Screen resolution differs depending upon the quality of your monitor. Actual resolution refers to the amount of pixels on screen and affects the screen sharpness. A low resolution will therefore make objects appear small on screen and quite blocky, whilst the opposite occurs with a high resolution. Up until recently, the most common resolution was 800 by 600, although many people are now beginning to use 1024 by 768 and even higher resolutions, as the cost of larger monitors continues to fall.
Video Graphics Array (VGA)
This is the most basic resolution you will encounter ... unless you happen to stumble into a time machine and reappear in the darkish days of the green-screen Amstrad monitor! It is usually 320 x 240 or 640 x 480. Such resolutions will not work on an LCD monitor.
Super Video Graphics Array (SVGA)
Super VGA is usually 800 x 600.
eXtended Graphics Array (XGA)
1024 x 768. This is the resolution you will find on most 15inch LCD monitors.
Super eXtended Graphics Array (SXGA) & Ultra eXtended Graphics Array (UXGA)
A resolution of up to 1600 x 1200. SXGA is common with 17inch LCD monitors while UXGA is reserved for larger types.
Wide Ultra eXtended Graphics Array (WUXGA)
Up to 1920 x 1280. Objects on the screen will be exceptionally small at this kind of resolution!
Another important factor to consider, more specific to older monitors, is the dot-pitch. The lower the dot-pitch number, the sharper the image will be on your monitor. The basic requirement for a monitor is a .28 dot pitch.
