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| {{redirect|dpi}}
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| [[Image:PrinterDots.jpg|right|frame|A close-up of the dots produced by an [[inkjet printer]] at draft quality. Actual size is approximately 0.25 inch by 0.25 inch (0.403 cm<sup>2</sup>). Individual colored droplets of ink are visible; this sample is about 150 DPI.]]
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| '''Dots per inch''' ('''DPI''', or '''dpi''')<ref name=dpi/> is a measure of spatial [[printing]] or [[video]] dot density, in particular the number of individual dots that can be placed in a line within the span of 1 inch (2.54 cm). The metric alternative is [[dots per centimetre]] (dpcm). | |
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| == DPI measurement in monitor resolution ==
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| Monitors do not have dots, but do have pixels; the closely related concept for monitors and images is [[pixels per inch]] or PPI.
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| Old CRT type video displays were almost universally rated in [[dot pitch]], which refers to the spacing between the sub-pixel red, green and blue dots which made up the pixels themselves. Monitor manufacturers used the term "dot trio pitch", the measurement of the distance between the centers of adjacent groups of three dots/rectangles/squares on the [[Cathode ray tube|CRT]] screen. Monitors commonly used dot pitches of 0.39, 0.33, 0.32, 0.29, 0.27, 0.25, or {{convert|0.22|mm|in|abbr=~}}.
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| LCD monitors have a trio of subpixels, which are more easily measured.
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| == DPI measurement in printing ==
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| DPI is used to describe the resolution number of dots per inch in a digital print and the printing resolution of a hard copy print dot gain, which is the increase in the size of the halftone dots during printing. This is caused by the spreading of ink on the surface of the media.
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| Up to a point, [[computer printer|printers]] with higher DPI produce clearer and more detailed output. A printer does not necessarily have a single DPI measurement; it is dependent on print mode, which is usually influenced by driver settings. The range of DPI supported by a printer is most dependent on the print head technology it uses. A [[dot matrix printer]], for example, applies ink via tiny rods striking an ink ribbon, and has a relatively low resolution, typically in the range of {{convert|60|to|90|dpi|abbr=on}}. An [[inkjet printer]] sprays ink through tiny nozzles, and is typically capable of 300-720 DPI.<ref>[http://www.askoki.co.uk/encyclo/printertech/inkjet.asp Ask OKI—"Inkjet Printers"]</ref> A [[laser printer]] applies [[toner]] through a controlled electrostatic charge, and may be in the range of 600 to 2,400 DPI.
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| The DP measurement of a printer often needs to be considerably higher than the [[pixels per inch]] (PPI) measurement of a video display in order to produce similar-quality output. This is due to the limited range of colors for each dot typically available on a printer. At each dot position, the simplest type of color printer can either print no dot, or print a dot consisting of a fixed volume of ink in each of four color channels (typically [[CMYK]] with [[cyan]], [[magenta]], [[yellow]] and [[black]] ink) or 2<sup>4</sup> = 16 colors on laser, wax and most inkjet printers.
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| Higher-end inkjet printers can offer 5, 6 or 7 ink colors giving 32, 64 or 128 possible tones per dot location. Contrast this to a standard [[sRGB]] monitor where each pixel produces 256 intensities of light in each of three channels ([[RGB]]).
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| While some color printers can produce variable drop volumes at each dot position, and may use additional ink-color channels, the number of colors is still typically less than on a monitor. Most printers must therefore produce additional colors through a [[halftone]] or [[dithering]] process. The exception to this rule is a [[dye-sublimation printer]] that utilizes a printing method more akin to [[pixels per inch]].
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| The printing process could require a region of four to six dots (measured across each side) in order to faithfully reproduce the color contained in a single pixel. An image that is 100 pixels wide may need to be 400 to 600 dots in width in the printed output; if a 100×100-pixel image is to be printed inside a one-inch square, the printer must be capable of 400 to 600 dots per inch in order to accurately reproduce the image.
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| [[Image:DPI and PPI.png|right|frame|A 10 × 10-pixel image on a computer display usually requires many more than 10 × 10 printer dots to accurately reproduce, due to limitations of available ink colors in the printer. The whole blue pixels making up the sphere are reproduced by the printer using cyan, magenta, and black.]]
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| === DPI or PPI in digital image files ===
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| {{unreferenced section|date=January 2010}}
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| In printing, DPI (dots per inch) refers to the output resolution of a printer or imagesetter, and PPI (pixels per inch) refers to the input resolution of a photograph or image.
