effective resolution

Definition: Apparent resolution of a device's output after application of a processing technology designed to give appearance of improved resolution. * In output devices e.g. laserprinters, varying dot sizes improve the appearance - hence effective resolution - but not the actual resolution of the print-out as the addressable points remain the same in number. * With input devices e.g. scanners, software and hardware interpolation produce more pixels - and bigger files - but with no actual increase in resolution.
Effective waffle
Essentially the term 'effective resolution' is marketing waffle to allow inflation of resolution figures to fancy sizes without attracting legal attention for misrepresentation.

Related Terms: addressable

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