In digital video, resolution is the ratio of the number of pixels the screen is divided into vertically and horizontally, indicated, for example, in 1920x1080 (horizontal by vertical), or 800x600.
A pixel is the smallest unit in which a screen is divided, and it is an element that, conceptually, we can understand as three very small bulbs, of three different colors (usually red, green and blue), of which only one lights up. . These "little bulbs" are not like the bulbs we have at home, with filament, but of a very different type and microscopic in size.
The higher the two numerical terms of the resolution, the higher definition the screen will have
The first number indicates how many pixels the screen is divided into, or, in other words, how many columns we count, while the second number indicates how many rows we have.
Dividing both numbers we find what is called aspect ratio, and which is defined as the ratio between its width and its height
Thus, for example, the 4: 3 aspect ratio means that for every four units (of which they are) of length of the image, we will have three of height or that, if we take the length and divide it into four parts, the height it can be expressed as exactly three of those same parts.
There are many different aspect ratios used, although the most common (for stills and movies / videos are the aforementioned 4: 3, 16: 9, 16:10 and 17: 9 (UHD resolutions).
There are a number of standard resolutions:
- QVGA: 320x240. Used in screens of wearables and mobile devices.
- Vga: 640x480. For a long time, it was the standard in microcomputers, in the early / mid-eighties.
- SVGA: 800x600.
- XGA: 1024x768
- HD 720: 1280x720. It is also known as HD Ready.
- HD 1080: 1920x1080. Also called Full HD.
- 2K: 2048x1080
From 4K resolutions (about 4,000 pixels horizontally) they are already known as UHD, which stands for Ultra High Definition (Ultra High Definition).
The maximum resolution that any two-part system (for example, computer and monitor, or smartphone and external monitor) is delimited by the maximum resolution that both have in common and are compatible.
This means that if, for example, we connect a computer whose maximum resolution of the video card is 640x480 to a monitor that can offer 1024x768, the one that will prevail is the resolution of 640x480, since it is the maximum common.
What we can do is configure the system to a lower resolution, something that we can do through the operating system's control panel.
Photos: Fotolia - mykhailobokovan / troog
