List of computer display standards

Computer display standards are a combination of aspect ratio, display size, display resolution, color depth, and refresh rate. They are associated with specific expansion cards, video connectors, and monitors.

History

thumb|Front and rear views of the TVM MD-3 [[cathode-ray tube monitor (Enhanced Graphics Adapter era). Note the DE-9 connector, cryptic mode switch, contrast and brightness controls at front, and the V-Size and V-Hold knobs at rear, which allow the control of the scaling and signal to CRT refresh rate synchronization respectively.]]

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

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, alongside those of early Macintosh and other makes for comparison. (From the early 1990s onwards, most manufacturers moved over to PC display standards thanks to widely available and affordable hardware).

540px|center|thumb|Comparison of video resolutions. The curved lines show the thresholds for resolutions with at least 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 million pixels.

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:90%"

|+ style="padding-bottom:0.5em; font-size:125%" | Table of computer display standards (by height and width)

!Video standard

!width="10%"|Full name

!width="40%"|Description

!data-sort-type="number"|Display resolution

!width="5%"|(Maximum) Width

!width="5%"|(Maximum) Height

!width="5%"|(Maximum) Area

!width="10%"|Storage aspect ratio (effectively: Display aspect ratio)

!width="10%"|Color depth (2^bpp colors)

!class="unsortable"|

!(pixels)

!(px)

|- style="vertical-align:top;"

!QQVGA

|Quarter Quarter Video Graphics Array

|Used on some portable devices, and is a common alternative resolution to QCIF for webcams and other online video streams in low-bandwidth situations, and on video modes of early and later low-end digital cameras.

| (19k)

|160

|120

|19,200

|4:3

|- style="vertical-align:top;"

!UNNAMED

|UNNAMED

|A common size for LCDs manufactured for small consumer electronics, basic mobile phones and feature phones, typically in a 1.7" to 1.9" diagonal size. This LCD is often used in portrait () orientation. The unusual 5:4 aspect ratio makes the display slightly different from QQVGA dimensions.

| (20k)

|160

|128

|20,480

|5:4

|- style="vertical-align:top;"

!UNNAMED

|UNNAMED

|A shared size for older portable video game systems. The nearly-square (but landscape) aspect ratio and coarse pixel resolution gave these games a characteristic visual style. Colour depth ranged from 4 colours (2 bpp) with the original Game Boy, through 16–32 colours (4–5 bpp) with the Game Gear, to a maximum of 56 colours (equivalent of 6 bpp) from a wider palette with the Game Boy Color. Also appears as a YouTube resolution option ("144p").

| (23k)

|160

|144

|23,040

|10:9 (effectively 4:3 (non-square pixels) on Game Gear)

|2 bpp (6 bpp effective)

|- style="vertical-align:top;"

!HQVGA

|Half Quarter Video Graphics Array

|Used with some smaller, cheaper portable devices, including the Nintendo Game Boy Advance.

| (38k)

|240

|160

|38,400

|3:2

|- style="vertical-align:top;"

!ST Low/Med Resolution

|Atari ST (etc.) Colour, Broadcast-standard

|Atari ST line. Colour modes using NTSC or PAL-compliant televisions, and monochrome, composite video or RGB-component monitors.

|,

|640

|200

|128,000

|4:3 (or 16:5 and 16:10 with square pixels)

|2–4 bpp for ST, 2–15 bpp on the Falcon.

|- style="vertical-align:top;"

!CGA

|Color Graphics Adapter

|Introduced in 1981 by IBM, as the first colour display standard for the IBM PC. The standard CGA graphics cards were equipped with 16 kB video RAM.

| (252k)

|720

|350

|252,000

|72:35 (effectively 4:3 (non-square pixels) on CRTs but could be a variety of aspects on LCDs)

|1 bpp

|- style="vertical-align:top;"

!Orchid Graphics Adapter

|A monochrome display that expanded Monochrome Display Adapter's capabilities with graphics. Introduced in 1982.

|720

|350

|252,000

|72:35 (effectively 4:3 (non-square pixels) on CRTs but could be a variety of aspects on LCDs)

|1 bpp

|- style="vertical-align:top;"

!ST High Resolution

|Atari ST (etc.) Monochrome, proprietary standard

|Atari ST line. High resolution monochrome mode using a custom non-interlaced monitor with the slightly lower vertical resolution (in order to be an integer multiple of low and medium resolution and thus utilize the same amount of RAM for the framebuffer) allowing a "flicker free" 71.25 Hz refresh rate, higher even than the highest refresh rate provided by VGA. All machines in the ST series could also use colour or monochrome VGA monitors with a proper cable or physical adapter, and all but the TT could display at 71.25 Hz on VGA monitors.

