VDU screen resolution (DPI)

[DubTrub]

What's the standard resolution of a CRT or a flat non-CRT screen computer screen? I have an inkling that it's 72 dpi.

Thanks.

Rob

[Jhieminga]

The resolution of a monitor or computer screen is expressed in pixels. Almost every non-widescreen monitor has a 3x4 height to width ratio and normal numbers are 640x480, 800x600, 1024x768 and 1280x1024. That is your screen resolution.

The '72 dpi' figure has nothing to do with this but for that I would suggest reading more about it on the website behind this link: http://www.scantips.com/no72dpi.html
They explain it a lot better than I would be able to.

[DBTL]

The display of an LCD-based monitor will always be pixelated, and the dimensions of the smallest controllable unit (or a pixel, any of the three colours) are precisely defined and unvaried. The screen resolutions that do not match the native resolution of the monitor are averaged into that resolution by the monitor hardware, or are not shown at all. The result on the non-native modes is dependant on the quality of the monitor and the capabilities of internal controller and its software.
The analog old-fashioned CRT, on the other hand, has no "steps" and it will be able to "glide" over a wide range of resolutions, but here it's the grid mask of the CRT that defines the maximum attainable resolution, and the performance of the relatively high-power high-frequency drive circuitry for the three CRT cathodes. (This is not to be confused with the scan/field rates or frequencies, which are independent.) Building a high-definition CRT monitor is/was a costly affair, and the set actually needs to be constantly readjusted as the CRT ages. The plus side of the CRT is that the colours can be "deeper" than in an LCD and thus a better choice for publishing work.
There's no one standard resolution for either one of the types, I'm afraid.

[drauk]

If you are asking what you say you are asking, i.e. how many DPI is your screen, nobody can say without a bit more info. But if your screen displays (say) 1200x1024 pixels and is (say) 12" wide and 9" high then it's 100dpi horizontally and 1024/9 dpi vertically. Simply really. But like that article that someone else pointed you to, dpi isn't a very useful notion when it comes to displays, which makes me wonder if you should be asking the question you asked...

[DubTrub]

Thanks for the replies...perhaps I don't know the question myself. I understand about screen display size (1024 etc)

I'm thinking in context of the ability of a screen to discriminate high-megabyte photos that will only ever be viewed on a CRT or Flat screen TV or computer monitor.

For example, will a 3mb photo be "seen" on such a screen any different than say a 1mb photo of the same display size?

Thanks again.

Rob

[drauk]

In that case, take a look at that article. The long and the short of it is that if a digital photo is to be viewed on screen, if you're not going to be zooming in on a part of it, there is no point in it being larger in pixels than your display. So if you have a typical 1024x768 screen there is no point in your digital image being any bigger (i.e. approx 1 megapixel).