800×600 is SO 1990’s…
I was showing someone this page at work the other day, and was quite dismayed to see how it was displaying. This (l)user was viewing the page on 800×600 resolution, and I have to tell you, it sucked!
I did check that the page rendered perfectly in Firefox and IE, but really didn’t think too much about screen resolutions (yeah, my bad, I know), so thought I ought to check out what screen resolutions my users are using.
Thanks to my fancy fangle-dangled stats thingumy, this is what the situation is:
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As you can see, the majority of users use screen resolutions over 1024×768. Here’s a biscuit for those users. Gooood users. (Well only really half a biscuit for the 1024×768 users, as that resolution is getting a bit 1990’s now too!) |
So, the story is, this website is best viewed at the screen resolution of 1280×1024.
“ohhh, I can’t read the writing with the screen resolution so high… it’s too small….), I hear you whining. Well get your eyes checked and get a damn pair of glasses! 
I did some pretty screen captures of how it looks in various resolutions(you can click on a thumbnail for a more detailed view, but you should be able to get the picture):
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This is the optimal resolution, 1280×1024. It’s pretty. |
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This is 1024×768, starting to look a bit squashy and the grumpy lady is starting to look a bit scary… |
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This is 800×600.
It. Looks. Crap. |
So, I’m willing to hear excuses arguments as to why such crap resolutions need to be used, so hit me. Oh, and by the way, don’t try on the “my monitor can only cope with 800×600″ or “I don’t know how to change it” variety. My answers? “buy a new one” and “you shouldn’t be allowed on the internet” respectively.
BuggZZZ (aka Mike) wrote,
What is the name of that “fancy fangle-dangled stats thingumy (sic)” ?
Link | January 22nd, 2006 at 3:01 am
The Grumpy One wrote,
Hey Buggzzy (thanks for dropping in, by the way). The fancy fangle-dangled stats thingumy is from Sitemeter.
It is my new favourite thing to obsess over.
There’s a little button in the bottom of my right hand column, check out the results it gives.
Link | January 22nd, 2006 at 8:18 am
bio wrote,
There are two thoughts on the resolution size to write pages to:
1) Look at your logs and analyze what the majority of your viewers have their screens set to, find the mean and make that the minimum size.
2) Write the page to look good on your screen and tell the rest of the world to “bite me”.
The web standard right now for minimum is 1024×768, but with the number of systems shipping with LCD displays with a default setting of 1280×1024, I expect that to change soon.
As for people who run at 800×600 or 640×480… they’re used to the web looking weird. Don’t write your site for them or they’ll expect it from everyone else.
Link | January 24th, 2006 at 11:37 am