|640

|400

|256,000

|4:3 (or 16:10 with square pixels)

|1 bpp for ST, on the Falcon: 1-8 bpp grayscale on the ST monochrome monitor, and 8 bpp colour on VGA/multisync monitors.

|- style="vertical-align:top;"

!PowerBook internal panel

|PowerBook, early generations

|The first PowerBook, released in 1991, replaced the original Mac Portable (basically an original Mac with an LCD, keyboard and trackball in a lunchbox-style shell), and introduced a new greyscale screen. This was joined in 1993 with the PowerBook 165c, which kept the same resolution but added colour capability similar to that of Mac II (256 colours from a palette of 16.7 million).

| (256k)

|640

|400

|256,000

|16:10/8:5 (square pixels)

|8 bpp

|- style="vertical-align:top;"

!Professional Graphics Controller

|With on-board 2D and 3D acceleration introduced in 1984 for the 8-bit PC-bus, intended for CAD applications, a triple-board display adapter with built-in processor, and displaying high-resolution, full-colour graphics at a 60 Hz frame rate., (1,044k), (1,024k)

|1366

|768

|1,049,088

|≈16:9 ( and ), 16:10 ()

|24 bpp

|- style="vertical-align:top;"

!XGA+

|Extended Graphics Array Plus

|Although not an official name, this term is now used to refer to , which is the largest 4:3 array yielding less than a binary megapixel (2^20, 1048576 pixels, 1048 decimal kilopixels), thus allowing the greatest "normal" resolution at common colour depths with a standard amount of video memory (128 kB, 512 kB, 1 MB, 2 MB, etc.). Variants of this were used by NeXT (at ), Apple (at ), and Sun Microsystems (at ) for 17" to 21" CRT displays..

| (995k) (932k) (1,002k) (1,037k)

|1152

|864

|995,328

|4:3

|8 bpp 16 bpp

|- style="vertical-align:top;"

!WXGA+ (WSXGA)

|Widescreen Extended Graphics Array PLUS

|An enhanced version of the WXGA format. This display aspect ratio was common in widescreen notebook computers, and many 19" widescreen LCD monitors until c. 2010.

| (1,296k)

|1440

|900

|1,296,000

|16:10

|24 bpp

|- style="vertical-align:top;"

!HD+

|High Definition Plus (900p)

| (1,440k)

|1600

|900

|1,440,000

|16:9

|24 bpp

|- style="vertical-align:top;"

!TT High Resolution

|Atari TT (etc.) Monochrome, proprietary standard

|Atari TT line. High resolution monochrome mode using a custom non-interlaced ECL monitor, allowing a higher, "flicker free" 70 Hz refresh rate.

| (1229k)

|1280

|960

|1,228,800

|4:3

|1 bpp for TT.

|- style="vertical-align:top;"

!SXGA

|Super Extended Graphics Array

|A widely used de facto standard, introduced with XGA-2 and other early "multiscan" graphics cards and monitors, with an unusual aspect ratio of 5:4 (1.25:1) instead of the more common 4:3 (1.:1), meaning that even 4:3 pictures and video will appear letterboxed on the narrower 5:4 screens. This is generally the native resolution—with, therefore, square pixels—of standard 17" and 19" LCD monitors. It was often a recommended resolution for 17" and 19" CRTs also, though as they were usually produced in a 4:3 aspect ratio, it either gave non-square pixels or required adjustment to show small vertical borders at each side of the image. Allows 24-bit colour in 4 MB of graphics memory, or 4-bit colour in 640 kB.

