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1---
2title: 'Units: pixels, ems, display resolution'
3---
4
5# Units: pixels, ems, display resolution
6
7|  |  |
8|---|---|
9| Author | Peter Edberg |
10| Date | 2019-05-21 |
11| Status | Proposal |
12| Feedback to | pedberg (at) unicode (dot) org |
13| Bugs | [CLDR-9996](https://unicode-org.atlassian.net/browse/CLDR-9996) Add units for  pixels , ems, and display resolution<br /> [CLDR-8076](https://unicode-org.atlassian.net/browse/CLDR-8076#icft=CLDR-8076) Proposal: add units for dot density and pixel density |
14
15This is a proposal to add 7 units related to graphics, imaging, typography.
16
17| unit | abbr (en) | proposed category | notes |
18|---|---|---|---|
19| pixel<br /> megapixel | px<br /> MP | new category? | A pixel is the smallest resolvable element of a bitmap image. In many usages it does not have a fixed size, and is just used for counting (e.g. an image has 360 pixels vertically and 480 horizontally). In some graphic usages it is specifically 1/96 inch. In CSS it is the smallest resolvable element on a display, but specifically means 1/96 inch on a printer. Thus sometimes it is a property associated with an image, and sometimes with a device. |
20| dots-per-inch<br /> dots-per-centimeter | dpi<br /> dpcm | new category?<br /> or concentr | A dot is the smallest displayable element on a device, typically used for printers. Measurements using dots per inch or centimeter are used to indicate printer resolution, and are a kind of linear density. |
21| pixels-per-inch<br /> pixels-per-centimeter | ppi<br /> ppcm | new category?<br /> or concentr | Measurements using pixels per inch or centimeter are sometimes used to indicate display resolution, and are a kind of linear density. |
22| em | em | new category? or length | A typographic em is a unit of length that corresponds to the point size of a font (so it does not have a fixed size). |
23
24We could consider adding a new category for these, say “graphics”; otherwise some of them do not fit reasonably into any existing category.
25
26Per TC meeting 2019-05-22:
27
28- Use singular for the internal key name, e.g. “dot-per-inch”
29- Put all of these in a new category “graphics”
30
31Some reference material:
32
33- https://www.w3.org/Style/Examples/007/units.en.html
34- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pixel
35- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Display_resolution
36- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dots_per_inch
37- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pixel_density
38- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Em_(typography)
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