First off, we need to understand what we mean when we talk about resolutions. Resolution is a measurement of the number of pixels in a signal or image. For example, a very common computer monitor resolution is 1024x768. This means that there are 1024 pixels across horizontally, or 1024 columns of pixels. The 768 means that there are 768 pixels vertically, or 768 rows of pixels. This is a total of 786432 pixels. This is about .78 megapixels. The higher the resolution the higher the potential for a good quality picture. Note that resolution is not the only thing that affects the quality of an image, but is still very important.

Different resolutions are also used depending on the aspect ratio of the display. The more square looking displays are generally the 4:3 aspect ratio, while wide screen TVs are 16:9 and wide screen computer monitors are 16:10.

Here are some common resolutions, based on the aspect ratio:

• 4:3
• 1024x768
• 1280x960
• 1400x1050
• 1600x1200
• 16:9
• 1280x720 (AKA 720p)
• 1920x1080 (AKA 1080i or 1080p)
• 16:10
• 1680x1050
• 1920x1200

Making sure that we understand resolutions can be very important when we are trying to hook up different video sources and displays. In order for a video display (be it a TV, HDTV, computer monitor, or other video display) to be able to display the image coming from the video source, it must be compatible with the resolution of the video source.

If your display is a 4:3 display that supports a max of 1280x960 resolution and your video source is sending a signal of 1600x1200, the display will not be able to display the image. Most displays and video sources will support a range of different resolutions. You just need to make sure that there is at least one resolution that is supported by both devices.

Gefen Home Theater Scaler Plus
$65.95

So what do you do if your video source and display don't support the same resolution? You would use a video scaler to scale the source resolution to one that is supported by your display. These are most commonly used with HDTVs and adjusting the resolution for them. For a lot of application you could use the Gefen Home Theater Scaler Plus, part SW-7066. That item has multiple inputs and outputs the signal through HDMI to your TV. It will take the incoming resolution and scale it to the optimum resolution for your TV.

This will help you get the proper resolution on your TV, but scaling the image to a higher resolution will not generally make the picture look any better. Because your still starting with a low resolution, like 480p and scaling it to 1080p, it will still look basically like the 480p source signal it will just be better formatted for your TV.

Depending on what devices you're trying to connect there may be lots of options available that you could use. For help on selecting the best possible product please contact our technical support team at support@sewelldirect.com or by calling 801-356-3823.