---
title: "Pixels per Inch (PPI). Measured as a line or a square?"
description: "Demystify screen resolution with PPI: learn how to calculate pixels per inch and understand the physical properties of a screen."
url: "https://hoeijmakers.net/pixels-per-inch-ppi/"
date: 2022-03-18
updated: 2026-04-25
author: "Rob Hoeijmakers"
site: "hoeijmakers.net"
language: "en"
tags: []
---

# Pixels per Inch (PPI). Measured as a line or a square?

For years, I tried to figure out screen resolution in relation to the **physical properties of a screen**. Only now I understood that the physical properties of a screen, that is the number of pixels, are not measured on a surface but as a line.

So when it says 300 pixels per inch, these are on **a line an inch long**. And there are many more on a square inch. There are 90,000 physical pixels on a square inch of such a screen. Of course, assuming the pixels are squares.

A bit one dimensional to mix up lines and surfaces when defining resolution 😉

## Calculations

To have this figured out made me happy. This new knowledge gave me insight and input for calculations.

The PPI of a display can be derived from the **diagonal size of a screen in inches** and the resolution (horizontal and vertical) in pixels. The calculation is done in two steps.

1. Calculate the diagonal resolution in pixels, relying on the Pythagorean Theorem:dₒ = √(w² + h²)w = width and h = height
2. Calculation of the PPI is the total numbers of pixels divided by the diagonal size: PPI = dₒ/dᵢ

With these two simple formulas, I can plug in the numbers.

## Outcome for my e-reader

So for the screen of six inches diagonal and resolution of 1072 by 1448 it is:

dₒ = 1801.6

It is six inches, and so I divide by six.

PPI = 300.27.

Close! Pretty, pretty close. And now the theory is clear, I also can use and understand this calculator:

[Pixels Per Inch PPI Calculator](https://www.calculatorsoup.com/calculators/technology/ppi-calculator.php)
###