Display resolutions from QVGA to 16K
Display resolutions have decades of accumulated naming — VGA, XGA, HD, Full HD, QHD, UHD — and the labels do not always make the pixel counts obvious. This reference lists every common named resolution with its exact width and height, total pixel count in megapixels, and reduced aspect ratio, plus a calculator for any custom dimensions.
How it works
A resolution is just a width × height pair. Two derived values matter most. The aspect ratio is that pair reduced by its greatest common divisor (GCD): for 1920×1080 the GCD is 120, so it reduces to 16:9. The Euclidean algorithm computes the GCD by repeatedly replacing the larger number with the remainder of dividing it by the smaller, until one value reaches zero.
The total pixel count is simply width × height, usually quoted in megapixels (millions of pixels). It is a useful proxy for how much work a GPU and display pipeline must do: 4K UHD (3840×2160 ≈ 8.3 MP) is four times the load of 1080p (1920×1080 ≈ 2.1 MP), even though each dimension only doubled.
Tips and notes
- The “K” in 4K/8K refers to roughly the horizontal pixel count in thousands (3840 ≈ 4K), while older names like 1080p refer to the vertical pixel count.
- 16:9 dominates TVs and most monitors; 16:10 (1920×1200, 2560×1600) gives extra vertical space and is common on laptops; 21:9 and 32:9 are ultrawide and super-ultrawide.
- Same-name resolutions can differ: “WXGA” has historically meant both 1280×720 and 1366×768 — always verify the exact pixel dimensions.
- Higher pixel counts demand more interface bandwidth; driving 4K at high refresh rates may require DisplayPort 1.4+ or HDMI 2.1.