Use density descriptors

Katie Hempenius

Explore This Demo

• To preview the site, press View App. Then press Fullscreen .
• Reload the page using different devices to see the browser load different images.

You can use the device emulator for this. If you're looking for specific display densities, here are some devices to try:

• Checkout index.html for the code that makes this work.

How does it work?

The concept of density descriptors may be unfamiliar to most folks. To better understand them, it helps to have a bit of background on how the browser works with pixels.

What are pixels

Let's start at the very beginning by defining what a pixel is. This sounds simple, but "pixel" can actually have many meanings:

Device pixel (a.k.a. "physical pixel")

The smallest dot of color that can be displayed on a device.

Logical pixel

Information that specifies the color at a particular location on a grid. This type of pixel has no inherent physical size.

CSS pixel

The CSS spec defines a pixel as a unit of physical measurement. 1 pixel = 1/96th of an inch.

Pixel Density

Pixel density (also referred to as "screen density" or "display density") measures the density of device pixels in a given physical area. This is commonly measured using pixels per inch (ppi).

For many years, 96 ppi was a very common display density (hence CSS defining a pixel as 1/96th of an inch). Starting in the 1980s it was the default resolution of Windows. In addition, it was the resolution of CRT monitors.

This began to change as LED monitors became common in the 2000s. In particular, Apple made a big splash in 2010 when it introduced Retina displays. These displays had a minimum resolution of 192 ppi, which was twice the resolution of "regular" displays (192 ppi/96 ppi = 2).

window.devicePixelRatio

With the introduction of newer display technology, "device pixels" began to vary in physical size and shape and were no longer the same size as "CSS pixels". The need to define the relationship between the size of "device pixels" and "CSS pixels" is what led to the introduction of the devicePixelRatio (sometimes called the "CSS Pixel Ratio").

devicePixelRatio defines the relationship between device pixels and CSS pixels for a particular device. A 192 ppi device has a devicePixelRatio of 2 (192 ppi/96 ppi = 2) because "2 of its display pixels are the size of 1 CSS pixel".

These days most devices have a device-pixel-ratio between 1.0 and 4.0.

• Determine the pixel density of a device by typing window.devicePixelRatio in the console.

• View this table to see the pixel ratios of common devices. Most are between 1.0 and 4.0.

So how do you actually apply this information?

Size images based on device-pixel-ratios

In order for images to look their very best on high resolution screens, it's necessary to provide different image versions for different devicePixelRatios.

Things to note:

• The pixel dimensions listed in image editors, file directories, and other places are a measurement of logical pixels.
• For higher resolution screens and larger displays you'll need images with larger dimensions. Merely enlarging smaller images defeats the purpose of serving multiple image versions. The browser would have done this anyway if a high resolution image was not provided.

Use Density Descriptors to serve multiple
images

Density descriptors, in conjunction with the "srcset " attribute, can be used to serve different images to different devicePixelRatios.

• Take a look at the index.html file and note the <img> element.

<img src="flower.jpg"
  srcset="flower-1x.jpg 1x,
          flower-2x.jpg 2x,
          flower-3x.jpg 3x">

This example put into words:

• 1x, 2x, and 3x are all density descriptors that tell the browser the pixel density that an image is intended for. This saves the browser from needing to download an image to determine this information.
• The browser can choose between three images: flower-1x.jpg (intended for browsers with a 1.0 pixel density), flower-2x.jpg (intended for browsers with a 2.0 pixel density), and flower-3x.jpg (intended for browsers with a 3.0 pixel density).
• flower.jpg is the fallback image for browsers that do not support srcset.

How to use this:

• Use a devicePixelRatio and the x unit to write density descriptors. For example, the density descriptor for many Retina screens (window.devicePixelRatio = 2) would be written as 2x.
• If a density descriptor isn't provided, it is assumed to be 1x.
• Including density descriptors in filenames is a common convention (and will help you keep track of files) but is not necessary. Images can have any filename.
• There is no need to include a sizes attribute. The sizes attribute is only used with width descriptors.