Web developers are increasingly turning to greater screen resolutions to accommodate for wide-screen devices, new research has found.
According to the web analytics firm StatCounter, screen resolutions of 1,366 x 768 are officially now more popular than 1,024 x 768; representing a change in the way customers view content on their devices.
Wide-screen laptops and PC screens, for example, have largely replaced the older, blockier displays that were popular before flat screen technologies came along.
PC Pro reports that in a three-year period to March 2012, screen resolutions of 1,024 x 768 have fallen from 41.8 per cent to just 18.6 per cent. Meanwhile, sales of 1,366 x 768 displays have grown massively, from 0.68 per cent to 19.28 per cent.
Aodhan Cullen, StatCounter’s chief operating officer, says that the extra width has now given every web design agency the “extra width they should be developing for”; enabling them to place extra columns, text or even advertising.
“The screen resolution size people are using is a critical factor for developers when it comes to web design, particularly in the case of fixed width web pages,” Cullen added on TechPowerUp.com. “It’s really important that everyone can see the site properly, but it should also be optimised for different resolutions.”
According to StatCounter, 1280 x 800 is the third most popular screen resolution; in use by 13 per cent of computers.