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In this video, we’ll learn about resolution as it concerns displays.
New Terms:
- CRT -- Cathode Ray Tube- one of those over-sized monitors with a bulbous glass front that weighs around 50 tons.
- LCD -- Liquid Crystal Display- display technology found in most flat screens today.
- Resolution -- the number of pixels wide by the number of pixels high, usually represented as ## x ##
- Pixel -- basic unit of measurement on a display, one color.
Further Reading:
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Let's kick off with resolution.
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In this course, we're gonna tackle two
types of resolution, image resolution and
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display resolution.
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When referring to images,
resolution is the density of information,
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typically within an inch,
contained within the image file.
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PPI, or pixels per inch,
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tells us how many pixels are represented
in a square inch when printed.
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Or, put simply, resolution is the amount
of detail available in the image.
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For displays or screens, resolution it
how many pixels a display contains.
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Typically represented in columns by rows,
for example, 1920 pixels by 1080 pixels.
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Let's have a closer look.
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Displays are made of pixels, the smallest
unit of measurement for any display.
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Put the pixels together in rows and
columns, and
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we're able to display our content.
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The resolution of our display is conveyed
in the number of columns of pixels
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by the number of rows.
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For example,
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that old CRT display I had back in
the day, it's resolution was 640 by 480.
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Today, the common resolution for
an LCD monitor is 1366 by 768,
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and HDTV can be 1920 by 1080.
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Now a days, we're seeing screens that
fit more pixels into smaller areas,
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resulting in high pixel density displays.
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For example, a 4K TV, or
Apple's Retina displays.
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Because these displays have
smaller pixels, it allows for
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finer detail at a closer viewing distance.
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Which brings us to the next consideration
when talking about resolution,
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the physical dimensions of the display.
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Here's my old-school CRT display,
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a 13" screen measured diagonally,
displaying 640 by 480 pixels.
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And here's my original iPhone,
displaying 320 by 480 on a 3.5" diagonal.
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For additional context, here's a Macbook
Pro Retina display, and a 4K 55-inch TV.
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So our takeaway, a pixel isn't
the same size on all devices.
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Sometimes it's super tiny, and
sometimes it's fairly large.
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An example of large pixels are those
displays at Times Square in New York.
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If you were to get close to them,
the pixels would be quite large.
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While from the street, it may be
tougher to discern individual pixels.
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Which leads me to the last time to think
about when considering resolution,
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the distance that which
you're viewing the display.
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The closer our eyes are supposed
to be to the screen,
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the smaller the pixel should be.
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And as you get further out, you can
grow the size of the physical pixel and
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still maintain that crisp image or video.
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That's why we're not able to discern
individual pixels on a HDTV or
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a phone that are similar resolution,
but different physical sizes.
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In the next video,
we'll take a look at an example
3:00
of how display resolution affects
images on different devices.
3:03
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