Monitor Size Calculator
Check a monitor before you buy it. Enter its size and resolution to see how sharp it is (pixels per inch), how wide it really is on your desk, and how much of your view it fills from where you sit.
Pixel density
Screen width x height
Pixel density is how many pixels fit in an inch of screen. Higher means sharper text and edges. A 27-inch 1440p monitor is about 109 PPI, and a 27-inch 1080p monitor about 82.
Pixels stop being visible once each one covers less than one arcminute of your view, the detail limit of 20/20 vision. Sit farther than that distance and extra resolution is hard to see.
Field of view is how wide the screen looks from your seat. Most people can follow a whole screen of around 30–40 degrees without turning their head; much wider and you will be moving your eyes and neck to check the minimap or HUD corners.
Choosing a screen? See the best 1440p gaming monitorsand how high and far to place a monitor.
How this works
- Pixel density (PPI) = the diagonal in pixels (from the resolution) ÷ the diagonal in inches.
- Width and height come from the diagonal and the resolution's aspect ratio, converted to centimetres.
- The pixel-blend distance is where one pixel covers one arcminute of your vision, a common measure of normal visual sharpness. The view angle is 2 × arctan(half the screen width ÷ your distance).
- It flags a view angle over 50° as wide for competitive games and under 25° as narrow, and suggests a desk at least 10cm wider than the screen.
It assumes square pixels and a flat screen, and that you sit centred in front of it.
Where the figures come from: Standard geometry. The one-arcminute figure is the usual reference for 20/20 visual acuity.