What is PPI Density?
PPI Density is a term that is encountered by us very often, especially if we love checking the specs of tech gadgets. This post will try to cover what this term means, the significance of ppi density and also the formula using which you can calculate ppi density of any device whose diagonal size and resolution is known to you.
To start off according to Wikipedia,
DPI, PPCM and Dot Pitch:
DPI is an abbreviation for the term Dots Per Inch. It is a measure of the number of individual dots that can be kept adjacent within a length of 1 inch. Now, a question might arise in your mind about what is the difference between ppi and dpi. Quoting wikipedia again:
Dot pitch, on the other hand, is the measurement of distance between two dots of the same color inside a display screen. For more detailed info about Dot Pitch, head to this page.
Significance of PPI density:
PPI density can be (and should be) one of the specifications to look out for, when you set out to buy anything that has a screen. A screen that has a higher pixel count than another screen of same size will produce better and more life-like image quality, up to a certain limit. The limit depends upon the distance at which the device is held, and thus the maximum number of pixels that our eyes can resolve from that distance. The maximum ppi density that can be resolved by human eye for a mobile phone is nearly 300 ppi, as popularized by Apple's retina displays. Apple's claims were questioned by Raymond Soneira, DIsplayMate Technologies' president, who said the number should be about 470 ppi. The maximum ppi density that has, till now, appeared in smartphones is about 443, in Huawei Ascend D2 and Sony Xperia Z, closely followed by HTC Butterfly with a ppi density of 440. If numbers entice you, this page contains information about ppi densities and screen sizes of a large number of displays.
Mathematics Part- How to Calculate PPI:
Don't run away if you are a arithmophobiac, we have several tools that can be used to calculate ppi densities. An online tool to do is present here. I have made a little c program to save some calculations for you, which can be used offline, once downloaded from here. The input required in both cases is pixel width, pixel height and diagonal screen size. Pixel width and height can be interchanged in the input.
If you aren't an arithmophobiac, here is the exact mathematical formula for you:
Btw, ppi density of almost all phones listed on gsmarena is displayed on the specification page. The below snapshot is taken from Sony Xperia Z's specs page.
If you still have any questions about ppi or something else that's related to this topic, then your comments are welcomed below. Have a cheerful day!
PPI Density is a term that is encountered by us very often, especially if we love checking the specs of tech gadgets. This post will try to cover what this term means, the significance of ppi density and also the formula using which you can calculate ppi density of any device whose diagonal size and resolution is known to you.
To start off according to Wikipedia,
ppi density is a measurement of resolution of devices.Putting it even more simply, it is used to measure the number of pixels present in a screen's display. A pixel is the smallest element in a digital image, which combines with other pixels to form various shapes to display images and text on the screen. It is a general rule that More the number of pixels on a screen, higher is the quality of the output, which depends on several other factors too.
DPI, PPCM and Dot Pitch:
DPI is an abbreviation for the term Dots Per Inch. It is a measure of the number of individual dots that can be kept adjacent within a length of 1 inch. Now, a question might arise in your mind about what is the difference between ppi and dpi. Quoting wikipedia again:
In printing, DPI (dots per inch) refers to the output resolution of a printer or imagesetter, and PPI (pixels per inch) refers to the input resolution of a photograph or image. DPI refers to the physical dot density of an image when it is reproduced as a real physical entity, for example printed onto paper, or displayed on a monitor. A digitally stored image has no inherent physical dimensions, measured in inches or centimetres.Another similar term which is less popular than ppi is ppcm, short for Pixel per Centimeter, as you might have guessed. We shall find the relation between these two terms in our mathematics (omg!) section of this post. Till then, you can feed on the fact that both of these measure the number of pixels present within a certain amount of area.
Dot pitch, on the other hand, is the measurement of distance between two dots of the same color inside a display screen. For more detailed info about Dot Pitch, head to this page.
Significance of PPI density:
PPI density can be (and should be) one of the specifications to look out for, when you set out to buy anything that has a screen. A screen that has a higher pixel count than another screen of same size will produce better and more life-like image quality, up to a certain limit. The limit depends upon the distance at which the device is held, and thus the maximum number of pixels that our eyes can resolve from that distance. The maximum ppi density that can be resolved by human eye for a mobile phone is nearly 300 ppi, as popularized by Apple's retina displays. Apple's claims were questioned by Raymond Soneira, DIsplayMate Technologies' president, who said the number should be about 470 ppi. The maximum ppi density that has, till now, appeared in smartphones is about 443, in Huawei Ascend D2 and Sony Xperia Z, closely followed by HTC Butterfly with a ppi density of 440. If numbers entice you, this page contains information about ppi densities and screen sizes of a large number of displays.
Mathematics Part- How to Calculate PPI:
Don't run away if you are a arithmophobiac, we have several tools that can be used to calculate ppi densities. An online tool to do is present here. I have made a little c program to save some calculations for you, which can be used offline, once downloaded from here. The input required in both cases is pixel width, pixel height and diagonal screen size. Pixel width and height can be interchanged in the input.
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| PPI (cum ppcm) Calculator tool |
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| Sony Xperia Z specs (see the highlighted ppi density) |
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