Screen Resolution Comparison
The following two pages are built to help you understand what it means to use different screen resolutions on a computer monitor.
What is screen resolution?
Every computer screen is made up of millions of coloured 'dots' (technically called pixels). The computer changes the colours of these pixels as required. E.g. when you're writing a letter the pixels are mainly black and white, when you're looking at photographs, the pixels are lots of different colours.
Screen resolution is just a measure of the number of pixels that your screen is set to display. For example, many screens are set up to display 1024 pixels vertically across the screen. The more pixels your screen is set to use, the more information you can see at one time.
But here's where it gets interesting - you can normally change the number of pixels you see on your monitor to suit your taste. You can set your screen to show 800 pixels from left to right. This is the way a lot of old computer were set up. But, users can normally set their computer to show 1024 pixels across the screen or or even 1200 pixels.
What are the common screen resolutions in use?
The trend at the moment is for most users to use a screen resolution of 1024 pixels wide or higher. At the time of writing, statistics tell us that between 80% and 90%+ of users use a resolution of 1024 pixels or higher.
The percentage can change for specific groups. For example, often visually impaired people, or those using older computers are more likely to still be using the 'old' resolution settings of only 800 pixels wide.
How does screen resolution effect my web site?
Most sites are built with a given 'resolution' in mind. If the site is built for an 800 pixel resolution audience and then viewed on a screen running a 1024 pixel resolution, the site will not "fill up" the page, but will have space to the left, right or both sides.
The page you are looking at right now is an example of a page built to be fully viewable on screens with an 800 pixel resolution. For users with larger resolutions, they can see a dark gray background on the left and right.
Alternatively, a designer may choose to build a site and target users with a 1024 pixel resolution. If the site is then viewed by people using a lower resolution (e.g. 800 pixels wide), they with often be forced to scroll from left to right to view all content.
Let's look at examples of pages built for different resolutions.
OK, it's time for two examples:
- Click here to see a page designed to be viewable by users with an 800 pixel wide resolution. Remember that this site (e.g. the Alliance Software web site) was designed for an audience using an 800 pixel resolution.
- Click here to view a page designed with a 1024 pixel resolution in mind. Also, another good example of a site designed for 1024 pixel wide resolution is the theage.com.au
How can I know what the resolution of my screen is and how can I change it to see what other people see.
It's easy to change the screen resolution on your computer (and therefore see what you're using). This will enable you to see what others will see.
Typically, you'll want to view your site in 800, 1024 and 1200 pixel wide resolutions to get a good idea of what the rest of the world see.
Microsoft have an article that tells you how to change the resolution on your computer. Click here to view it.