Some manufacturers, noting that the de facto industry standard was VGA (Video Graphics Array), termed this the Extended Video Graphics Array, or XVGA.

| (1,310k)

|1280

|1024

|1,310,720

|5:4

|24 bpp

|- style="vertical-align:top;"

!SXGA+

|Super Extended Graphics Array PLUS

| Used on 14" and 15" notebook LCD screens and a few smaller screens, until the eventual market-wide phasing-out of 4:3 aspect displays.

| (1,470k)

|1400

|1050

|1,470,000

|4:3

|24 bpp

|- style="vertical-align:top;"

!WSXGA+

|Widescreen Super Extended Graphics Array Plus

|A wide version of the SXGA+ format, the native resolution for many 22" widescreen LCD monitors, also used in larger, wide-screen notebook computers until c. 2010.

| (1,764k)

|1680

|1050

|1,764,000

|16:10

|24 bpp

|- style="vertical-align:top;"

!FHD

|Full High Definition (1080p)

|This display aspect ratio is the native resolution for many 24" widescreen LCD monitors, and is expected to also become a standard resolution for smaller-to-medium-sized wide-aspect tablet computers in the near future (as of 2012).

| (2,073k)

|1920

|1080

|2,073,600

|16:9

|24 bpp

|- style="vertical-align:top;"

!DCI 2K

|Digital Cinema Initiatives 2K

|Baseline standard for digital cinema capture, post production and presentation.

| (2,212k)

|2048

|1080

|2,211,840

|≈19:10,≈17:9

(256:135 or 1.8962:1 exact)

|48 bpp (at 24 frame/s)

|- style="vertical-align:top;"

!UNNAMED

|UNNAMED

|Sometimes casually referred to as "1080p ultrawide". Referred to occasionally as "UW-UXGA".

| (2,765k)

|2560

|1080

|2,764,800

|≈21:9

(64:27, or 2.370:1, or 21.3:9 exact)

|24 bpp

|- style="vertical-align:top;"

!QWXGA

|Quad Wide Extended Graphics Array

|Samsung has a QWXGA resolution 23" LCD monitor, the 2342BWX.

| (2,359k)

|2048

|1152

|2,359,296

|16:9

|- style="vertical-align:top;"

!UXGA

|Ultra Extended Graphics Array

|A de facto high-resolution standard. This is the native resolution for many 20" LCD monitors, and was a recommended mode for some high-end 21" CRTs.

| (1,920k)

|1600

|1200

|1,920,000

|4:3

|24 bpp

|- style="vertical-align:top;"

!WUXGA

|Widescreen Ultra Extended Graphics Array

|A wide version of the UXGA format. This display aspect ratio was popular on high-end 15" and 17" widescreen notebook computers, as well as on many 23–27" widescreen LCD monitors, until c. 2010. It is also a popular resolution for home cinema projectors, besides 1080p, in order to show non-widescreen material slightly taller than widescreen (and therefore also slightly wider than it might otherwise be), and is the highest resolution supported by single-link DVI at standard colour depth and scan rate (i.e., no less than 24 bpp and 60 Hz non-interlaced)

| (2,304k)

|1920

|1200

|2,304,000

|16:10

|24 bpp

|- style="vertical-align:top;"

!UNNAMED

|UNNAMED

|Used on Microsoft Surface 3.

| (2,458k)

|1920

|1280

|2,457,600

|3:2

|24 bpp

|- style="vertical-align:top;"

!UNNAMED

|UNNAMED

|4:3 superset of 1080p, common on high-resolution CRTs.

| (2,765k)

|1920

|1440

|2,764,800

|4:3

|24 bpp

|- style="vertical-align:top;"

!UNNAMED

|UNNAMED

|Used on Microsoft Surface Pro 3.

| (3,110k)

|2160

|1440

|3,110,400

|3:2

|24 bpp

|- style="vertical-align:top;"

!QHD

|Quad High Definition

|The native resolution for many higher end 27" widescreen IPS panels and smartphones (from the mid-2010s onward); often referred to as "WQHD"

| (3,686k)

|2560

|1440

|3,686,400

|16:9

|24 bpp

|- style="vertical-align:top;"

!UNNAMED

|UNNAMED

|Used on LG G6, LG V30 and Pixel 2 XL smartphones.

| (4,147k)

|2880

|1440

|4,147,200

|18:9/2:1

|24 bpp

|- style="vertical-align:top;"

!UNNAMED

|UNNAMED

|Used on Samsung Galaxy S8, Galaxy Note 8, and Galaxy S9 smartphones.

| (4,262k)

|2960

|1440

|4,262,400

|18.5:9/37:18

|24 bpp

|- style="vertical-align:top;"

!UWQHD

|Ultra-Wide Quad HD

|Sometimes casually referred to as "1440p ultrawide".

| (4,954k)

|3440

|1440

|4,953,600

|≈21:9

(43:18, or 2.38:1, or 21.5:9 exact)

|24 bpp

|- style="vertical-align:top;"

