How Big Is a Pixel?

Resolution	Type	21"	19"	17"	15"	14"	12"
calculated mm length on display sizes indicated of 100 pixels
640 x 480	VGA	46.4	41.7	36.9	32.1	29.8	25.0
800 x 600	SVGA	37.1	33.3	29.5	25.7	23.8	20.0
1024 x 768	XGA	29.0	26.0	23.1	20.1	18.6	15.6
1280 x 1024	SXGA	21.8	19.5	17.3	15.1	14.0	11.7
1400 x 1050	SXGA+	21.2	19.1	16.9	14.7	13.6	11.4
1600 x 1200	UXGA	18.6	16.7	14.8	12.9	11.9	10.0
1800 x 1350	UXGA+	16.5	14.8	13.1	11.4	10.6	8.89

Resolution	Type	21"	19"	17"	15"	14"	12"
measured mm height on display sizes indicated of 100 pixel "1" (rounded to closest .5 mm)
640 x 480	VGA		40.0	36.0		30.5
800 x 600	SVGA		31.5	28.5		24.0
1024 x 768	XGA		25.0	22.5		20.0
1280 x 1024	SXGA		18.5	16.0
1400 x 1050	SXGA+	0.00			0.00		0.00
1600 x 1200	UXGA		16.0
1800 x 1350	UXGA+		14.0
The font size testcase used for the measurements

Resolution	Type	21"	19"	17"	15"	14"	12"
calculated mm height on display sizes indicated of 11 pixels @ 96 DPI logical resolution
640 x 480	VGA	5.11	4.58	4.06	3.54	3.27	2.75
800 x 600	SVGA	4.09	3.67	3.25	2.83	2.62	2.20
1024 x 768	XGA	3.19	2.86	2.54	2.21	2.05	1.72
1280 x 1024	SXGA	2.39	2.15	1.90	1.66	1.53	1.29
1400 x 1050	SXGA+	2.33	2.10	1.86	1.62	1.50	1.26
1600 x 1200	UXGA	2.04	1.83	1.62	1.41	1.31	1.10
1800 x 1350	UXGA+	1.82	1.63	1.44	1.26	1.16	.980

Resolution	Type	21"	19"	17"	15"	14"	12"
calculated mm height on display sizes indicated of 16 pixels @ 96 DPI logical resolution
640 x 480	VGA	7.43	6.67	5.91	5.14	4.76	4.00
800 x 600	SVGA	5.94	5.33	4.72	4.11	3.81	3.20
1024 x 768	XGA	4.64	4.17	3.69	3.21	2.98	2.50
1280 x 1024	SXGA	3.48	3.13	2.77	2.41	2.23	1.88
1400 x 1050	SXGA+	3.40	3.05	2.70	2.35	2.18	1.83
1600 x 1200	UXGA	2.97	2.67	2.36	2.06	1.91	1.60
1800 x 1350	UXGA+	2.64	2.37	2.10	1.83	1.69	1.42

Height of St Petersburg Times front page text: 2.4 mm.
Typical newspaper reading distance: 35-50 cm. Average: 42.5.
Ratio of average reading distance to text size of the above: 185:1.
Typical display distance: 45-80 cm. Average: 62.5.

Resolution	Type	21"	19"	17"	15"	14"	12"
Ratio of average reading distance to text size: 11 pixels @ 96 DPI logical resolution
640 x 480	VGA	122	136	154	177	191	227
800 x 600	SVGA	153	170	192	221	239	284
1024 x 768	XGA	196	218	246	283	305	364
1280 x 1024	SXGA	261	291	328	377	407	485
1400 x 1050	SXGA+	268	298	337	387	418	497
1600 x 1200	UXGA	306	341	385	442	477	568
1800 x 1350	UXGA+	344	383	433	497	537	639

Resolution	Type	21"	19"	17"	15"	14"	12"
Ratio of average reading distance to text size: 16 pixels @ 96 DPI logical resolution
640 x 480	VGA	84.1	93.7	106	122	131	156
800 x 600	SVGA	105	117	132	152	164	195
1024 x 768	XGA	135	150	169	194	210	250
1280 x 1024	SXGA	179	200	226	259	280	333
1400 x 1050	SXGA+	184	205	232	266	287	342
1600 x 1200	UXGA	210	234	265	304	328	391
1800 x 1350	UXGA+	237	264	298	342	369	439

Calculated mm height on display sizes indicated of other pixel values

Compare pixels sizes at your screen resolution to other resolutions, without changing yours.

Last Modified
2006.03.25
© Felix Miata
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