96column

96column is a term that refers to a specific aspect of digital display technology, particularly in the context of older cathode ray tube (CRT) monitors and certain software interfaces. The number 96 in 96column typically denotes a resolution or a character cell width. In the era of CRTs, displays were often characterized by the number of characters they could render horizontally and vertically, rather than by pixels directly. A 96column display would mean that the screen could display 96 characters across its width. This was a common standard for text-based interfaces and early graphical user interfaces where fixed-width fonts were prevalent. The width of 96 characters allowed for a reasonable amount of information to be displayed on a single line without becoming overly cramped. This specification was important for software developers designing user interfaces and for users selecting monitors that would be compatible with their applications. While pixel-based resolutions are now the dominant standard for displays, the concept of column counts like 96column persists in certain legacy systems and specialized applications, particularly those dealing with text rendering or character-based graphics.