Computer display standard

Computer display standards are a combination of aspect ratio, display size, display resolution, color depth, and refresh rate. They are associated with specific expansion cards, video connectors and monitors.Later, larger monitors (15' and 16') allowed use of an SVGA-like binary-half-megapixel 832×624 resolution (at 75 Hz) that was eventually used as the default setting for the original, late-1990s iMac. Even larger 17' and 19' monitors could attain higher resolutions still, when connected to a suitably capable computer, but apart from the 1152×870 'XGA+' mode discussed further below, Mac resolutions beyond 832×624 tended to fall into line with PC standards, using what were essentially rebadged PC monitors with a different cable connection. Mac models after the II (Power Mac, Quadra, etc.) also allowed at first 16-bit High Colour (65,536, or 'Thousands of' colours), and then 24-bit True Colour (16.7M, or 'Millions of' colours), but much like PC standards beyond XGA, the increase in colour depth past 8 bpp was not strictly tied to changing resolution standards.Furthermore, VGA displays and adapters are generally capable of Mode X graphics, an undocumented mode to allow increased non-standard resolutions, most commonly 320×240 (with 8 bpp and square pixels) at 60 Hz. VGA, like the majority of the following standards, was capable of displaying most standard modes featured by IBM-compatible PCs—CGA, EGA, MDA and MCGA—but typically not Hercules or PGA/PGC.The high-resolution mode introduced by 8514/A became a de facto general standard in a succession of computing and digital-media fields for more than two decades, arguably more so than SVGA, with successive IBM and clone videocards and CRT monitors (a multisync monitor's grade being broadly determinable by whether it could display 1024×768 at all, or show it interlaced, non-interlaced, or 'flicker-free'), LCD panels (the standard resolution for 14' and 15' 4:3 desktop monitors, and a whole generation of 11–15' laptops), early plasma and HD ready LCD televisions (albeit at a stretched 16:9 aspect ratio, showing down-scaled material), professional video projectors, and most recently, tablet computers.Over the course of the early-to-mid-90's, 'SVGA' became a quasi-standard term in PC games, typically referring to a 640×480 resolution using 256 colours (8 bpp) at 60 Hz refresh rate. Many other higher and lower modes were standardized in the VESA BIOS Extensions, leading to the establishment of 'SVGA' and 'VESA' as catch-all terms encompassing output modes that surpassed the original VGA specifications.1360×768 (1044k)1366×768 (1049k)(683:384 exact)(256:135 or 1.8962:1 exact)(2765k)(64:27, or 2.370:1, or 21.3:9 exact)(25:16 exact)(43:18, or 2.38:1, or 21.5:9 exact)(256:135 or 1.8962:1 exact)(64:27, or 2.370:1, or 21.3:9 exact)(25:16 exact) Computer display standards are a combination of aspect ratio, display size, display resolution, color depth, and refresh rate. They are associated with specific expansion cards, video connectors and monitors. Various computer display standards or display modes have been used in the history of the personal computer. They are often a combination of aspect ratio (specified as width-to-height ratio), display resolution (specified as the width and height in pixels), color depth (measured in bits per pixel), and refresh rate (expressed in hertz). Associated with the screen resolution and refresh rate is a display adapter. Earlier display adapters were simple frame-buffers, but later display standards also specified a more extensive set of display functions and software controlled interface. Beyond display modes, the VESA industry organization has defined several standards related to power management and device identification, while ergonomics standards are set by the TCO. A number of common resolutions have been used with computers descended from the original IBM PC. Some of these are now supported by other families of personal computers. These are de facto standards, usually originated by one manufacturer and reverse-engineered by others, though the VESA group has co-ordinated the efforts of several leading video display adapter manufacturers. Video standards associated with IBM-PC-descended personal computers are shown in the diagram and table below, alongside those of early Macintosh and other makes for comparison. (From the early 1990s onwards, most manufacturers moved over to PC display standards thanks to widely available and affordable hardware). Although the common standard prefixes super and ultra do not indicate specific modifiers to base standard resolutions, several others do: These prefixes are also often combined, as in WQXGA or WHUXGA, with levels of stacking not hindered by the same consideration towards readability as the decline of the added 'X' - especially as there is not even a defined hierarchy or value for S/X/U/+ modifiers.