!QXGA

|Quad Extended Graphics Array

|This is the highest resolution that generally can be displayed on analog computer monitors (most CRTs), and the highest resolution that most analogue video cards and other display transmission hardware (cables, switch boxes, signal boosters) are rated for (at 60 Hz refresh). 24-bit colour requires 9 MB of video memory (and transmission bandwidth) for a single frame. It is also the native resolution of medium-to-large latest-generation (2012) standard-aspect tablet computers.

| (3,146k)

|2048

|1536

|3,145,728

|4:3

|24 bpp

|- style="vertical-align:top;"

!WQXGA

|Widescreen Quad Extended Graphics Array

|A version of the XGA format, the native resolution for many 30" widescreen LCD monitors. Also, the highest resolution supported by dual-link DVI at a standard colour depth and non-interlaced refresh rate (i.e. at least 24 bpp and 60 Hz). Used on MacBook Pro with Retina display (13.3"). Requires 12 MB of memory/bandwidth for a single frame.

| (4,096k)

|2560

|1600

|4,096,000

|16:10

|24 bpp

|- style="vertical-align:top;"

!UW4K

|Ultra-Wide 4K

|Commonly used on Ultra HD Blu-ray discs.

| (6,144k)

|3840

|1600

|6,144,000

|12:5

|24 bpp

|- style="vertical-align:top;"

!QWXGA+

|Quad Wide Extended Graphics Array Plus

|Used on MacBook Pro with Retina display (15.4"). Double the resolution of the previous standard in each dimension.

| (5,184k)

|2880

|1800

|5,184,000

|16:10

|24 bpp

|- style="vertical-align:top;"

!UNNAMED

|UNNAMED

|Used on Microsoft Surface Pro 4.

| (4,991k)

|2736

|1824

|4,990,464

|3:2

|24 bpp

|- style="vertical-align:top;"

!UNNAMED

|UNNAMED

|Used on 14" Macbook Pro.

| (5,939k)

|3024

|1964

|5,939,136

|≈14:9

|10 bpp

|- style="vertical-align:top;"

!UNNAMED

|UNNAMED

|Used on Microsoft Surface Book.

| (6,000k)

|3000

|2000

|6,000,000

|3:2

|24 bpp

|- style="vertical-align:top;"

!QSXGA

|Quad Super Extended Graphics Array

|Double the resolution of SXGA in each dimension.

| (5,243k)

|2560

|2048

|5,242,800

|5:4

|24 bpp

|- style="vertical-align:top;"

!WQSXGA

|Wide Quad Super Extended Graphics Array

| (6,554k)

|3200

|2048

|6,553,600

|≈16:10

(25:16 exact)

|24 bpp

|- style="vertical-align:top;"

!UHD 4K

|Ultra High-Definition, or Quad Full High-Definition

|Four times the resolution of 1080p. Requires a dual-link DVI, category 2 (high-speed) HDMI, DisplayPort or a single Thunderbolt link, and a reduced scan rate (up to 30 Hz); a DisplayPort 1.2 connection can support this resolution at 60 Hz, or 30 Hz in stereoscopic 3D.

| (8,294k)

|3840

|2160

|8,294,400

|16:9

|24 bpp

|- style="vertical-align:top;"

!DCI 4K

|Digital Cinema Initiatives 4K

|The current standard (2012) in digital cinema. Double Hres and Vres of DCI 2K.

| (8,847k)

|4096

|2160

|8,847,360

|≈19:10,≈17:9

(256:135 or 1.8962:1 exact)

|48 bpp (at 24 frame/s)

|- style="vertical-align:top;"

!UW5K

|Ultra-Wide 5K

|Also referred to as WUHD in consumer displays. 21:9 aspect ratio version of UHD 4K, defined in CTA-861-G, or resulting from with 4:3 pixel ratio in HDMI 2.0/2.1.

| (11,059k)

|5120

|2160

|11,059,200

|≈21:9

(64:27, or 2.370:1, or 21.3:9 exact)

|24 bpp

|- style="vertical-align:top;"

!UNNAMED

|UNNAMED

|Used on 16" Macbook Pro.

| (7,721k)

|3456

|2234

|7,720,704

|≈14:9

|10 bpp

|- style="vertical-align:top;"

!QUXGA

|Quad Ultra Extended Graphics Array

| (7,680k)

|3200

|2400

|7,680,000

|4:3

|24 bpp

|- style="vertical-align:top;"

!WQUXGA

|Wide Quad Ultra Extended Graphics Array

|The IBM T220/T221 LCD monitors supported this resolution, but they are discontinued and no longer available.

