A Math Journey Through COMPUTER GAMES Hilary Koll Steve Mills Crabtree Publishing Company www crabtreebooks com
MISSION 1 04 LEARN IT ABOUT RATIOS To figure out the simplest form of a ratio you need to keep dividing each number in the ratio by a number they have in common until you get the smallest whole number possible as shown in the examples at right 10 8 The same simple ratio can be used to describe several different numbers as the examples show So a screen with a ratio of 1280 800 has the same aspect ratio as a screen with the ratio 1680 1050 SCREEN READY First things first you need to get your screen set up properly to display the fullest view of the computer games you're playing as well as the best image quality Ratios compare two or more things such as two lengths For computer games the aspect ratio describes the relationship between the length and the height of a computer monitor or TV screen Screens display images that are made up of thousands of points called pixels The length and height of the screen is measured in the number of pixels it can display For example a TV screen that has 1280 pixels across length and 1024 pixels up height has a ratio of 1280 1024 1280 800 128 80 16 10 10 5 8 3 7 1680 1050 336 210 112 70 16 10 5 3 7
It is easier to compare ratios when the second number is simplifed to 1 so the ratio can be written in the form n 1 To do this divide both numbers in the ratio by the second number After dividing the n or first number might end up being a decimal 4 5 4 1 25 1 4 10 16 10 1 6 1 10 GO FIGURE The higher the number of pixels your screen has the clearer the picture will be Use your knowledge of ratios to figure out the answers to the questions below 5 4 4 3 16 10 Here are several common aspect ratios for displays 16 9 05 1 An old screen has 640 480 pixels a Which of the above aspect ratios is it b Does it have the same aspect ratio as a 1024 768 screen 2 You look at a screen with 1920 pixels across and 1200 pixels up a Which of the aspect ratios shown above does it match b Write this as a ratio in its simplest form 3 Many gamers believe that the best ratio for gaming is 16 9 What is this ratio in the form n 1 Use a calculator to help you find n Round to two decimal places See how to round on page 15 4 An ultra high definition screen has 3840 2160 pixels Would this be suitable if you wanted to get a screen with the aspect ratio 16 9
