Resolution: is 1600 x 1200 the new black?

[Dumb_guy]

My site was built no a 800x600 format AFTER I saw what it looked like at 800x600 when it was set up at 1024x768.

Now I see people coming to my site at 1280x1024 and 1600x1200!

I need a 60" monitor to read my text at that res.

Any suggestions?

[pendanticist]

>Now I see people coming to my site at 1280x1024 and 1600x1200!

Question. How did you determine that?

Pendanticist.

[mivox]

Any suggestions?

Design your pages to stretch & squash to the viewer's screen size...

But keep in mind that many people using 1200+ resolution monitors are actually viewing multiple smaller windows on their screens at once. So even if your visitor has a monster 1600x1200 monitor, they may be viewing your site in an 800px wide window...

:)

[Filipe]

Here's a good thread about dealing with user resolutions:

[webmasterworld.com...]

[Dumb_guy]

>> Now I see people coming to my site at 1280x1024 and
>> 1600x1200!

> Question. How did you determine that?

> Pendanticist.

Sorry for the delayed response. Been in a coma with the update.

My counter service gives me visitor screen res. info.. along with other data.

I notices the 1200+ res. visitors are not staying long at all. This is troublesome and why I need info on this.

[Jon_King]

I think mivox has the best solution for many sites...

This technic or architecture is often referred to as 'liquid' page design. You've undoubltly experenced these sites where the content resizes to the current browser window size.

Most content will work well in this scheme. However there are some instances that require fixed position content and this would be a less that perfect solution in that case.

[grahamstewart]

there are some instances that require fixed position content

You can always mix fluid and fixed layout as required.
I tend to have my navbars as a fixed pixel width, but allow my main content area to be fluid.

[Jon_King]

>>You can always mix fluid and fixed layout as required.

Yes indeed.

[limbo]

In my experience, users of resolutions this size (a few of my collegues and peers) rarely have the browser maximised. In fact usually the window is sized to around 800 x 600

I experimanted with a similar resolution and also found that I would not have the pages maximised either - was one the advantages of having more real estate.

('experimented with a similar resolution' - till my eyes started to blur and I got tunnel vision)

[grahamstewart]

This could be chicken and egg tho.

Most users at high res may only have the windows open at 800x600 because the vast majority of sites use a fixed width layout that suits this res. Theres no point in viewing these sites with a bigger window, because you just get a lot of empty space.

[bird]

As several people have already said, you need to consider that people with 1600x1200 screens will not want to sacrifice all that real estate for one single window or web site. While having the browser in full screen mode on a 800x600 screen may make sense, it certainly doesn't do so quite as much for higher resolutions.

To make sure that people with large screens see your site as intended, you need design it so that it also works in portrait format. I routinely have two browser windows next to each other on my 1280x1024 screen, and they are always taller than wide. It just doesn't make sense to have several landscape format windows on a landscape format monitor at the same time. So if you want your scyscraper ads to be seen by people like me, then you better make sure that they don't fall outside the viewable area in such an arrangement.

[limbo]

I am not sure that it is Chicken and Egg. In my opinion it it is more in the pysche of the user. Most people who use monitors of this resolution are in some part involved in design and are used to working with palettes and cut and paste windows etc. So i think it has less to do with pages designed for smaller resolutions. I design pages using fixed and liquid layout but my colleauges rearely view those on a maximised screens. because they prefer to work and browse this way.

[MrDolphin]

>>Now I see people coming to my site at 1280x1024 and >1600x1200!
>Question. How did you determine that?

>Pendanticist.

Heres how I grab screen res. and depth for log anaylisis:

1) Create a single pixel transparent GIF: ex.
screen_info.gif ( you can omit this if you dont mind seeing a ton of 404's) and upload it to your server

2) Place it at the bottom of all your pages using JavaScript:

<script language="JavaScript" type="text/javascript">

document.write('<img width="1" height="1" src="/screen_info.gif?' +

'width=' + screen.width + '&height=' + screen.height + '&depth=' + screen.colorDepth + '">\n');
</script>

Every time the page loads you get an entry with the users screen info in the log.
My log file analyzer does the rest.

-The Water Mammal