The top 10 resolutions the world used over the past year according to Statcounter are:
- 1024×768
- 1200×800
- 1366×768
- 1280×1024
- 1440×900
- 1680×1050
- 1920×1080
- 1600×900
- 1360×768
- 1024×600
Some of you may be surprised to know that 1024×768 is still #1. And no, that’s not a netbook resolution (which is #10). There are hundreds of thousands (millions?) of people still purposely setting their desktop and laptop screens to Ye Olde 1024×768.
Why is 1024×768 still #1?
The first thing to know is that this is a world figure and not specific to any continent. The second thing to know is how many businesses still use old monitors.
It’s probably safe to say there are mountains of businesses out there still stocked with aging 15, 17 and 19-inch CRTs in offices and plant floors where 1024×768 looks best on them. If you’ve ever tried to use greater than 1024 on an old CRT, like 1152×768 for example, it’s almost unreadable on an older monitor because at this point it’s ‘fuzzed’ considerably due to age.
Why do so many businesses still use old, crappy CRTs? It’s a cost-cutting maneuver. They don’t want to spend the cash on new monitors, nor do they want to spend anything on proper disposal of the old ones (which would probably cost more than getting the flat panel replacements).
Something to also consider is that offshore businesses looking to save a buck on computers will readily buy up old LCD and CRT monitors because, well, nobody else wants them. If you have a lot of 10 or 20 monitors and they all work, then post them on eBay, someone in some far-away land will probably buy them all up and do it happily. Computer recyclers routinely sell off working monitors this way.
When will 1024×768 lose its #1 spot in the world? Not for a while yet. It is losing ground and that much is true, but it’s definitely slow going.
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