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| ''DPI'' refers to the physical dot density of an image when it is reproduced as a real physical entity, for example printed onto paper, or displayed on a monitor. A digitally stored image has no inherent physical dimensions, measured in inches or centimeters. Some digital file formats record a DPI value, or more commonly a PPI ([[pixels per inch]]) value, which is to be used when printing the image. This number lets the printer or software know the intended size of the image, or in the case of [[scanned images]], the size of the original scanned object. For example, a [[bitmap]] image may measure 1,000 × 1,000 pixels, a resolution of 1 [[megapixels]]. If it is labeled as 250 PPI, that is an instruction to the printer to print it at a size of 4 × 4 inches. Changing the PPI to 100 in an image editing program would tell the printer to print it at a size of 10×10 inches. However, changing the PPI value would not change the size of the image in pixels which would still be 1,000 × 1,000. An image may also be resampled to change the number of pixels and therefore the size or resolution of the image, but this is quite different from simply setting a new PPI for the file. | |
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| For [[vector images]], there is no equivalent of resampling an image when it is resized, and there is no PPI in the file because it is resolution independent (prints equally well at all sizes). However there is still a target printing size. Some image formats, such as Photoshop format, can contain both bitmap and vector data in the same file. Adjusting the PPI in a Photoshop file will change the intended printing size of the bitmap portion of the data and also change the intended printing size of the vector data to match. This way the vector and bitmap data maintain a consistent size relationship when the target printing size is changed. Text stored as outline fonts in bitmap image formats is handled in the same way. Other formats, such as PDF, are primarily vector formats which can have bitmaps pasted into them. In these formats the target PPI of the bitmaps is adjusted to match when the target print size of the file is changed. This is the converse of how it works in a primarily bitmap format like Photoshop, but has exactly the same result of maintaining the relationship between the vector and bitmap portions of the data.
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| ==Computer monitor DPI standards==
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| Since the 1980s, the [[Microsoft Windows]] operating system has set the default display "DPI" to 96 PPI, while [[Apple Inc|Apple]]/[[Macintosh]] computers have used a default of 72 PPI.<ref>
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| {{cite web
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| |url=http://blogs.msdn.com/fontblog/archive/2005/11/08/490490.aspx
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| |title=Where does 96 DPI come from in Windows?
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| |accessdate=2009-11-07
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| |last=Hitchcock
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| |first=Greg
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| |date=2005-10-08
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| |work=Microsoft Developer Network Blog
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| |publisher=Microsoft
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| }}</ref> These default specifications arose out of the problems rendering standard fonts in the early display systems of the 1980s, including the [[IBM]]-based [[Color Graphics Adapter|CGA]], [[Enhanced Graphics Adapter|EGA]], [[VGA]] and [[8514]] displays as well as the [[Macintosh]] displays featured in the [[Macintosh 128K|128K]] computer and its successors. The choice of 72 PPI by Macintosh for their displays arose from the convenient fact that the official 72 ''points-per-inch'' mirrored the 72 ''pixels-per-inch'' that actually appeared on their display screens. ([[Point (typography)|Points]] are a physical unit-of-measure in [[typography]] dating to the days of [[printing presses]], where 1 point by the [[Point (typography)#Current DTP point system|modern definition]] is 1/72 of the [[inch#International inch|international inch]] (25.4 mm), which therefore makes 1 point approximately 0.0139 in or 352.8 µm). Thus, a 72 pixels-per-inch seen on the display was exactly the same physical dimensions as the 72 points-per-inch later seen on a printout, with 1 pt in printed text equal to 1 px on the display screen. As it is, the Macintosh 128K featured a screen measuring 512 pixels in width by 342 pixels in height, and this corresponded to the width of standard office paper (512 px ÷ 72 px/in = 7.1 in, with a 0.75 in margin down each side when assuming [[paper size#North American paper sizes|8.5 in × 11 in North American paper size]]).
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| A consequence of Apple's decision was that the widely used 10 point fonts from the typewriter era had to be allotted 10 display pixels in [[em (typography)|em]] height, and 5 display pixels in ''[[x-height]]''. This is technically described as 10 ''pixels per em'' (''PPEm''). This made 10-point fonts render crudely and difficult to read on the display screen, particularly for lowercase characters. Furthermore, there was the consideration that computer screens are typically viewed (at a desk) at a distance 1/3 or 33% greater than printed materials, causing a mismatch between the perceived sizes seen on the computer screen versus those on the printouts.
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| [[Microsoft]] tried to solve both problems with a hack that has had long-term consequences for the understanding of what DPI and PPI mean.<ref name="msdn-greg">{{cite web |url=http://blogs.msdn.com/fontblog/archive/2005/11/08/490490.aspx |title=Where does 96 DPI come from in Windows? |accessdate=2010-05-09 |first=Greg (fbcontrb) |date=2005-09-08 |publisher=blogs.msdn.com}}</ref> Microsoft began writing its software to treat the screen as though it provided a PPI characteristic that is <math>\tfrac{1}{3}</math> times ''larger'' than what the screen actually displayed. Because most screens at the time provided around 72 PPI, Microsoft essentially wrote its software to assume that every screen provides 96 PPI (because <math>72 * (1+\tfrac{1}{3}) = 96</math>). The short-term gain of this trickery was twofold:
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| *It would seem to the software that <math>\tfrac{1}{3}</math> more pixels were available for rendering an image, thereby allowing for bitmap fonts to be created with greater detail.
