Quarter Video Graphics Array

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A graphic which shows the resolution of QVGA compared to VGA.  Click for actual size.
A graphic which shows the resolution of QVGA compared to VGA. Click for actual size.

The Quarter Video Graphics Array (also known as Quarter VGA or QVGA) is a popular term for a computer display with 320 × 240 resolution. QVGA displays are most often seen in mobile phones, PDAs and some handheld game consoles. Most often the displays are in a “portrait” alignment (as opposed to “landscape”) and are referred to as 240 × 320 as the displays are taller than they are wide.

The name is derived from the fact that it offers 1/4 of the 640 × 480 maximum resolution of the original IBM VGA display technology, which became a de facto industry standard in the late 1980s. QVGA implementations are not compatible with, nor directly derived from, standard VGA chipsets or interfaces; the term refers only to the display's resolution and thus the abbreviated term QVGA or Quarter VGA is more appropriate to use.

The QVGA term is also seen in digital video recording equipment as a space-efficient mode, typically in multi-function devices that are also still digital cameras (such as the Fujifilm FinePix S602) or mobile phones (such as the Pantech PH-L4000V, Samsung SGH-D600). Each frame is an image of 320 × 240 pixels. QVGA video is typically 15 or 30 frames per second. QVGA mode refers just to the resolution and is not a video file format.

Prior to Version 7, iTunes distributed television programs in QVGA for watching on the computer or syncing to the fifth-generation iPod, which is capable of playing QVGA resolution videos at 30 frames per second. The service now distributes VGA resolution television programs and movies.

At higher resolutions the "Q" prefix sometimes means "Quad" or four times the display resolution (e.g. QXGA which is 2048 × 1536).

  • QQVGA - Quarter-QVGA denotes a resolution of 160 x 120 or 120 x 160 pixels.
  • 320x240 - a festival involving movies made in the resolution.
  • Mode 13h - a resolution profile similar to this one


Size comparison
Video hardware Size comparison
MDA | Hercules | CGA | EGA | VGA | MCGA | 8514 | XGA
Display resolutions
QQVGA | QVGA | VGA | SVGA | XGA | XGA+ | SXGA | SXGA+ | UXGA | QXGA | QSXGA | QUXGA | HXGA | HSXGA | HUXGA
Widescreen variants
WXGA | WSXGA/WXGA+ | WSXGA+ | WUXGA | WQXGA | WQSXGA | WHXGA | WHSXGA | WHUXGA | WQUXGA
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