Q: Why do they come in sizes like 1024x768 etc?? why not 1000x750? is there a reason for this or is it just a random number? im just curious thats all :)
A: 1024 is a power of 2. 2*2*2*2*2*2*2*2*2*2 is 1024. If you want to specify any one of 1,024 things, you would need 10 "yes or no" answers to do it. This means a display with 1,024 pixels requires 10 binary address lines. A display with 1,000 would also need 10, and would have 24 fewer pixels. The second number comes from the aspect ratio. At the time 1024x768 was designed, 4:3 was the standard ratio. That is, if a monitor was 4 inches wide, it would be 3 inches high (viewable area), or 8 and 6. Things are much simpler if each pixel is square. So if you have 1,024 pixels across, you want 3/4 of that many up and down so the monitor will be 3/4 as high as it is wide. 1024 times 3/4 is 768. Thus 1,024x768 will give the most square pixels with only ten address lines in a 4:3 ratio. To recap, 1,024 = 2^10 and 768 = 1,024 * 3/4