Matrox display resolution guide
Last updated: 2006.05.23
Display resolution – alternatively referred to as "display area", "screen area", "screen resolution", and "monitor resolution" – is an
important consideration when choosing a monitor or graphics hardware. There are several elements to display resolution, including
total number of pixels, aspect ratio, analog versus digital, and so on.
First of all, display resolution is measured in pixels, the smallest units of information shown on a display. By convention,
resolution is given in horizontal pixels by the number of vertical pixels. For example, an 800 x 600 resolution is 800 pixels wide
by 600 pixels tall, for a total of 480,000 pixels. The total number of pixels that appear on-screen can also be measured in millions
of pixels or "megapixels", abbreviated "mp". So, a display with a resolution of 800 x 600 is a 0.48 mp display. The higher the total
number of pixels is, the higher the resolution is.
The display resolutions available to a system depend on the graphics hardware, the monitor, the type of monitor connection, and
support from the software. Each graphics hardware and monitor model has maximum display resolutions associated with it and these
are usually listed in its specifications. Whether the connection is digital or analog can also affect resolution support because
these different connection types use different parts of the hardware. Also, the operating system and display driver play a role
in which resolutions are available, especially with special resolutions.
See more. Do more.
With higher display resolutions, you can see more and do more. Higher resolutions provide more on-screen information and this
can increase productivity and reduce errors. Productivity is improved by reducing the amount of time spent moving information
that doesn't otherwise fit on-screen. Errors are reduced by making it less likely that important information is off-screen.
Increasing display resolution offers some of the same advantages as increasing the number of displays. Extra displays are
appropriate when information is easily divided (for example, when viewing different windows), but increasing the resolution of
a display is more appropriate when large amounts of information need to be kept together (for example, when map viewing).
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When more than one display at a time is used with a system, sometimes the resolution of each display is combined. This
is especially the case when using a "stretched" display mode. With a "stretched" display mode, the operating system treats
multiple displays as one even though the information actually appears on multiple monitors. For example, a horizontally
"stretched" display mode made up of 2 displays, each with a resolution of 800 x 600, has an effective total resolution of
1600 x 600.
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The long and the short of it
The ratio of horizontal pixels to vertical pixels is the aspect ratio of a display. A resolution of 800 x 600 has an aspect ratio
of 800/600 or 1.33. Aspect ratio is more commonly expressed using the smallest possible whole-numbers separated by a colon.
For example, the aspect ratio for 800 x 600 would be expressed as 4:3.
4:3 is the aspect ratio traditionally used by standard TVs and computer monitors. However, some newer High-Definition TVs and
wide-screen TVs use a 16:9 or 16:10 aspect ratio that matches the aspect ratio that most movies are produced in. Computer monitors
sometimes have wide-screen aspect ratios, especially when they may sometimes be used to view video. There are also special-purpose
aspect ratios like those for "portrait" displays that are taller than they are wide.
If different resolutions with different aspect ratios are viewed with the same computer monitor, each will appear taller,
shorter, wider, or narrower than another resolution. This is because a different number of horizontal and vertical pixels are
being "squished" or "stretched" onto the same physical area.
Relative sizes of various standard resolutions
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Relative sizes of various wide-screen resolutions
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Keeping it sharp
With digital monitors – for example, LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) monitors – it's usually preferable to use the highest resolution
supported. The highest resolution supported by such a monitor is often called its "native resolution". At this resolution, each pixel
is individually rendered and clearly defined, and this results in a sharper, clearer screen image. At lower resolutions, display
scaling may occur and, as a result, the screen image may appear blurry because the selected display resolution is resized (and filtered)
to fit on the screen. In this case, there isn't a one-to-one relationship with the selected resolution and the pixels that appear on
the screen.
While higher resolutions are generally better because they show more information, some prefer to use lower resolutions than what
their monitors are capable of. With CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) monitors, this may be because the refresh rate supported at their highest
resolution is sometimes too low. The refresh rate (or more specifically, the vertical refresh rate) refers to the number of times
per second, measured in Hertz (Hz), that the entire screen image is updated. The flickering associated with a CRT refresh rate of
75 Hz or lower can cause eye strain. Not using the maximum resolution of a CRT monitor may allow for higher refresh rates.
