 09:47, 6 December 2006 (UTC)

NTSC/PAL, layout stuff

What is this 'NTSC preferred format'? Where did you get those VHS/Digital TV numbers? Also, the NTSC and PAL resolutions should be listed as 4:3 with their pixel aspects next to them, not misrepresented as 3:2 and 5:4. Also, DVD and DVD-Widescreen resolutions for NTSC are both 720x480, 4:3 with different pixel aspects. The aspect ratios of the displays should be the true display aspect, with the pixel aspect listed if not square. --Tonsofpcs 20:00, 15 May 2005 (UTC)

Nearly all the older computer resolutions have the same problem. For example, CGA and EGA were 4:3. I think we need 2 or 3 columns for aspect ratio: pixel shape, screen shape, and maybe the strange mess we have now (if only to help avoid future screw-ups). 24.110.145.57 02:58, 14 December 2006 (UTC)

Would it be useful and/or prudent to have an additional column in the table that gave total pixel count? --Lee Pavelich

image resolution

what is a resolution

Resolution can be interpreted in the visual perception sense as the amount of detail in an image or scene that can be distinguished.

The ability of the human eye to resolve detail is affected by the eye's spacing of the rod and cone elements particularly in the fovea and the size of the eye's lens and focal distances. The theoretical value is around 1/3 of minute of arc for a black-white line pair, but in practice for someone with so-called 20:20 vision it's generally accepted to be be about 1 minute of arc. Distinguishing colored detail is worse by a factor of around 3 to 4.

This means that perceived resolution of an image will change with viewing distance. A convenient way of stating ideal viewing distance from an image display is in terms of multiples of picture height. For example, a Standard Definition TV picture is normally best viewed from a distance of about 6 picture heights, whereas a HD picure should be viewed from 3 to 4 picture heights.

The application of the term resolution to various display formats refers to the grid parameters that the picture is broken into to form individual "picture elements" or pixels.

Because a picture display is manufactured as a grid array of say 1368 x 768 does not necessarily mean that a picture shown on that screen will have that perceived resolution. If viewed close enough the individual elements of the grid can be distinguished (i.e. they subtend about a minute of arc at the eye). For computer graphics from a computer with its video card specifically set to that screen resolution the graphics can be tailored to use that resolution.

However for video pictures such as television, there are a number of things to affect the resultant displayed resolution - such as the display's digital video processor (sometimes called a scaling engine) - does it overscan the incoming image? - how well does it match the original source resolution raster to its display raster (a mismatch can cause visible artefacts).

And of course there are some tricks that make the eye think the picture is "sharper" than it actually is.

The real definition of resolution?

As far as I'm concerned, display resolution should be measured in DPI or PPI. Resolution should be how much of something there is in a defined area. For example, the 30" Cinema Display from Apple does not have a higher resolution than the 23" or even 20" one - they're all 100 PPI, a hundred pixels per inch.

Why would there otherwise be "hi-resolution displays"? The image quality of the screen isn't going to improve by adding both inches and pixels. You'll have to keep adding pixels to the existing inches to get a sharper and better image.

Sincerely,

Gabriel

For better or worse, we are currently calling "that thing we measure in DPI" "image resolution".

The article on dots per inch uses the phrase "printing resolution" to mean basically the same thing.

If we used plain "resolution" to mean "that thing we measure in DPI", what word do you suggest we use to mean "that thing we measure as X pixels wide and Y pixels high" ? Pictures that come out of a digital camera are not inherently a certain physical size (in inches or mm). What word do you suggest we use when we ask "What's the _ of that picture?", if not "display resolution" ? --65.70.89.241 14:37, 23 August 2006 (UTC)

I see that the FAQ for video resolutions calls it "frame size". --65.70.89.241 14:41, 23 August 2006 (UTC)

Change titles insead of Merge

Instead of merging and creating a huge single page. It might be better to change names to better reflect each pages intent.

Possible new names: Computer Display Resolution and Television Display Resolution Some data would over lap but 4.2.2 information doesn't belong on the computer side and CGA EGA information doesn't belong on Television side. The resolution list would contain the same listings but the included supporting documentation would only support the pages intent.