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| *On every screen that actually provided 72 PPI, each graphical element (such as a character of text) would be rendered at a size <math>\tfrac{1}{3}</math> larger than it "should" be, thereby allowing a person to sit a comfortable distance from the screen. However, larger graphical elements meant less screen space was available for programs to draw.
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| Thus, for example, a 10-point font on a Macintosh (at 72 PPI) was represented with 10 pixels (i.e., 10 PPEm), whereas a 10-point font on a Windows platform (at 96 PPI) using the same screen is represented with 13 pixels (i.e., Microsoft rounded 13.3333 to 13 pixels, or 13 PPEm). Likewise, a 12-point font was represented with 12 pixels on a Macintosh, and 16 pixels on a Windows platform that used the same screen, and so on.<ref>
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| {{cite web
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| |url=http://www.microsoft.com/typography/tt/sbit.aspx
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| |title=Microsoft Typography - Making TrueType bitmap fonts
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| |accessdate=2009-11-07
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| |last=Connare
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| |first=Vincent
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| |date=1998-04-06
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| |publisher=Microsoft
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| }}</ref> The negative consequence of this standard is that with 96 PPI displays, there is no longer a 1-to-1 relationship between the font size in pixels and the printout size in points. This difference is accentuated on more recent displays that feature higher [[pixel densities]]. This has been less of a problem with the advent of [[vector graphics]] and fonts being used in place of bitmap graphics and fonts. Moreover, many Windows software programs have been written since the 1980s which assume that the screen provides 96 PPI. Accordingly, these programs do not display properly at common alternative resolutions such as 72 PPI or 120 PPI. The solution has been to introduce two concepts:<ref name="msdn-greg"/>
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| *'''logical PPI''': The PPI that software claims a screen provides. This can be thought of as the PPI provided by a virtual screen created by the operating system.
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| *'''physical PPI''': The PPI that a physical screen actually provides.
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| Software programs render images to the virtual screen and then the operating system renders the virtual screen onto the physical screen. With a logical PPI of 96 PPI, older programs can still run properly regardless of the actual physical PPI of the display screen.
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| == Proposed metrication ==
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| {{see also|dots per centimeter}}
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| There are some ongoing efforts to abandon the DPI unit in favor of [[metrication]], giving the inter-dot spacing in [[dots per centimeter]] (dpcm) or [[micrometer]]s (µm) between dots.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.4.2/docs/api/javax/print/attribute/ResolutionSyntax.html|title=Class ResolutionSyntax|publisher=Sun Microsystems|accessdate=2007-10-12}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.w3.org/TR/css3-mediaqueries/| title=Media Queries}}</ref> A resolution of 72 DPI for example equals a resolution of about 28 dpcm or an inter-dot spacing of about 350 µm.
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| {| class="wikitable"
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| |+Conversion table
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| |-
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| ! DPI <br>(dot/in) !! dpcm <br> (dot/cm) !! Pitch<br> (µm)
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| |-
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| |align=right| 72
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| |align=right| 28
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| |align=right| 350
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| |-
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| |align=right| 96
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| |align=right| 38
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| |align=right| 265
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| |-
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| |align=right| 150
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| |align=right| 59
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| |align=right| 169
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| |-
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| |align=right| 300
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| |align=right| 118
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| |align=right| 85
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| |-
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| |align=right| 2540
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| |align=right| 1000
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| |align=right| 10
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| |-
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| |align=right| 4000
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| |align=right| 1575
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| |align=right| 6
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| |}
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| == See also ==
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| * [[Pixels per inch]]
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| * [[Samples per inch]] – a related concept for [[image scanner]]s
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| * [[Lines per inch]]
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| * [[Metric typographic units]]
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| * [[Display resolution]]
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| * [[Mouse dpi|Mouse DPI]]
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| * [[Twip]]
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| == References ==
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| {{Reflist|refs=
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| <ref name="dpi">
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| The acronym appears in sources as either "DPI" or lowercase "dpi".
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| See: [http://www.office.xerox.com/latest/XOGFS-17 <!--
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| --> "Print Resolution Understanding 4-bit depth - Xerox"] (PDF).
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| Xerox.com. September 2012.
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| </ref>
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| }}
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| == External links ==
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| *[http://www.rideau-info.com/photos/mythdpi.html All About Digital Photos - The Myth of DPI]
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| * [http://www.infobyip.com/detectmonitordpi.php Monitor DPI detector]
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| {{DEFAULTSORT:Dots Per Inch}}
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| [[Category:Printing terminology]]
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| [[Category:Units of density]]
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| [[Category:Computer printing]]
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