Resolution
Resolution may refer to any of the following:
1. Resolution is the image quality produced by a printer or displayed on a monitor. With monitors, the resolution is measured by the number of pixels horizontal by pixels vertically. Printers also have a measure of resolution called DPI (dots per inch).
What happens with increased resolution?
When resolution increases, images become crisper due to a higher pixel density. In fact, text and images may also become smaller because more pixels per square inch are displayed. For example, going from 800 x 600 to 1024 x 768 would increase the total number of pixels by 306,432. Those extra pixels are added to the screen with the same amount of text, thus making the text appear smaller.
As the resolution is increased, so are the performance requirements for your CPU (central processing unit) and GPU (graphics processing unit). Computers with old hardware may not support high resolutions.
What happens when the resolution is decreased?
The opposite of what happens when you increase the resolution; text should appear bigger, images are not as crisp, and performance requirements go down.
What are the different resolutions for monitors?
All manufacturers today produce either widescreen or ultrawide monitors. Examples of their different resolutions are shown in the tables below.
Common widescreen resolutions
| Monitor size | Resolution |
|---|---|
| 19-inch | 1680 x 1050 |
| 21-inch | 1920 x 1080 |
| 23-inch | 1920 x 1080 to 2560 x 1440 |
| 27-inch | 2560 x 1440 to 3840 x 2160 |
Common UltraWide resolutions
| Monitor size | Resolution |
|---|---|
| 25-inch | 2560 x 1080 |
| 29-inch | 2560 x 1080 |
| 34-inch | 2560 x 1080 to 3440 x 1440 |
2. With a digital camera, the resolution is the number of horizontal and vertical pixels in a picture. A digital camera manufacturer may also represent the camera's resolution in PPI (pixels per inch). For example, a digital camera with a 2304 x 1728 PPI (2304 pixels wide by 1728 pixels tall) is equivalent to a 4 MP (megapixel) camera. 2304 x 1728 = 3,981,312 (close to 4 million).
A camera manufacturer may also describe two types of photograph resolutions, an optical resolution, and enhanced resolution. An optical resolution describes a photograph with no digital enhancements, and best describes the resolution of the camera. An enhanced resolution describes any photograph that's digitally enhanced or adjusted, e.g., adding additional pixels.
3. A resolution describes a set of steps or procedures that correct an issue with a product. For example, when encountering a problem with a computer, you may first troubleshoot the problem and find a fix on Computer Hope, following the steps is the resolution.
4K, 8K, DPI, Fix, Maximum resolution, Measurement, Native resolution, PPI, Rez, Video terms, Workaround