SouthPaw 24.161.89.232 05:55, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

Individual Resolutions

For resolutions such as 800x600, 1280x024, 1600x1200, would it be beneficial to have their own pages? I think that even if it is a short page, it might be helpful. Any opinions? --ʀ6ʍɑʏ89 04:57, 31 December 2005 (UTC)

Frame rates

It seems to me that adding frame rate information to each of the resolutions would also be helpful. I am in the process of designing hardware to support some of these resolutions, and without knowing the frame rate, it is harder to figure out the pixel clock frequency without knowing the range of frame rate frequencies that are common for each resolution. On the other hand, most consumers could care less, probably. Maybe this information could be on the more specific pages for each resolution?
--GregGarner

Frame rates depend more on the program your running than on the resolution. I'm not sure I know what you're talking about.

Common resolutions

Should list of common resolutions be merged into this page? Madda 16:08, 12 April 2006 (UTC)

A source on the 'typical screen resolution': Jakob Nielsens "Alertbox": http://www.useit.com/alertbox/screen_resolution.html

Laserdisc Resolution

According to URL:http://www.ee.surrey.ac.uk/Contrib/EuropeLD/glossary.html Laserdisc has 7MHz of video bandwidth, which would translate to 448Hz per scanline for PAL discs (444Hz for NTSC). To represent this in the digital domain, the signal would have to be sampled at minimum 896 times per scanline (889 for NTSC), meaning the horizontal resolution actually exceeds that of DVD's!

Another source URL:http://www.in70mm.com/newsletter/1995/39/laser/disc_1.htm claims that Laserdiscs have 5,5MHz of video bandwidth, which would translate to 704 (PAL) or 698 (NTSC) horizontal pixels.

On the same website there is a conversion formula between bandwidth and pixels: 80 lines per MHz, but I don't know where this comes from. Seems like the resolution currently in the article comes from combining the 7MHz video bandwidth from the first source with the 80-lines-per-MHz rule from the second source.

Which horizontal resolution is the correct one?

(I guess all this applies to the VHS and PAL/NTSC broadcast resolutions too...)

D1

The display resolution article has two lines in the table that mention

"D1 720×480 (576 for PAL)" "D1 (NTSC with square pixels) 720×540"

I found that a little confusing, so I clicked on the link to the D1 (Sony) article.

The "D1 (Sony)" article seems to say that D1 is a format for recording CCIR 601 raster format digitized video on a kind of cassette tape, and doesn't even mention this "(NTSC with square pixels)" thing. Is there some other article that explains it? So ... should I change the name of the "720×480" line to "CCIR 601" ? Or should I change the "D1" article to also describe the use of that term as a "720×480" resolution? --65.70.89.241 14:37, 23 August 2006 (UTC)

WSXGA

There is definitely a problem in this page. WSXGA is quote as both 1440x900 & 1600×1024. Furthermore, the WSXGA page redirects to SXGA+ (1400 × 1050)!! There is definitely a problem to solve here, guys. --Le Sage 13:03, 2 October 2006 (UTC)

Entire Article Too Dense and Obscure

This article immediately jumps into dense and obscure issues about resolution, without first explaining the subject to someone who knows nothing about it.

Start by explaining what pixels are, how they are arranged in grids, and how there are a confusing number of different standards.

Make a list with the most common resolutions divided into ratio classes -- 4:3, 5:4, 16:9, 16:10, misc others -- list the common XxY resolutions within each class, with a description for each of where that resolution is typically found. "640x480: obsolete CRT computer monitors", "1280x1024: Current 17" LCD computer monitors", "PAL: European analog television sets".

Mention prominently that higher resolution does not necessary mean a larger screen -- and that higher PPI density actually makes images look smaller on screen. Cross-reference the Wikipedia PPI article.

Describe "native resolution" on digital monitors, and what happens when you don't use that.

Describe different pixel shapes, and why that doesn't distort the aspect of, say, the same photograph, viewed on monitors with different pixel shapes.

Help users understand the strange anomaly of the all-too-common 5:4 ratio 17" LCD monitors, in a special section.

