Video Display Resolutions and Aspect Ratios

Under construction ... but hopefully still interesting and useful ...

So "what's all this talk about" video display resolutions and aspect ratios? It certainly is an issue if you are shopping for a new TV -- see HDTV versus NTSC Screen Size. For computer use, it is less of an issue as most software is relatively flexible in video resolution and aspect ratio except for most games. There are certainly a large number of resolutions used by various computers. The following table summarizes modern video display resolutions and aspect ratios, clealy illustrating the complexity.

Table of Video Display Resolutions and Their Aspect Ratios

resolution			aspect ratio		name	comment
width	height	Mpel	integer	real	description
640	480	0.30	4:3	1.33	VGA	VESA
720	480	0.35	3:2	1.50	DVD
800	600	0.48	4:3	1.33	SVGA	VESA
1024	768	0.79	4:3	1.33	XGA	VESA
1152	864	1.00	4:3	1.33	Mac	1 Mpel
1280	720	0.92	16:9	1.78	HDTV	720p, ex., DLP, LCD, LCoS HDTVs
1280	768	0.98	5:3	1.67		< HDTV aspect, ex., LCD HDTVs
1280	854	1.11	3:2	1.50	Mac 15W	15-inch Wide Powerbook
1280	960	1.23	4:3	1.33	Mac 17	eMac max res
1280	1024	1.31	5:4	1.25	SXGA	VESA, not 4:3
1366	768	1.05	16:9	1.78	WXGA	VESA+, HDTV aspect, ex., LCD HDTVs, NVidia 1360x768
1440	900	1.30	8:5	1.60	Mac 17MW	17-inch Megawide Powerbook or iMac
1440	1080	1.56	4:3	1.33	SXGA+	VESA,
1600	1200	1.92	4:3	1.33	UXGA	VESA, LCD max
1680	1050	1.76	8:5	1.60	Mac 20MW	20-inch Megawide Cinema display or iMac
1920	1080	2.07	16:9	1.78	HDTV	1080i or 1080p
1920	1200	2.30	8:5	1.60	Mac 21MW	21-inch Megawide Cinema display
2560	1600	2.30	8:5	1.60	Mac 30MW	30-inch Megawide Cinema display
1920	1440	2.76	4:3	1.33		VESA
2048	1536	3.15	4:3	1.33	QXGA	VESA, CRT max, 3 MP digicam
2272	1704	3.87	4:3	1.33		4 MP digicam
2560	1920	4.92	4:3	1.33		5 MP digicam
3264	2448	7.99	4:3	1.33		8 MP digicam

The table is ordered first by width, and secondly by height, showing our bias in favor of width. Maybe it should be a tiny database sortable by any field. I've taken the liberty of adding selected digicam resolutions and their aspect ratios. Square pixes are assumed, so products like plasma panels with non-square pixes are not included. The list of VESA resolutions is also not exhaustive, and of course everything is subject to change. VESA states, "Although VGA, SXGA and other terms have been commonly used to refer to particular display formats, in reality they refer to particular graphics adapters that may support multiple formats. Because of this, VESA does not use these terms when referring to particular display formats."

Trends

This summary is not just interesting as an academi study, it may also illuminate some obvious trends for late adopters and other people trying to avoid the bleeding edge. We also hope for some cross fertilization as much of the underlying technology is the same.

