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I started to develop my own webdesign using an grid framework 960 CSS Framework and also noticed that most of other famous css grid frameworks use 940/960px as maximum page width? Some of them have an online generators where you can calculate and generate the same framework but for different width size.

Can you tell me why they suggest 960 px as default?

And more important: Why everything is measured in pixels rather than pt, cm, % or any other css units?

Edit: Isn't it better to use 'in' as css unit and be sure that on every screen (computer, smartphone) it will have the same size?

P.S. Some other grid css frameworks:

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2 Answers 2

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Aside from the 1024 scrollbar issue, 960 is divisible by many factors making it possible to have many different balanced column width configurations.

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  • Why not 'in' unit?
    – ju.
    Oct 20, 2011 at 19:06
  • An pixel is a pixel, regardless of the size of a user's monitor. A pixel is the smallest unit of displayable information. This is particularly important for images because making them larger degrades image quality.
    – Diodeus - James MacFarlane
    Oct 20, 2011 at 19:13
  • Actually, the CSS specifications originally defined the pixel independent of other length units as "The reference pixel is the visual angle of one pixel on a device with a pixel density of 96dpi and a distance from the reader of an arm's length. For a nominal arm's length of 28 inches, the visual angle is therefore about 0.0213 degrees. For reading at arm's length, 1px thus corresponds to about 0.26 mm (1/96 inch)." From CSS 2.1 on, a px is an absolute unit like the in and cm (and in a fixed relation to these, 96 px = 1 in).
    – Paŭlo Ebermann
    Oct 24, 2011 at 22:14
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Because it fits nicely into a 1024 wide screen resolution and dividable into different divisions quite easily. It creates a fixed width (why you wouldn't want to use percents). The conversion of arbitrary units such as points, centimeters or inches could vary from system to system.

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  • Why not 'in' unit?
    – ju.
    Oct 20, 2011 at 19:07
  • same reason its inches.
    – Daniel A. White
    Oct 20, 2011 at 19:39
  • But it will not vary in real screen size of objects?
    – ju.
    Oct 20, 2011 at 20:15
  • what do you mean?
    – Daniel A. White
    Oct 21, 2011 at 0:51
  • If you create a website which is 16 inches wide (width: 16in;) it will be shown on every screen as a 16 inches? Is this right? And is it better?
    – ju.
    Oct 21, 2011 at 9:31

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