Resolution Guide for Monitors, Laptops, Televisions and Projectors
You’ve seen the confusing alphabet soup of acronyms describing the various resolutions for monitors, laptop displays, LCD and plasma televisions, as well as projectors, yet you probably still don’t know what it all means. Click on this hyperlink for an article that explains resolution and includes charts that match the alphabet with the numbers.
Resolution – What is it?
What Are Common Resolutions for Plasmas, Monitors, Notebooks, and Projectors?
Briefly stated, sharpness and clarity of the picture on screen is determined by its resolution, which is the sharpness of the image projected based on the number of pixels. Resolution is measured in the number of pixels horizontally multiplied by the number of pixels vertically. The higher number of pixels, the better. Plasma screens, projectors and LCD screens have a fixed number of pixels, referred to as the “native resolution,” or the resolution at which the display device does not have to expand or compress the input signal. This is the device’s optimum resolution. LCD images used in front projectors and rear-projection monitors typically offer XGA (1024 x 1024 x 768 pixels) or SXGA (1280 x 1024 pixels) resolution. Front projection monitors also use SVGA (800 x 600 pixels).


Projector Resolutions
Multimedia video projectors are typically available in four categories of resolution -UXGA (1600 x 1200), SXGA (1280 x 1024) – XGA (1024 x 768) and SVGA (800 x 600), which is the most popular format for projectors.
Notebook Computer Resolutions
Bigger isn’t always better when it comes to resolution for notebooks. That’s because the higher the resolution, the smaller, and closer the pixels. This means you can fit more info on your display, but the print will also be much smaller and harder to see for some users. But, it also means the picture detail may be better. Thus, high-resolution displays may be best for users who need many windows open simultaneously and who have eyes that are sharp enough to read the small fonts. Notebooks using the 4:3 aspect ratio usually feature screens with the following resolutions: XGA (1024×768), SXGA+ (1400×1050) and
UXGA (1600×1200). Some of the latest notebooks feature a 16:10 ratio wide-aspect display. The associated resolutions include WXGA (1280×800), WXGA+ (1440×900), WSXGA+ (1680×1050) and WUXGA (1920×1200).
Plasma Resolutions
Some plasma TVs only have vertical resolution of 480 lines (often referred to as EDTV). If a plasma TV isn’t clearly labeled regarding HDTV compatibility, check its pixel count. EDTV resolution for widescreen plasma models is “852 x 480”. Plasmas that are capable of displaying HDTV signals generally have resolution of 1024 x 768 or higher.
Below are charts that match the resolution pixel ratio to the acronyms that go with them.
The first chart below lists resolutions for screens having the 4/3 width to height ratio used in traditional television broadcasting. The second chart lists resolutions for High Definition Television (HDTV), which uses a screen width to height ratio of 16:9.
Screen Resolution – 4:3 Aspect Ratio

CGA   Color Graphics Adaptor                320 x 200
EGA   Enhanced Graphics Adaptor             640 x 350
VGA   Video Graphics Array                  640 x 480
SVGA  Super Video Graphics Array            800 x 600
XGA   Extended Graphics Array              1024 x 768
SXGA  Super Extended Graphics Array        1280 x 1024
SXGA+ Super Extended Graphics Array        1400 x 1050
UXGA  Ultra Extended Graphics Array        1600 x 1200
QXGA  Quad Extended Graphics Array         2048 x 1536
QSXGA Quad Super Extended Graphics Array   2560 x 2048

Screen Resolution – 16:9 Aspect Ratio (WideScreen)

WVGA   Wide Video Graphics Array                  852 x 480
WXGA   Wide Extended Graphics Array              1366 x 768
WXGA+  Wide Extended Graphics Array              1280 x 800
WSXGA  Wide Super Extended Graphics Array        1600 x 1024
WSCGA+ Wide Super Extended Graphics Array        1680 x 1050
WUXGA  Wide Ultra Extended Graphics Array        1920 x 1200
WQSXGA Wide Quad Super Extended Graphics Array   3200 x 2048
WQUXGA Wide Quad Ultra Extended Graphics Array   3840 x 2400

David Yin

David is a blogger, geek, and web developer — founder of FreeInOutBoard.com. If you like his post, you can say thank you here

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