There is nothing wrong with 5:4 on an LCD. You still get square pixels. Such screens are not good for people addicted to badly-designed games, but they work great for properly-designed games and everything else. 1280x1024 on a 4:3 CRT is quite wrong though, because most software will quite reasonably not compensate for non-square pixels. Desktop software developers all cheered when 640x350 EGA was killed off, then covered their eyes when the 1280x1024 4:3 CRT reintroduced the abomination of non-square pixels. The 1280x1024 LCD really is 5:4, so it's fine -- certainly no worse than a widescreen anyway. 24.110.145.57 03:13, 14 December 2006 (UTC)

Describe, so to speak, that no one has a clue why the computer industry decided to use 1280x1224 on a 17" monitor -- which produces a PPI too dense (106 ppi or whatever) for reading most Web sites (designed for 96 ppi), etc. -- and how this has produced a huge problem of people setting the monitor to a lower resolution -- and getting distorted aspect and blurred text. Recommend making sure the monitor is set to maintain the 4:3 aspect of the lower resolution if this is done -- there should be black bars above and below. Have an illustration of a 17" LCD with a small round circle on it at 1280x1224, and then a 17" LCD with a larger, distorted circle at 800x600. Explain how to set text resolution higher in Windows -- but that this still leaves raster images small.

Then, have a final section in which you refer readers to other articles on more technical and obscure subjects: the history and issues of analog television resolution, etc. -- anything that someone trying to figure out the computer monitors and TVs at their local store really doesn't need to know.

1280x960

Huh... where's 1280x960? it's a very popular format for wallpapers, as well a valid resolution on most 4:3 monitors. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 151.38.235.198 (talk) 15:01, 7 February 2007 (UTC).

Kicks arse?

"Many people tend to like CRT HDTV's more than LCD/Plasma HDTV's because CTR TV's kick arse"

I don't think this is appropriate language for Wikipedia.

Indeed, three misused apostrophes in one sentence.

UMD resolution

According to this[1], the resolution of UMD Video is not 480x272. That is the resolution of the PSP's screen, however the PSP was not originally going to be UMD's sole target platform. UMD video is encoded most frequently at a resolution of 720x480, the same resolution as NTSC DVDs. The standard does offer other lower resolutions, however 480x272 isn't supported.

832x624

This was a common setting for Macintosh computers. Very useful to eke a bit more room out of a 15" display without causing eyestrain. ⇔ ChristTrekker 19:51, 19 June 2007 (UTC)

Template:Widescreen monitor resolutions

Please help me spruce up this template:

	x (width)	y (height)	Pixels (Mpx)	Aspect ratio	Proportion difference of total pixels							Typical sizes (inch)	Non-wide version	Note
Name					WXGA	WXGA+	WSXGA+	WUXGA	UW-UXGA	WQHD	WQXGA
WXGA	1280	800	1.024	1.6	—	−21%	−42%	−56%	−63%	−72%	−75%	15–19	XGA
WSXGA/WXGA+	1440	900	1.296	1.6	+27%	—	−27%	−44%	−53%	−65%	−68%	15–19	XGA+
WSXGA+	1680	1050	1.764	1.6	+72%	+36%	—	−23%	−36%	−52%	−57%	20–22	SXGA+
WUXGA	1920	1200	2.304	1.6	+125%	+78%	+31%	—	−17%	−38%	−44%	23–28	UXGA	Displays 1920×1080 video with slight letterbox
UW-UXGA	2560	1080	2.765	2.37	+170%	+113%	+57%	+20%	—	−25%	−32%	29, 34	SXGA+
WQHD	2560	1440	3.686	1.778	+260%	+184%	+109%	+60%	+33%	—	−10%	27
WQXGA	2560	1600	4.096	1.6	+300%	+216%	+132%	+78%	+48%	+11%	—	30+	QXGA	Complements portrait UXGA

Resolution image is wrong

It says TV is 3:2 which is not accurate. It's 4:3 ratio (just pull out a ruler and measure). - Theaveng 20:45, 19 October 2007 (UTC)