Also used for Dell laptops from 2019 onwards.

| (9,216k)

|3840

|2400

|9,216,000

|16:10

|24 bpp

|- style="vertical-align:top;"

!UHD 5K

|5K Ultra High-Definition

|Often referred to as "5K" or "UHD+". Having exactly double the dimensions of WQHD's (3686k), used on Apple's late-2014 27" iMac Retina 5K Display

| (14,745k)

|5120

|2880

|14,745,600

|16:9

|24 bpp

|- style="vertical-align:top;"

!UNNAMED

|UNNAMED

|Used on Microsoft Surface Studio.

| (13,500k)

|4500

|3000

|13,500,000

|3:2

|24 bpp

|- style="vertical-align:top;"

!HXGA

|Hex[adecatuple] Extended Graphics Array

| (12,583k)

|4096

|3072

|12,582,912

|4:3

|24 bpp

|- style="vertical-align:top;"

!WHXGA

|Wide Hex[adecatuple] Extended Graphics Array

| (16,384k)

|5120

|3200

|16,384,000

|16:10

|24 bpp

|- style="vertical-align:top;"

!UW8K

|Ultra-Wide 8K

| (24,576k)

|7680

|3200

|24,576,000

|12:5

|24 bpp

|- style="vertical-align:top;"

!HSXGA

|Hex[adecatuple] Super Extended Graphics Array

| (20,972k)

|5120

|4096

|20,971,520

|5:4

|24 bpp

|- style="vertical-align:top;"

!WHSXGA

|Wide Hex[adecatuple] Super Extended Graphics Array

| (26,214k)

|6400

|4096

|26,212,400

|≈16:10

(25:16 exact)

|24 bpp

|- style="vertical-align:top;"

!UHD 8K

|8K Ultra-high-definition (Super Hi-Vision)

|Consumer video format defined by CTA-861-G. Provides effectively "pixel-less" imagery even on extra-large displays.

| (33,177k)

|7680

|4320

|33,177,600

|16:9

|30–36 bpp

|- style="vertical-align:top;"

!UHD 10K

|21:9 aspect ratio version of UHD 8K, defined in CTA-861-G (VIC 210-217), or resulting from with 4:3 pixel ratio in HDMI 2.1.

| (44,236k)

|10240

|4320

|44,236,800

|≈21:9

(64:27, or 2.370:1, or 21.3:9 exact)

|30–36 bpp

|- style="vertical-align:top;"

!HUXGA

|Hex[adecatuple] Ultra Extended Graphics Array

| (30,720k)

|6400

|4800

|30,720,000

|4:3

|24 bpp

|- style="vertical-align:top;"

!WHUXGA

|Wide Hex[adecatuple] Ultra Extended Graphics Array

| (36,864k)

|7680

|4800

|36,864,000

|16:10

|24 bpp

Display resolution prefixes

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 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 m/M), but this usage is not consistent.

;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 (adding an extra 1/3rd width vs a standard 4:3 display) or 16:10 (adding an extra 1/5th). However, it is sometimes used to denote a resolution that would have roughly the same total pixel count as this, but in a different aspect and sharing neither the horizontal OR vertical resolution—typically for a 16:10 resolution which is narrower but taller than the 16:9 option, and therefore larger in both dimensions than the base standard (e.g., compare and , both commonly labelled as WXGA, vs the base XGA).

;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.

;Super (S), eXtended (X), Plus (+) and/or Ultra (U)

:Vaguer terms denoting successive incremental steps up the resolution ladder from some comparative, more established base, usually somewhat less severe a jump than quartering or Quadrupling—typically less than doubling, and sometimes not even as much of a change as making a "wide" version; for example SVGA ( vs ), SXGA ( vs ), SXGA+ ( vs ) and UXGA ( vs - or more fittingly, vs the of SXGA, the conceptual "next step down" at the time of UXGA's inception, or the of SXGA+). Given the use of "X" in "XGA", it is not often used as an additional modifier (e.g. there is no such thing as XVGA except as an alternative designation for SXGA) unless its meaning would be unambiguous.

These prefixes are also often combined, as in WQXGA or WHUXGA, with levels of stacking not hindered by the same consideration towards readability as the decline of the added "X" - especially as there is not even a defined hierarchy or value for S/X/U/+ modifiers.

References

External links

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

History

Standards

Display resolution prefixes

See also

References

External links