VGA vs. QVGA

[Dolphin]

Pardon my ignorance... but could someone explain the difference between QVGA and VGA?

[Kati Compton]

Pardon my ignorance... but could someone explain the difference between QVGA and VGA?

QVGA is 240x320, VGA is 480x640.

[Dolphin]

Are they backlit or some other technology?

[Wiggster]

Are they backlit or some other technology?
That depends on the display. QVGA and VGA are just names for what resolution they are. 240x320 pixels versus 480x640. It's nothing to do with the screen, really.

[Dolphin]

What are the advantages of the qvga/vga over tft?

[ADBrown]

What are the advantages of the qvga/vga over tft?

VGA/QVGA and TFT aren't mutually exclusive. TFT means Thin Film Transistor. This is the basic technology used to make all modern LCD displays. QVGA and VGA are measurements of resolution--call it the sharpness of the display. VGA means a screen that is 480 dots, or pixels, in one direction, by 640 pixels in the other. QVGA is one quarter of VGA (hence the name), making it 240 pixels by 320 pixels.

[Wiggster]

What are the advantages of the qvga/vga over tft?
The advantage of a V8 engine versus power windows in a car. They are separate features, as stated above.

[seaflipper]

Pardon my ignorance... but could someone explain the difference between QVGA and VGA?

Here is an excellent article with pictures that will explain in more detail the differences between QVGA and VGA

http://www.pdagold.com/articles/detail.asp?a=184

[Dolphin]

I know from reading in this forum that people are excited about the new vga screens. Obviously the vga displays are a higher resolution than the standard 320x240 but are there any other advantages? Are they brighter or able to be viewed from a wider angle? Is there anything other than resolution that makes them better? I know higher resolution is better, but is there something else I'm missing? Is there an advantage of qvga screens over the old transreflective tft?

[surur]

No, and their may be some disadvantages such as decreased battery life and slower graphics, due to moving around 4 times more data.

In essence its the same as running your computer screen at 640x480 vs 1204x768. More information possible on the screen, or better quality graphics. Nil else.

I still want it however.

Surur

[ADBrown]

I know from reading in this forum that people are excited about the new vga screens. Obviously the vga displays are a higher resolution than the standard 320x240 but are there any other advantages? Are they brighter or able to be viewed from a wider angle? Is there anything other than resolution that makes them better? I know higher resolution is better, but is there something else I'm missing? Is there an advantage of qvga screens over the old transreflective tft?

The viewing angle is still a characteristic of how the LCD was built, rather than its resolution. Because of how much sharper the new VGA screens are, you'll probably feel that they're brighter and/or more colorful than the old ones. The new VGA screens are still transreflective TFTs, they're just 4 times sharper.

[Dolphin]

I think I get it now... svga, vga, qvga are display resolutions, not different types of display technology. Is that correct?

[Wiggster]

I think I get it now... svga, vga, qvga are display resolutions, not different types of display technology. Is that correct?
Indeedy :)

[Dolphin]

to everybody...

THANK YOU!

[KimVette]

Not to play semantics or anything, but to clarify:

QVGA does not actually refer to 320x240 in any official sense. The official designation QVGA actually refers to 1280 x 960 with a 4:3 aspect ratio.

The reason I mention this is you will run across laptops, tablets, and desktop LCD monitors which specify "QVGA" and by using this designation they are not referring to the pseudo-spec which PDA users toss around.

Just FYI, I am not trying to be an ass or anything. This has just been bothering me for a couple of months so I figured I'd mention it this morning. Heh.

[Ed Hansberry]

Not to play semantics or anything, but to clarify:

QVGA does not actually refer to 320x240 in any official sense. The official designation QVGA actually refers to 1280 x 960 with a 4:3 aspect ratio.
In the context of PDAs QVGA does refer to Quarter VGA, or 320X240 (25% the area of a VGA screen), so please don't confuse the issue with other contexts. For all I know QVGA is a particular valve used in oil rigs on the open seas, but it isn't relevant here. Thanks.

[zybler]

Just curious, the toshiba M200 has a resolution of 1400x1050 and it's called SXGA+. Can someone clarify, how do you calculate the figure? If SXGA+ = 1400x1050, XGA=? SXGA=?

I'm a little confused here... :oops:

[gibson042]

This (http://www.i386.info/vidres.htm) should answer all of your questions, with respect to non-PDA screens. 'Round these parts, QVGA means 240x320, as previously discussed. Here's a quick but incomplete rundown:
VGA: 640x480
SVGA: 800x600
XGA: 1024x768
SXGA: 1280x1024 (5:4 aspect ratio)
SXGA+: 1400x1050
UXGA: 1600x1200

[Kati Compton]

To summarize, QVGA in the context of PDAs means a resolution of 240x320 (or 320x240 in landscape), and VGA in that same context means 480x640 (or 640x480 in landscape).

Although this wasn't the original meaning of those terms, it is the meaning used by the PDA community.

The rest of the thread can continue to discuss what the different terms mean both historically as well as currently with other types of displays, but I just want to be very clear about the actual answer to the original question.

Whether or not everyone in the PDA community is wrong to use those terms, or if the meaning of the terms have simply evolved, is another discussion which you are welcome to have here or in another thread.

But in the future I would suggest phrasing these sorts of caveats in a way that will not confuse the original question-asker by telling them that the answer they got was wrong, when it actually *is* the right answer in the context of the question.

[Unregistered]

Ironically, KimVette and Ed Hansberry; you're both right!

The acronym QVGA stands for both "Quarter Video Graphics Array" and "Quad Video Graphics Array".

Why those two different display resolutions were given the same acronym, I've no clue. But I'm seeing Quad Video Graphics Array expressed as "Quad-VGA" more than QVGA now.

[FortimirCE]

I just name things by their resolutions.

I know at home I run at 1280x1024 on my primary monitor and 1024x768 on my secondary... and I know that 800x600 and lower sucks for us webdesigners.