[Sigia-l] 800 or 1024 - Which min. display resolution to build for?

[Stewart Dean]

Hi David,

Well as with most of this stuff if someone comes up with a definite answer, 
it's probably wrong :)

Here's my view, based upon various proejcts.

The width and height of content viewed by users is simply variable and 
changing all the time.  We know through watching users few have their 
browser full screen, if any.

As a rule of thumb width wise, if you have to use fixed widths, about 
800-900 pixesls works. If you can make things scale - it's often worth the 
effort.

To add an extra twist to the mix pixels might not be a reliable way to 
define sites in the future and points might become the way pages are thought 
about. With the advent of better screen technology one pixel defined might 
actualy be two pixels on screen. We're on the verge of many users viewing 
things on much higher dpi screens.

For more on this see..

http://webkit.opendarwin.org/blog/?p=55

Quick myth buster on DPI (mild rant).

DPI is one of the most misunderstood concepts going that should be simple. 
It is the messurement of dots per inch. One myth is that all screen images 
are 72dpi - they are not, the dpi of an image on screen is dependent on what 
screen you're looking at it with. The only time screen images where 72dpi is 
where on early apple displays as far as I'm aware. DPI only refers to the 
output of an image, not the image. The exception is if the image as a 
physcal size associated with it, and then it's only literal when the image 
is output physically. Any pixel based image can be output at any DPI, it 
just shrinks as you up the dpi and becomes sharper.  Most of you probably 
know this but I still come across many who still think all screen images are 
72dpi.

Stew Dean



>From: "Jaeger, David" <djaeger at fgcu.edu>
>To: <sigia-l at asis.org>
>Subject: [Sigia-l] 800 or 1024 - Which min. display resolution to build 
>for?
>Date: Sat, 29 Apr 2006 17:21:00 -0400
>
>The stats at http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.asp 
><http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.asp>  indicate almost 75% 
>of Internet users have a 1024 x 768 or higher display resolution. What the 
>stats don't reveal is the percentage of these users that have their 
>browsers set to "maximize" so they don't have to scroll vertically to see 
>all the content on a site or app built for a minimum 1024 width.
>
>
>
>I have 1024 x 768 or higher setting on the computers I use, but I never 
>have my browser maximized. My browser window is always somewhere around 850 
>to 900 wide, and that is a comfortable size to me (it just feels right).
>
>
>
>Has anyone come across any research that touches on this subject?
>
>
>
>Do you think there is an optimum width for usability, and beyond this 
>optimum width we would start to see usability problems creeping in?
>
>
>
>Thanks,
>
>David
>
>
>
>David Jaeger
>
>Florida Gulf Coast University
>
>http://www.fgcu.edu <http://www.fgcu.edu/>
>
>
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