Computer display standards are often a combination of aspect ratio, display resolution, color depth, and refresh rate.

This article describes the different display standards for computer displays.

History[link]

Various computer display standards or display modes have been used in the history of the personal computer. They are often a combination of aspect ratio (specified as width-to-height ratio), display resolution (specified as the width and height in pixels), color depth (measured in bits per pixel), and refresh rate (expressed in hertz). Associated with the screen resolution and refresh rate is a display adapter. Earlier display adapters were simple frame-buffers, but later display standards also specified a more extensive set of display functions and software controlled interface.

Beyond display modes, the VESA industry organization has defined several standards related to power management and device identification, while ergonomics standards are set by the TCO.

Standards[link]

A number of common resolutions have been used with computers descended from the original IBM PC. Some of these are now supported by other families of personal computers. These are de-facto standards, usually originated by one manufacturer and reverse-engineered by others, though the VESA group has co-ordinated the efforts of several leading video display adapter manufacturers. Video standards associated with IBM-PC-descended personal computers are shown in the diagram and table below.

Display resolution prefixes[link]

Although the common standard prefixes super and ultra do not indicate specific modifiers to base standard resolutions, several others do:

Quarter (Q or q)

A quarter of the base resolution. E.g. QVGA, a term for a 320×240 resolution, half the width and height of VGA, hence the quarter total resolution. The "Q" prefix usually indicates "Quad" (4 times as many, not 1/4 times as many) in higher resolutions, and sometimes "q" is used instead of "Q" to specify quarter (by analogy with SI prefixes like k/K, m/M), but this usage is not consistent.^[2]

Wide (W)

The base resolution increased by increasing the width and keeping the height constant, for square or near-square pixels on a widescreen display, usually with an aspect ratio of either 16:9 or 16:10.

Quad(ruple) (Q)

Four times as many pixels compared to the base resolution, i.e. twice the horizontal and vertical resolution respectively.

Hex(adecatuple) (H)

Sixteen times as many pixels compared to the base resolution, i.e. four times the horizontal and vertical resolutions respectively.

Ultra (U)

eXtended (X)

These prefixes are also often combined, as in WQXGA or WHUXGA.

Other resolutions[link]

There are also some other 4:3 ratio resolutions such as 1400×1050 SXGA+ and unnamed ones like 1152×864 (sometimes referred to as XGA+).

See also[link]

• Visual display unit
• Display resolution; this also lists the display resolutions of standard and HD televisions, which are sometimes used as computer monitors.
• Graphic display resolutions
• List of common resolutions
• List of display interfaces
• List of video connectors
• List of displays by pixel density

References[link]

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h} Scott Mueller Upgrading and Repairing PCs, Second Edition, Que Books, 1992, ISBN 0-88022-856-3 pp. 669-692
2. ^ Shin, Min-Seok; Choi, Jung-Whan; Kim, Yong-Jae; Kim, Kyong-Rok; Lee, Inhwan; Kwon, Oh-Kyong (2007), "Accurate Power Estimation of LCD Panels for Notebook Design of Low-Cost 2.2-inch qVGA LTPS TFT-LCD Panel", SID 2007 Digest 38 (1): 260–263 

• This article is based on material taken from the Free On-line Dictionary of Computing prior to 1 November 2008 and incorporated under the "relicensing" terms of the GFDL, version 1.3 or later.

External links[link]

• Calculate and compare display sizes, resolutions, and source material
• Display the resolution and color bit depth of your current monitor
• Calculate screen dimensions according to format and diagonal
• Standard resolutions used for computer graphics equipment, TV and video applications and mobile devices.

v t e Computer display standards Video hardware MDA HGC CGA PGC EGA VGA (640x480) MCGA 8514 XGA (1024×768) Size comparison Display resolutions 160×120 240×160 320×200 320×240 480x320 640x480 1024x600 1280×720 1280×768 1152×864 1280×1024 1400×1050 1920×1080 2048×1152 1600x1200 2048×1536 2560×2048 3840x2160 3200x2400 4096×3072 5120×4096 7680×4320 7680×4800 High Definition 1366×768 (commonly mistaken as 1360x768 or 1366x786) 1600×900 1920×1080 1920×1200