screen resolution vs. low resolution

[irlynjl]

Hello! I'm designing a web site but I'm just wondering which is the best screen resolution to use. Is it high resolution(1024 x768) or low resolution(800x600). From survey which resolution is most widely used?

[Tweak4]

1024x768 is hardly "high" anymore- it's really become the defacto "medium" instead, as a significant number of people now run 1280x1024 or even 1600x1200, with the popular adoption of larger monitors. However, 1024x768 is the most popular by a wide margin (though as a designer, you should strive to code a site that can adapt itself to any common resolution and look right)

Check here:
http://www.thecounter.com/stats/2006/February/res.php

[JPnyc]

He's right, 1024 is now the most commonly used res. on the web. Roughly 2 to 1 over 800x600

[ronalfy]

By designing your site for 1024x768, you would be alienating all those people who still browse at 800x600. If you don't care about that, then by all means design for a higher resolution. Some popular sites (like news.com (http://www.news.com) for example) typically create a content container that is roughly 800x600. Some design elements such as border, background, etc... are loaded either using background elements or absolute positioning so that when a user does browse at a low resolution, those elements simply don't show up, but the content is still there. Only when the user sizes their screen less than 800x600 do the scrollbars show up.

You could also have your site have one design, but two stylesheets. One stylesheet can have a fixed layout, while the other can have a fluid layout. This would be a pain though.

Eventually those still browsing at 800x600 will just have to deal with it.

[toicontien]

I'd say it can heavily depend on a couple factors:

1) Average number of words per line for body text should not exceed 10 to 12 words per line.

2) Content heavy pages benefit from 1024-designed layouts. Content light, i.e. interior pages may be more effective with a narrower layout (playing off of consideration number 1). If you want to use 300px wide ads, you can get away with a 1024-designed layout for interior pages with body text.

The biggest question is can you fill the width of the screen and still keep it readable. That should determine how wide the layout is.

[mcrockford]

1024x768 is hardly "high" anymore- it's really become the defacto "medium" instead, as a significant number of people now run 1280x1024 or even 1600x1200, with the popular adoption of larger monitors. However, 1024x768 is the most popular by a wide margin (though as a designer, you should strive to code a site that can adapt itself to any common resolution and look right)

Check here:
http://www.thecounter.com/stats/2006/February/res.php

Cool , so if most people have 1024x768 what is the usable size within the browser window. (I.E. What size should you make your photoshop files when desiging the layout etc) Any advice or links that explain this would be very much appreciated.

Regards

Martin.