PPI Calculator
PPI, or pixels per inch, tells you how sharp a screen looks. Enter the resolution and the diagonal to get the pixel density, the pixel size and the Windows scaling it needs.
- Pixel size (dot pitch)
- 0.233 mm
- Screen width × height
- 23.5 in59.8 cm × 13.2 in33.6 cm
- Aspect ratio
- 16:9
- Total pixels
- 3.7 MP
- Windows scaling
- 125%
- Pixels vanish beyond
- 31.6 in80.3 cm
What is a good PPI for a monitor?
Around 90 to 110 PPI reads well at 100% scaling from a normal desk distance. Above about 140 PPI, text looks print-sharp, but Windows needs 150% scaling or more so it stays readable.
A 24 inch 1080p monitor has 92 PPI, while a 27 inch 4K monitor has 163 PPI.
What is the PPI of common monitors?
What is the PPI of common laptop screens?
Laptops sit closer to your eyes than monitors, so they need more pixels per inch to look as sharp.
What PPI do phones have?
Far more than monitors. iPhones in our list run from 324 to 477 PPI. That suits a phone held about a foot (30 cm) from your eyes.
At that distance, a monitor’s pixel density would look grainy. See every model on the iPhone screen size page.
How do I convert pixels to inches?
Divide the pixels by the pixels per inch. On the 27 inch 2560 × 1440 screen above, PPI is 108.8, so 1,000 pixels measure 9.2 in across. Enter your own screen to get its PPI, then divide any pixel length by it.
To go the other way, from inches to pixels, multiply the inches by the PPI. The same answer works for centimeters: divide the pixels by PPI, then multiply by 2.54.
How many pixels do I need to print a photo?
For print, the PPI is set by you, not by a screen. 300 PPI is the usual target for sharp photo prints, and 150 PPI is fine for posters seen from further away. Multiply each side in inches by the PPI.
Pixels to inches for printing works the same way. A 3000 pixel wide photo prints 10 in wide at 300 PPI, or 20 in wide at 150 PPI.
Why do converters say 96 pixels per inch?
Web design uses its own inch: in CSS, one inch is defined as exactly 96 pixels, whatever the real screen. Windows also treats 96 DPI as 100% scaling. So a pixels to inches converter that uses 96 gives design inches, not the length you would measure on your screen.
For the real length on your screen, use your actual PPI from this calculator. Our actual size ruler does this for you once you match a card.
What is the PPI formula?
PPI is the diagonal in pixels divided by the diagonal in inches. For 2560 × 1440, the diagonal is the square root of 2560² plus 1440², which is 2937.2 pixels. Divide by 27 in to get 108.8 PPI.
Is PPI the same as DPI?
Not quite. PPI counts the pixels on a screen, while DPI counts the ink dots a printer lays down, and it is also used for mouse sensitivity.
People often say DPI when they mean a screen’s pixel density. For screens, both numbers come out the same in this calculator.
Questions
Does higher PPI always look better?
Only up to the distance where your eyes stop seeing single pixels. Past that point, extra pixels make text no sharper but cost more graphics power.
Why does text look tiny on a high PPI screen?
Each pixel is smaller, so text drawn with a set number of pixels shrinks. Set Windows scaling to the value the calculator shows to bring text back to a normal size.
How do I find my screen’s diagonal?
Check the model name or the box, or measure it corner to corner across the picture. Our monitor size page can also work it out with a bank card.
How we measure
PPI = √(width² + height²) ÷ diagonal, with width and height in pixels and the diagonal in inches. Dot pitch is 25.4 ÷ PPI in mm. Pixels vanish once each one is smaller than 1 arcminute of your view, the limit of 20/20 vision.