Refresh rates are also subject to the capabilities of the graphics hardware.
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With CRT monitors, each pixel is rendered by multiple phosphor dots and thus the sharpness of each pixel is subject to the dot
pitch. The dot pitch is the distance between these dots, usually measured in millimeters. The dot pitch of CRT computer monitors
typically range from 0.15 to 0.35 mm. The lower the dot pitch of a CRT monitor is, the sharper the screen image appears. The lack
of sharpness due to high dot pitch is another reason a user may choose not to use the maximum resolution available with a CRT
monitor. With a lower resolution, the CRT monitor uses more phosphor dots to render each pixel and the screen image may appear
sharper, but at the expense of showing less information.
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Each pixel on a CRT monitor is drawn by
several phosphor dots and the distance between these dots is the dot pitch.
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Bigger is better
LCD monitors generally have sharper screen images and don't flicker like CRT monitors do, but all monitors can still cause eye strain
when information, especially text, appears too small. This can happen when the physical size of the display area is small proportional
to the display resolution. The density or size of pixels on a physical screen is typically measured in dpi (dots per inch). Higher
resolutions on the same screen have a higher dpi and the same resolution on a larger screen has a lower dpi.
If information appears too small or not sharp enough, some users lower the display resolution. In this case, information appears
larger, but less information is being viewed. If information appears too small, it may be preferable to change software settings
like the system font size and the zoom factor in an application. In this way, more pixels are used to render the same information
and detail is gained.
Different resolutions
The following is reference information on some of the many resolutions available with various display solutions.
|
Resolution
(pixel width
x
pixel
height) |
Megapixels
(mp) |
Width /
Height |
Aspect
Ratio |
Name |
Notes |
|
640x480
|
0.31
|
1.33
|
4:3
|
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"Video
Graphics Array" – A computer display standard first marketed by IBM in 1987 and
now often associated with this resolution (and with the
HD-15
connector first used with graphics hardware supporting this standard). This
was previously considered the base resolution support expected of most graphics
hardware and monitors. Currently, the 800x600 (SVGA) resolution is more often
considered the base support. |
|
|
800x600
|
0.48
|
1.33
|
4:3
|
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"Super
VGA" – A computer display standard first defined by the VESA (Video Electronics
Association) in 1989 and that is now commonly associated with this resolution.
Because most current graphics hardware and monitors support this resolution,
systems often use this as a default starting resolution when capabilities or
preferences aren't known. This resolution is generally considered to be the
next step above 640x480 (VGA). |
|
|
1024x768
|
0.79
|
1.33
|
4:3
|
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"eXtended Graphics Array" – A display standard introduced by IBM in
1990 and today it's mostly synonymous with this resolution. This resolution is
generally considered to be the next step above 800x600 (SVGA).
|
|
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1280x720 |
0.92 |
1.78 |
16:9 |
|
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"A standard resolution for HDTV
(High-Definition TV). "720i" uses interlaced scanning and "720p" uses progressive scanning.
|
|
|
1920x480 |
0.92 |
4.00 |
8:3 |
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"TripleHead™ VGA" or "Triple Horizontal VGA" - This is the combined resolution of 3 displays in a horizontal configuration, each with a 640x480 (VGA) resolution. Matrox TripleHead2Go upgrades support this resolution.
|
|
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1152x864 |
1.00 |
1.33 |
4:3
|
|
An
extension of the XGA resolution. |
|
|
1280x800 |
1.02 |
1.60 |
16:10
(8:5) |
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"Wide
XGA" – A wider version of XGA. The 1280x768 and 1366x768 resolutions are also
sometimes referred to as WXGA. |
|
|
1280x960
|
1.23
|
1.33
|
4:3
|
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"Quad
VGA" – 4 times the pixels of VGA. However, "QVGA" can also refer to "Quarter
VGA", which has one-quarter the resolution of VGA. SXGA is sometimes used to
refer to this QVGA resolution. |
|
|
1440x900 |
1.30 |
1.60 |
16:10
(8:5) |
|
An
extension of the WXGA resolution. |
|
|
1280x1024 |
1.31 |
1.25 |
5:4
|
|
"Super
XGA" – An extension of the XGA resolution. This resolution is generally
considered to be the next step above XGA. |
|
|
2400x600 |
1.44 |
4.00 |
8:3
|
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"TripleHead™ SVGA" or "Triple Horizontal SVGA" - This is the combined resolution of 3 displays in a horizontal configuration, each with a 800x600 (SVGA) resolution. Matrox Parhelia graphics cards (certain models) and the Matrox TripleHead2Go upgrades support this resolution.
