Resolution refers to how many pixels are displayed across the horizontal and vertical distance of the screen and are listed as Horizontal x Vertical (i.e. 800x600). Higher resolutions (larger numbers) indicate a monitor with higher resolution display capabilities. Resolution is really the driving factor behind the size of monitor you buy. Depending upon how good your eyes are, a monitor with a small size but a high resolution would produce tiny icons and text which might be uncomfortable to look at. Larger monitors spread the same number of pixels across a larger distance and so although the resolution is higher, the icons and text don't look quite so tiny.
Here is a table of common resolutions seen on most PC's today. Keep in mind that older Macintosh computers have their own screen resolutions and are thus incompatible with the large majority of monitors on the market. This was Apple's way of insuring Apple customers bought Apple monitors. Their monitors were always of decent quality and produced good displays, however they were very expensive. This is why Apple has very loyal, and very broke customers and why Apple has the smaller portion of the retail PC market.
| Resolution | Name | Type | Description/Age |
| <640x480 | CGA | -- | Ancient. Used on non-graphical displays |
| 640x480 | VGA | -- | Ancient. Was once common but is now frequently used for troubleshooting purposes. |
| 800x600 | SVGA | VESA standard | Older, less common. Windows XP will auto-adjust to this resolution if it is possible. |
| 1024x768 | XVGA | VESA standard | Most common resolution (as of 2004) |
| 1280x1024 | VESA standard | ||
| 1600x1200 | VESA standard |