1600x900 resolution
1600 × 900
HD+ · 16:9 · 1,440,000 pixels · 1.44 megapixels · Laptop
What 1600x900 is
Exactly half the linear size of 3200×1800. Against 1920×1080 it is 83% of the width and 83% of the height, so a budget laptop at this resolution shows about a third fewer pixels than a Full HD one of the same size.
The numbers
| Width | 1,600 px |
| Height | 900 px |
| Aspect ratio | 16:9 |
| Total pixels | 1,440,000 |
| Megapixels | 1.44 MP |
| Compared with 1080p | 0.69× the pixels |
| Compared with 4K UHD | 0.17× the pixels |
What 1600x900 costs to move and to store
A frame is width × height × three bytes of colour, before any compression touches it. At 1600 × 900 that is 4.32 MB per frame, and video is frames per second:
| Frame rate | Uncompressed | An hour of it |
|---|---|---|
| 24 fps | 104 MB/s | 0.37 TB |
| 30 fps | 130 MB/s | 0.47 TB |
| 60 fps | 259 MB/s | 0.93 TB |
| 120 fps | 518 MB/s | 1.87 TB |
Nobody ships that. It is the number codecs exist to get away from — a streamed 1600x900 feed runs at a few tens of megabits, which is a compression ratio of several hundred to one, and it is why a still frame from a stream looks worse than a photograph of the same scene.
How close you have to sit for 1600x900 to be worth it
The eye resolves about one arcminute of detail. Past a certain distance the pixels merge whatever the panel does, and a higher resolution stops being visible rather than stopping being better. That distance is the pixel pitch divided by the tangent of one arcminute:
| Screen | Pixels merge beyond |
|---|---|
| 13.3 in monitor or laptop | 0.63 m (2.1 ft) |
| 15.6 in monitor or laptop | 0.74 m (2.4 ft) |
| 24 in monitor or laptop | 1.14 m (3.7 ft) |
| 27 in monitor or laptop | 1.28 m (4.2 ft) |
| 32 in monitor or laptop | 1.52 m (5 ft) |
| 43 in television | 2.05 m (6.7 ft) |
| 55 in television | 2.62 m (8.6 ft) |
| 65 in television | 3.09 m (10.1 ft) |
| 75 in television | 3.57 m (11.7 ft) |
Sitting further back than the figure for your screen, 1600x900 and the next resolution down look the same. That is the whole argument about 4K televisions in ordinary living rooms: the resolution is real and the seating position usually is not close enough to show it.
Pixel density at common screen sizes
A resolution on its own says nothing about sharpness — the same 1600x900 panel is dense on a laptop and coarse on a television. Density is the diagonal in pixels divided by the diagonal in inches.
| Diagonal | Pixel density | |
|---|---|---|
| 13.3 in | 138 PPI | Comfortable at native size |
| 15.6 in | 118 PPI | Comfortable at native size |
| 24 in | 76 PPI | Coarse — individual pixels are visible at desk distance |
| 27 in | 68 PPI | Coarse — individual pixels are visible at desk distance |
| 32 in | 57 PPI | Coarse — individual pixels are visible at desk distance |
Other laptop resolutions
| Resolution | Name | Ratio | Megapixels |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1280×800 | WXGA | 8:5 | 1.02 MP |
| 1366×768 | HD (laptop) | 16:9 | 1.05 MP |
| 1440×900 | WXGA+ | 8:5 | 1.30 MP |
| 1920×1200 | WUXGA | 8:5 | 2.30 MP |
| 2560×1600 | WQXGA | 8:5 | 4.10 MP |
| 2880×1800 | Retina 15-inch | 8:5 | 5.18 MP |
| 3200×1800 | QHD+ | 16:9 | 5.76 MP |
| 3024×1964 | Laptop 14-inch HiDPI | 3:2 | 5.94 MP |
Closest in total pixels
- 1280×1024 — SXGA
- 1440×900 — WXGA+
- 1680×1050 — WSXGA+
- 1366×768 — HD (laptop)
- 1280×800 — WXGA
- 1600×1200 — UXGA
- 1280×720 — HD (720p)
- 1920×1080 — Full HD (1080p)
Frequently asked questions
What is the aspect ratio of 1600x900?
16:9.
How many pixels is 1600x900?
1,440,000 pixels, or 1.44 megapixels.
Is 1600x900 higher resolution than 1080p?
1600x900 has 69% of the pixels of a 1920×1080 frame.
What size screen suits 1600x900?
Pixel density is what decides that. 138 PPI at 13.3 in, 118 PPI at 15.6 in, 76 PPI at 24 in, 68 PPI at 27 in, 57 PPI at 32 in. Below roughly 110 PPI text starts to look coarse; above about 200 the operating system will usually scale the interface rather than render it at native size.