Display size continues to grow, with mass market monitors typically topping out at 1600x1200 for LCD monitors and 2048x1536 for CRT monitors.
Go Apple! Apple Computer introduced the 1152x864 resolution well over a decade ago when fitting display memory into a megapel maximized display size cost-effectively. Apple continues to push wide displays that are great for viewing DVDs and HDTV. And dare we mention iPod?
Wide is in. While the 4:3 aspect ratio is still pretty much VESA "standard", wide-screen movie content on DVD and 16:9 HDTV aspect certainly have an effect. Apple has been joined by HP, Toshiba, E-machines, etc. Other notable wide display products include the Fujitsu Lifebook P series.
HDTV is in. While the computer monitor and HDTV monitor markets are distinct, it's clear that the technology is the same. While I'm recording HDTV, I haven't yet edited it, but I expect to soon. I envision having an HDTV "JAG" party with content on Firewire or USB 2.0 hard disk -- oh for the day when I can buy commercial recordings of my favorite TV show in DVD, and HDTV, please!
Digicams are in. They are not just the hottest tech product, they also help to push the mass market for flash memories, batteries, image sensors, printers, digital video beyond DV standard resolution, and other image or display related technology. It took a while for me to break down and buy my Minolta DiMAGE 7i, now I'm trying to hold off on a digital SLR. At present, you have to suffer one of (1) shutter lag with non-SLR digicam, or (2) loss of wide angle due to focal length multiplier, or (3) high cost, but probably only for a year or two more.

Graph of Video Display Resolutions and Aspect Ratios

Graph of Video Resolutions and Aspect Ratios

Wallpaper

So what's the real reason for this discussion? Now that I have a digicam, how do I turn my photos and other images into wallpaper for my displays at their various resolutions and aspect ratios? Yes, aspect ratio is everything. There's a huge body of wallpaper related pages on the web, so we'll focus on aspect ratio here.

Action	Example
Survey your displays	1600x1200 1440x900 1280x1024 1280x864 1280x720 1024x768 640x480
Survey and select your wallpaper software settings	KDEBackground - Wallpaper - (*)Multiple wallpapers, Mode: Tiled, Setup Multiple ... Interval: 30 minutes Mode: Random Mac OS X - Desktop - Fill screen, [v] Change picture: every 30 minutes, [v] Random order Windows XP - Display - Desktop - Background: httpwall, Position: Center, httpwall
Group your displays by aspect ratio from high res to low res	4:3 1.33 - 1600x1200 1280x960 1024x768 640x480 3:2 1.50 - 1280x864 8:5 1.60 - 1440x900 16:9 1.78 - 1280x720
Select aspect ratios and (adjusted) resolutions	4:3 1.33 - 1600x1200 1280x960 1024x768 640x480 8:5 1.60 - 1440x900 16:9 1.78 - 1280x720
For each selected aspect ratio crop or border save set	Photoshop image crop, select background fill color, image canvas Photoshop action image size & save for each resolution in aspect

Cropping and Filling

pending ...
the Art of Cropping and Filling
Photoshop tips

Wallpaper software survey

Here's an example survey of wallpaper software settings.

Software	Mode Position	Aspect preserved	Full image	Single screen	Multiple screen
KDE Appearance & Themes Background				supports multiple wallpapers with selectable interval, In Order or Random Multiple screen for Driver "mtx" Option "TripleHead" is really single screen on 3 equal heads
	Centered	yes	yes <=	good only when wallpaper size is close to screen size	good only when wallpaper size is close to full screen size
	Tiled	yes	yes <=	good only when screen width is a multiple of wallpaper width	good only when single head screen width is a multiple of wallpaper width, better than centered tiled
	Centered Tiled	yes	yes <=	good only when screen width is a multiple of wallpaper width and screen height is a multiple of wallpaper width	good only when wallpaper width equals single screen width, tiled is better
	Centered Maxpect	yes	cropped !=	good when wallpaper aspect is close to screen aspect	good only when wallpaper aspect is less than or equal to screen aspect
	Tiled Maxpect	yes	cropped !=	good when wallpaper aspect is close to screen aspect	good only when wallpaper aspect is less than or equal to screen aspect
	Scaled	no	yes	not recommended	not recommended
	Centered Auto Fit	yes	yes	good only when wallpaper aspect is close to screen aspect	good only when wallpaper aspect is close to screen aspect
Mac OS X Desktop & Screen Saver				supports multiple wallpapers with interval 5 sec, 1/5/15/30 minutes, hour, or day, in order or Random order
	Fill screen (Centered Maxpect)	yes	cropped !=	good when wallpaper aspect is close to screen aspect	good when wallpaper aspect is close to screen aspect
	Stretch to fill screen	no	yes	not recommended	not recommended
	Center	yes	yes <=	good only when wallpaper size is close to screen size	good only when wallpaper size is close to screen size
	Tile	yes	yes <=	good only when screen width is a multiple of wallpaper width	good only when screen width is a multiple of wallpaper width
Windows XP
	Center	yes	yes <=	good only when wallpaper size is close to screen size	good only when wallpaper size is close to full screen size
	Tiled	yes	yes <=	good only when screen width is a multiple of wallpaper width	good only when wallpaper width equals single screen width
	Stretched	no	yes	not recommended	not recommended

This is just an example, and not a complete survey, but here are some observations based my esthetic preferences.

