What is the Difference between px, dp, dip and sp on Android?

What is the difference between:

• px
• dip
• dp
• sp

on Android?

From the Android Developer Documentation:

1. px
   Pixels - corresponds to actual pixels on the screen.

2. in
   Inches - based on the physical size of the screen.
   1 Inch = 2.54 centimeters

3. mm
   Millimeters - based on the physical size of the screen.

4. pt
   Points - 1/72 of an inch based on the physical size of the screen.

5. dp or dip
   Density-independent Pixels - an abstract unit that is based on the physical density of the screen. These units are relative to a 160 dpi screen, so one dp is one pixel on a 160 dpi screen. The ratio of dp-to-pixel will change with the screen density, but not necessarily in direct proportion. Note: The compiler accepts both "dip" and "dp", though "dp" is more consistent with "sp".

6. sp
   Scale-independent Pixels - this is like the dp unit, but it is also scaled by the user's font size preference. It is recommend you use this unit when specifying font sizes, so they will be adjusted for both the screen density and user's preference.

From Understanding Density Independence In Android:

+----------------+----------------+---------------+-------------------------------+
| Density Bucket | Screen Density | Physical Size | Pixel Size                    | 
+----------------+----------------+---------------+-------------------------------+
| ldpi           | 120 dpi        | 0.5 x 0.5 in  | 0.5 in * 120 dpi = 60x60 px   | 
+----------------+----------------+---------------+-------------------------------+
| mdpi           | 160 dpi        | 0.5 x 0.5 in  | 0.5 in * 160 dpi = 80x80 px   | 
+----------------+----------------+---------------+-------------------------------+
| hdpi           | 240 dpi        | 0.5 x 0.5 in  | 0.5 in * 240 dpi = 120x120 px | 
+----------------+----------------+---------------+-------------------------------+
| xhdpi          | 320 dpi        | 0.5 x 0.5 in  | 0.5 in * 320 dpi = 160x160 px | 
+----------------+----------------+---------------+-------------------------------+
| xxhdpi         | 480 dpi        | 0.5 x 0.5 in  | 0.5 in * 480 dpi = 240x240 px | 
+----------------+----------------+---------------+-------------------------------+
| xxxhdpi        | 640 dpi        | 0.5 x 0.5 in  | 0.5 in * 640 dpi = 320x320 px | 
+----------------+----------------+---------------+-------------------------------+


+---------+-------------+---------------+-------------+--------------------+
| Unit    | Description | Units Per     | Density     | Same Physical Size | 
|         |             | Physical Inch | Independent | On Every Screen    | 
+---------+-------------+---------------+-------------+--------------------+
| px      | Pixels      | Varies        | No          | No                 | 
+---------+-------------+---------------+-------------+--------------------+
| in      | Inches      | 1             | Yes         | Yes                | 
+---------+-------------+---------------+-------------+--------------------+
| mm      | Millimeters | 25.4          | Yes         | Yes                | 
+---------+-------------+---------------+-------------+--------------------+
| pt      | Points      | 72            | Yes         | Yes                | 
+---------+-------------+---------------+-------------+--------------------+
| dp      | Density     | ~160          | Yes         | No                 | 
|         | Independent |               |             |                    | 
|         | Pixels      |               |             |                    | 
+---------+-------------+---------------+-------------+--------------------+
| sp      | Scale       | ~160          | Yes         | No                 | 
|         | Independent |               |             |                    | 
|         | Pixels      |               |             |                    | 
+---------+-------------+---------------+-------------+--------------------+

More info can be also be found in the Google Design Documentation.

Pretty much everything about this and how to achieve the best support for multiple screens with different sizes and density is very well documented here:

• Supporting Multiple Screens

If you are any serious about developing an Android app for more than one type of device, you should have read the above at least once. In addition to that it is always a good thing to know the actual number of active devices that have a particular screen configuration.

• Screen Sizes and Densities

I will elaborate more on how exactly does dp convert to px:

• If running on mdpi device, 150x150 px image will take up 150*150 dp of screen space.
• If running on hdpi device, 150x150 px image will take up 100*100 dp of screen space.
• If running on xhdpi device, 150x150 px image will take up 75*75 dp of screen space.

The other way around: say, you want to add an image to your application and you need it to fill 100*100 dp control, you'll need to create different size images for supported screen sizes:

• 100*100 px image for mdpi
• 150*150 px image for hdpi
• 200*200 px image for xhdpi

116down vote

px Pixels - point per scale corresponds to actual pixels on the screen. in Inches - based on the physical size of the screen. mm Millimeters - based on the physical size of the screen. pt Points - 1/72 of an inch based on the physical size of the screen. dp Density-independent Pixels - an abstract unit that is based on the physical density of the screen. These units are relative to a 160 dpi screen, so one dp is one pixel on a 160 dpi screen. The ratio of dp-to-pixel will change with the screen density, but not necessarily in direct proportion. Note: The compiler accepts both "dip" and "dp", though "dp" is more consistent with "sp". sp Scale-independent Pixels - this is like the dp unit, but it is also scaled by the user's font size preference. It is recommend you use this unit when specifying font sizes, so they will be adjusted for both the screen density and user's preference. Take the example of two screens that are the same size but one has a screen density of 160 dpi (dots per inch, i.e. pixels per inch) and the other is 240 dpi. Lower resolution screen Higher resolution, same size Physical Width 1.5 inches 1.5 inches Dots Per Inch (“dpi”) 160 240 Pixels (=width*dpi) 240 360 Density (factor of baseline 160) 1.0 1.5 Density-independent Pixels 240 240 (“dip” or “dp” or “dps”) Scale-independent pixels (“sip” or “sp”) Depends on user font size settings same Screen size: Actual physical size, measured as the screen's diagonal. For simplicity, Android groups all actual screen sizes into four generalized sizes: small, normal, large, and extra large. Screen density: The quantity of pixels within a physical area of the screen; usually referred to as dpi (dots per inch). For example, a "low" density screen has fewer pixels within a given physical area, compared to a "normal" or "high" density screen. For simplicity, Android groups all actual screen densities into four generalized densities: low, medium, high, and extra high. Orientation: The orientation of the screen from the user's point of view. This is either landscape or portrait, meaning that the screen's aspect ratio is either wide or tall, respectively. Be aware that not only do different devices operate in different orientations by default, but the orientation can change at runtime when the user rotates the device. Resolution: The total number of physical pixels on a screen. When adding support for multiple screens, applications do not work directly with resolution; applications should be concerned only with screen size and density, as specified by the generalized size and density groups. Density-independent pixel (dp): A virtual pixel unit that you should use when defining UI layout, to express layout dimensions or position in a density-independent way. The density-independent pixel is equivalent to one physical pixel on a 160 dpi screen, which is the baseline density assumed by the system for a "medium" density screen. At runtime, the system transparently handles any scaling of the dp units, as necessary, based on the actual density of the screen in use. The conversion of dp units to screen pixels is simple: px = dp * (dpi / 160). For example, on a 240 dpi screen, 1 dp equals 1.5 physical pixels. You should always use dp units when defining your application's UI, to ensure proper display of your UI on screens with different densities. Reference: Android developers site See the difference between px, dp and sp on different screen sizes.