- By David Trounstine -
"Image resolution describes the detail an image holds"~ Wikipedia ~
When creating digital signage content the quality of your imagery will have a significant impact on the target audience. Any given media asset must be created to best utilize the platform on which it will be displayed, and digital signage is no exception. The perceived quality of an image is primarily based on the resolution of the asset and the system that will display it. When discussing resolution two forms of measurement are commonly used; Pixel Resolution and Spatial Resolution. I will give you a bit of technical detail on these measures and the situations in which each is relevant.
When we describe an image as "three megapixels", we are literally saying that image is comprised of about 3 million unique pixels. This is represented in width-by-height dimensions as 2048 x 1536px (3.15M). So the image has 2048 pixels in the X-axis and 1536 in the Y-axis. This is referred to as Pixel Resolution or Pixel Count, and represents the total number of pixels used to make up this asset.
The Spatial Resolution of an image refers to the number of pixels across a given unit of length (i.e. an inch). However, Spatial Resolution is dependent upon the system in which the media asset is being viewed be it a computer monitor, TV screen, or magazine. Each system will utilize pixels differently, and any asset made for display in that system will have to be adjusted accordingly to maintain a high quality appearance. In a general sense spatial resolution can also be thought of as pixel density, while pixel resolution is equivalent to pixel volume(or area).
If you have a 30" monitor that has a pixel count of 1920x1080 and you want to make an image fill the screen. You should create an image that is 1920x1080 pixels. This is where many people will then ask, "What DPI do you need it to be?". The answer is, it doesn't matter. It can be 1 DPI or 1,000,000 DPI the image will fill the screen either way. The monitor will map each pixel in the image directly to a pixel on the screen. Therefore the image will appear sharp and well defined, and will be 30" in size.
If you take that same image (1920x1080px in size) and send it to your printer it will print to about 6.5" x 3.5", a far cry from the 30" image produced on the monitor. This is because most printers produce images that are 300 DPI(PPI), meaning that every inch of print space will contain 300 pixels. (1920px / 300dpi = 6.4in and 1080px / 300dpi = 3.6in)
Designers who have worked in multiple industries know that an image designed for the web will rarely contain enough data to be printed, although it may appear extremely sharp and detailed when viewed on a computer monitor. Similarly, content for digital signage may contain assets from web, television, or print projects, but ultimately should be rebuilt to meet the recommended specifications of the hardware. So, when you are designing for digital signage you must know the Pixel Resolution of the displays and make your best effort to use assets that do not require any up-sampling (increase in pixel density). Doing this will ensure the best possible image quality.
"Image resolution describes the detail an image holds"~ Wikipedia ~
When creating digital signage content the quality of your imagery will have a significant impact on the target audience. Any given media asset must be created to best utilize the platform on which it will be displayed, and digital signage is no exception. The perceived quality of an image is primarily based on the resolution of the asset and the system that will display it. When discussing resolution two forms of measurement are commonly used; Pixel Resolution and Spatial Resolution. I will give you a bit of technical detail on these measures and the situations in which each is relevant.
When we describe an image as "three megapixels", we are literally saying that image is comprised of about 3 million unique pixels. This is represented in width-by-height dimensions as 2048 x 1536px (3.15M). So the image has 2048 pixels in the X-axis and 1536 in the Y-axis. This is referred to as Pixel Resolution or Pixel Count, and represents the total number of pixels used to make up this asset.
The Spatial Resolution of an image refers to the number of pixels across a given unit of length (i.e. an inch). However, Spatial Resolution is dependent upon the system in which the media asset is being viewed be it a computer monitor, TV screen, or magazine. Each system will utilize pixels differently, and any asset made for display in that system will have to be adjusted accordingly to maintain a high quality appearance. In a general sense spatial resolution can also be thought of as pixel density, while pixel resolution is equivalent to pixel volume(or area).
If you have a 30" monitor that has a pixel count of 1920x1080 and you want to make an image fill the screen. You should create an image that is 1920x1080 pixels. This is where many people will then ask, "What DPI do you need it to be?". The answer is, it doesn't matter. It can be 1 DPI or 1,000,000 DPI the image will fill the screen either way. The monitor will map each pixel in the image directly to a pixel on the screen. Therefore the image will appear sharp and well defined, and will be 30" in size.
If you take that same image (1920x1080px in size) and send it to your printer it will print to about 6.5" x 3.5", a far cry from the 30" image produced on the monitor. This is because most printers produce images that are 300 DPI(PPI), meaning that every inch of print space will contain 300 pixels. (1920px / 300dpi = 6.4in and 1080px / 300dpi = 3.6in)
Designers who have worked in multiple industries know that an image designed for the web will rarely contain enough data to be printed, although it may appear extremely sharp and detailed when viewed on a computer monitor. Similarly, content for digital signage may contain assets from web, television, or print projects, but ultimately should be rebuilt to meet the recommended specifications of the hardware. So, when you are designing for digital signage you must know the Pixel Resolution of the displays and make your best effort to use assets that do not require any up-sampling (increase in pixel density). Doing this will ensure the best possible image quality.
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