Matching wallpaper dimensions is always preferrable, as apect is preserved, the full image is visible without cropping, and there are no borders filled with the background or the tiled image. The mode or position settings are significant when the wallpaper dimensions do not match the screen.
Aspect preservation is preferred over scaling or stretching to fill the screen.
Maxpect or Fill screen eliminates background borders but may crop the wallpaper, and it is good for multiple displays of different sizes.
Tiled is good for multihead displays of the same size when single head screen width is a multiple of wallpaper width. It is better than centered or centered tiled if the wallpaper height is less than the screen height, as there is only one border at the bottom filled with the image rather than some potentially clashing background color.

In general, we want to generate and select wallpaper matched to the screen dimensions. I've focussed on single screen wallpaper, useful for tiling on multihead displays of matching dimensions. For information on multi-monitor wallpaper, see the Multi-Monitor FAQ.

Wallpaper server

If you have multiple computers, you probably want to have a wallpaper server. Simply put your wallpaper onto a web server so that your wallpaper can be accessed by URL. For Linux and Mac OS X, you can run a script on your client that uses wget to fetch them at an interval that matches your wallpaper software settings, using a temp file and mv so that the image is complete, and sleep to wait for the matching time interval. On Windows, I recommend HttpWall which will fetch and set wallpaper using properties of your choice for both URL and time interval. An obvious improvement to OS wallpaper software would be to specify wallpaper via URL -- I don't know why this hasn't yet been implemented in any of KDE, Mac OS X, or Windows.

If you have permissions on your web server, you can install a CGI script that randomly picks wallpaper for you. Then use the URL to the CGI script in your wget script for Linux or Mac OS X, or in the URL property for HttpWall.

Other

Pending ...
TV overscan/bezel
Emily Litella (Gilda Radner) "Nevermind"

Links

	PC/XPC - Interesting PC Configurations and Topics - Home Theater, Wallpaper, and Small Form Factor PC
		HDTV HTPC - record and playback HDTV with DVICO FusionHDTVII tuner card
	Digital TV -- DTV notes, includes mathematical comparison of NTSC 4:3 versus HDTV 16:9 aspect ratios
		HDTV versus SDTV(NTSC) Screen Size - includes diagram of aspect ratios, scale factors, conversion graph, advocacy for HDTV

Reference

VESA - Video Electronics Standards Association - http://www.vesa.org/
ATSC - Advanced Television Systems Committee - http://www.atsc.org/

Home Video Systems Visual Resolution Comparison - http://www.cs.tut.fi/~leopold/Ld/ResolutionComparison/
Multi-Monitor Resources - FAQ - http://www.realtimesoft.com/multimon/faq.asp

Tools

HttpWall - http://users.pandora.be/bruno.keymolen/wall.htm
WallPaper Editors and Tools - http://www.winwarelinks.com/apps/system/wallpaper_tools.htm

Wallpaper

A special thanks to Nancy Mintz for many wallpaper links.

grin.hq.nasa.gov/
visibleearth.nasa.gov/
www.agfanet.com/en/cafe/gallery/cont_how.php3
www.antipixel.com/blog/index.shtml
www.atpm.com/Back/desktop-pictures.shtml
www.ephemera.org/archives/
www.macdesktops.com/
www.macdesktop.com/
www.megapixel.net/html/issueindex.php?lang=en
www.steves-digicams.com/dpotd_archives.html

xxlwallpapers.com/

NoBell Home - gjm - last update 6/29/2004 - created 4/16/2004