Pick a device or enter a screen size and shape. The calculator shows how big a page of music appears compared with the printed page, held upright or turned sideways to show two pages.
The results are for Standly in Full screen, where the toolbar and the Windows taskbar are hidden and the music uses the whole screen. This is the largest the music can appear on a given device.
I made this calculator because screen size decides how big the music looks more than anything else. Among devices of the same type, it's also one of the biggest factors in price. Finding the right size for your budget matters, and it helps to see how a printed page translates to a given screen before you buy.
×
Settings → System → Display → Display resolution
Upright, one page
–of printed size
Sideways, two pages
–of printed size, each page
Results assume Standly is in Full screen, with no toolbar or taskbar showing. Drawings are to scale with each other. The dashed outline is the printed page.
How to read the numbers
100% means the notes are the same size as on the printed page. Anything above about 85% reads much like paper for most people. Below about 65%, dense passages and small markings get hard to read from a stand.
Why screen shape matters
A letter-size page is about 1.3 times as tall as it is wide. A 4:3 screen held upright is almost exactly that shape, which is why iPads suit sheet music. A wide 16:9 screen held upright is much taller than the page, so the page is scaled to fit the width and the extra height goes unused.
Turned sideways, the situation reverses. Two pages side by side make a shape that is wider than it is tall, which suits 16:10 and 16:9 screens.
Trimming margins
Most printed music has half an inch or more of blank margin on every side. Scans often have more. Standly's framing feature crops that margin away, so the notes fill more of the screen. Use the Trim page margins option above to see the difference.
What the calculator assumes
Standly is in Full screen, so no toolbar, side pane, or Windows taskbar takes up space. Outside full screen, the toolbar and taskbar reduce the height available, and the music appears smaller than shown here.
The screen size is the diagonal of the visible screen, as manufacturers list it.