Screen Resolution/PPD Comparisons

I knew I'd get your attention. My newest toy is a PPI calculator (pixels per inch). PPI is the best measure of a screen's resolution because it normalizes for different screen sizes, thus you can use it to compare "true" screen resolution differences between similar size screens with different pixel counts (eg, 13" @ 1920x1080 vs 1600x900) different size screens with the same pixel count (1080p @ 13", 15.6") You input the resolution in horizontal and vertical pixels, diagonal screen (currently set in inches, but does metric - of course, it's German!) and it solves for PPI. Sure, there are plenty of these around, but I hadn't seen one before that was this simple and lightning fast. Plus the author maintains it with data on many very well known screens - from smartphones to tablets to laptops and desktop monitors - in a table you just click on if you don't know, say, the pixel count and size of the iPhone screen.

PPI of some popular products and display sizes:

Smart Phones (note these are more than double the PPI of any tablet or laptop. I doubt anyone reads text in "native" resolution!
iPhone 4: 329
Samsung Galaxy Nexus II: 315ppi

Tablets
iPad2 - 9.7" (1024x768):132ppi (surprised? I was)
Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 (1280x800): 143ppi
Samsung Galaxy Tab 7" 169 ppi (NOTE: same as Z/FHD)

Laptops:
Sony Z 13.1" 1080p:169ppi/900p:140ppi
Apple MBA 13.3": 128ppi/MBA 11:135ppi)
All 13.3" 1366x768: 118ppi (many, many notebooks and ultrabooks)
All 13.3" 1600x900: 138ppi (more and more notebooks and ultrabooks)
All 15.6" 1366x768: 100ppi - BOO, HISS!
All 15.6" FHD 141ppi (same as Z 900p)
All 17.3 FHD 127ppi
Your 46" HDTV: 48ppi (do we need much higher resolution TV, or what??)
Apple MBP 13:113ppi
Apple MBP 15 (Std/Hi res): 114ppi/129ppi
Apple MBP 17 (1920x1200): 133ppi

And the Laptop/Tablet Winner is:
Sony P (1600x768) 222ppi!!!

but not for long...
Rumored/expected (March 2012) iPad3 9.7" 2048x1536: 264ppi

Hope you have as much fun with this as I did. (I don't get out much )

BTW, the thread is also for discussions about resolution, new technologies to improve it, what the upcoming iPad3 that is all but confirmed to have 2048x1536 will do to accelerate market trends, when will we see the death of the 1366x768 display on anything larger than 10?!"

 

I'm always for higher resolutions .

Although the problem with the ipad and iphone and (rumored) macbook retina displays are even though they quadrupled the number of pixels, all icons and etc will stay the same size, it's just they'll be more clear which is the sad part about it. I want higher resolution for literally more workspace, but the way iOS and OSX handle it is just for the image quality/crispness

In any case, I'm excited to see the 1200p Asus and Acer tablets that they've announced for this coming year. I hope Sony increases the pixel count of the Z sucessor, but that's just hopeful wishing.

As for TVs having such low pixel counts it's because when you're 10 ft. away watching the superbowl, you can't make out the individual pixels (try standing 3 feet away). Same goes for why phones/tablets have higher ppi/dpi than laptops or monitors. In any case, higher ppi is (usually) always a good thing in my book!

 

So, does "usually" modify "always," or vice-versa? tee-hee

 

The actual Z I own has the FHD panel. The next Z will just have the 1600*900 because FHD is to small for my eyes on the small 13 inch panel...