@media

Summary

The @media CSS at-rule associates a set of nested statements, in a CSS block that is delimited by curly braces, with a condition defined by a media query. The @media at-rule may be used not only at the top level of a CSS, but also inside any CSS conditional-group at-rule.

The @media at-rule can be accessed via the CSS object model interface CSSMediaRule.

Syntax

@media <media-query-list> {
  <group-rule-body>
}
wobei 
<media-query-list> = <media-query>#
wobei 
<media-query> = <media-condition> | [ not | only ]? <media-type> [ and <media-condition-without-or> ]?
wobei 
<media-condition> = <media-not> | <media-and> | <media-or> | <media-in-parens>
<media-type> = <ident>
<media-condition-without-or> = <media-not> | <media-and> | <media-in-parens>
wobei 
<media-not> = not <media-in-parens>
<media-and> = <media-in-parens> [ and <media-in-parens> ]+
<media-or> = <media-in-parens> [ or <media-in-parens> ]+
<media-in-parens> = ( <media-condition> ) | <media-feature> | <general-enclosed>
wobei 
<media-feature> = ( [ <mf-plain> | <mf-boolean> | <mf-range> ] )
<general-enclosed> = [ <function-token> <any-value> ) ] | ( <ident> <any-value> )
wobei 
<mf-plain> = <mf-name> : <mf-value>
<mf-boolean> = <mf-name>
<mf-range> = <mf-name> [ '<' | '>' ]? '='? <mf-value> | <mf-value> [ '<' | '>' ]? '='? <mf-name> | <mf-value> '<' '='? <mf-name> '<' '='? <mf-value> | <mf-value> '>' '='? <mf-name> '>' '='? <mf-value>
wobei 
<mf-name> = <ident>
<mf-value> = <number> | <dimension> | <ident> | <ratio>

A <media-query> is composed of a media type and/or a number of media features.

Media types

Note: Firefox currently only implements the print and screen media types.  The FullerScreen extension enables support for the projection media type.
all
Suitable for all devices.
print
Intended for paged material and for documents viewed on screen in print preview mode. Please consult the section on paged media, and the media section of the Getting Started tutorial for information about formatting issues that are specific to paged media.
screen
Intended primarily for color computer screens.
speech
Intended for speech synthesizers. Note: CSS2 had a similar media type called 'aural' for this purpose. See the appendix on aural style sheets for details.
Note: CSS2.1 and Media Queries 3 defined several additional media types (tty, tv, projection, handheld, braille, embossed, aural), but they were deprecated in Media Queries 4 and shouldn't be used.

Media Features

Definition. This section needs to be expanded to explain media conditions in more depth.

Name Summary Notes
width Viewport width  
height Viewport height  
aspect-ratio Width-to-height aspect ratio of the viewport  
orientation Orientation of the viewport  
resolution Pixel density of the output device  
scan Scanning process of the output device  
grid Is the device a grid or bitmap?  
update-frequency How quickly (if at all) can the output device modify the appearance of the content Added in Media Queries Level 4
overflow-block How does the output device handle content that overflows the viewport along the block axis? Added in Media Queries Level 4
overflow-inline Can content that overflows the viewport along the inline axis be scrolled? Added in Media Queries Level 4
color Number of bits per color component of the output device, or zero if the device isn't color.  
color-index Number of entries in the output device's color lookup table, or zero if the device does not use such a table.  
monochrome Bits per pixel in the output device's monochrome frame buffer, or 0 if the device is not monochrome.  
inverted-colors Is the user agent or underlying OS inverting colors? Added in Media Queries Level 4
pointer Is the primary input mechanism a pointing device, and if so, how accurate is it? Added in Media Queries Level 4
hover Does the primary input mechanism allow the user to hover over elements? Added in Media Queries Level 4
any-pointer Is any available input mechanism a pointing device, and if so, how accurate is it?  
any-hover Does any available input mechanism allow the user to hover over elements?  
light-level Current ambient light level Added in Media Queries Level 4
scripting Is scripting (e.g. JavaScript) available? Added in Media Queries Level 4
device-width Width of the rendering surface of the output device Deprecated in Media Queries Level 4
device-height Height of the rendering surface of the output device Deprecated in Media Queries Level 4
device-aspect-ratio Width-to-height aspect ratio of the output device Deprecated in Media Queries Level 4
-webkit-device-pixel-ratio Number of physical device pixels per CSS pixel Nonstandard; WebKit/Blink-specific. If possible, use the resolution media feature instead.
-webkit-transform-3d Are CSS 3D transforms supported? Nonstandard; WebKit/Blink-specific
-webkit-transform-2d Are CSS 2D transforms supported? Nonstandard; WebKit-specific
-webkit-transition Are CSS transitions supported? Nonstandard; WebKit-specific
-webkit-animation Are CSS animations supported? Nonstandard; WebKit-specific

Examples

@media print {
  body { font-size: 10pt }
}
@media screen {
  body { font-size: 13px }
}
@media screen, print {
  body { line-height: 1.2 }
}

Specifications

Specification Status Comment
CSS Conditional Rules Module Level 3
Die Definition von '@media' in dieser Spezifikation.		 Anwärter Empfehlung Defines the basic syntax of the @media rule.
Media Queries Level 4
Die Definition von '@media' in dieser Spezifikation.		 Anwärter Empfehlung

Added scripting, pointer, hover, light-level, update-frequency, overflow-block, and overflow-inline media features.
Deprecated all media types except for screen, print, speech, and all.
Media Queries
Die Definition von '@media' in dieser Spezifikation.		 Empfehlung No change.
CSS Level 2 (Revision 1)
Die Definition von '@media' in dieser Spezifikation.		 Empfehlung Initial definition.

Browser compatibility

BCD tables only load in the browser

See also