Refers to the sharpness and clarity of an image. The term is most often used to describe
monitors,
printers, and
bit-mapped graphic images. In the case of
dot-matrix and
laser printers, the resolution indicates the number of
dots per inch. For example, a 300-dpi (dots per inch) printer is one that is capable of printing 300 distinct
dots in a line 1 inch long. This means it can print 90,000 dots per square inch.
For graphics monitors, the screen resolution signifies the number of dots (pixels) on the entire screen. For example, a 640-by-480 pixel screen is capable of displaying 640 distinct dots on each of 480 lines, or about 300,000 pixels. This translates into different dpi measurements depending on the size of the screen. For example, a 15-inch VGA monitor (640x480) displays about 50 dots per inch.
Printers, monitors, scanners, and other I/O devices are often classified as high resolution, medium resolution, or low resolution. The actual resolution ranges for each of these grades is constantly shifting as the technology improves.