|
|
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1400x1050 |
1.47 |
1.33 |
4:3
|
|
An
extension of the SXGA resolution. |
|
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2048x768
|
1.57
|
2.67
|
8:3
|
|
|
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1600x1024 |
1.64 |
1.56 |
25:16 |
|
"Wide
SXGA" – A wider version of the SXGA resolution. |
|
|
1680x1050 |
1.76 |
1.60 |
16:10
(8:5) |
|
An
extension of the WSXGA resolution. |
|
|
1600x1200 |
1.92 |
1.33 |
4:3
|
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"Ultra
XGA" – Generally considered to be the next step above SXGA. This resolution
also has 4 times the resolution of 800x600 (SVGA). |
|
|
1920x1080 |
2.07 |
1.78 |
16:9 |
|
|
A standard resolution for HDTV
(High-Definition TV). "1080i" uses interlaced scanning and "1080p" uses progressive scanning.
|
|
|
1920x1200 |
2.30 |
1.60 |
16:10
(8:5) |
|
"Wide
UXGA" – A wider version of the UXGA resolution. This is the maximum resolution
supported by most single-link DVI solutions. |
|
|
3072x768 |
2.36 |
4.00 |
12:3
(4:1) |
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"TripleHead™ XGA" or "Triple Horizontal XGA" – This is the
combined resolution of 3 displays in a horizontal configuration, each with a
1024x768 (XGA) resolution. Matrox Parhelia graphics
cards were the first to support this mode. |
|
|
2560x1024 |
2.62 |
2.50 |
10:4
(5:2) |
|
|
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2048x1536 |
3.15 |
1.33 |
4:3
|
|
"Quad
XGA" – 4 times the pixels of XGA. In addition to being a single-display mode,
this is the combined resolution of 4 displays in a 2x2 configuration, each with
a 1024x768 (XGA) resolution. |
|
|
3200x1200 |
3.84 |
2.67 |
8:3
|
|
|
|
3840x1024 |
3.93 |
3.75 |
15:4 |
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"TripleHead™ SXGA" or "Triple Horizontal SXGA" – This is the
combined resolution of 3 displays in a horizontal configuration, each with a
1280x1024 (SXGA) resolution. Matrox Parhelia graphics
cards were the first to support this mode. |
|
|
2560x1600 |
4.10 |
1.60 |
16:10
(8:5) |
|
"Wide
QXGA" – A wider version of the QXGA resolution. This resolution is supported by
dual-link DVI solutions (for example the
Matrox Parhelia
DL256 graphics card and the 30-inch Apple Cinema Display).
|
|
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2560x2048
|
5.24
|
1.25
|
5:4
|
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"Quad
SXGA" – 4 times the pixels of the SXGA resolution. This is the combined
resolution of 4 displays in a 2x2 configuration, each with a
1280x1024 (SXGA)
resolution. Matrox
G450x4 MMS was the first graphics card to support this mode with analog and
digital monitors. |
|
|
3200x2400
|
7.68
|
1.33
|
4:3
|
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"Quad
UXGA" – 4 times the pixels of the UXGA resolution. This is the combined
resolution of 4 displays in a 2x2 configuration, each with a
1600x1200 (UXGA)
resolution. Matrox
G450x4 MMS was one of the first graphics card to support this mode with
analog monitors and Matrox
QID graphics cards were among the first to support this mode with analog
and digital monitors. |
|
|
3840x2400 |
9.22 |
1.60 |
16:10
(8:5) |
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"Wide
QUXGA" – A wider version of the QUXGA resolution.
Matrox Parhelia
HR256 was the first graphics card to support this resolution.
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