Word Choice: ‘Variation’ vs ‘Variations’

word-choice

I currently have the following sentence:

Due to variations in how screens display color, actual printed colors may vary slightly.

However, does it make sense to drop the s?

Due to variation in how screens display color, actual printed colors may vary slightly.

Best Answer

I think variation would refer to a single specific variation (or screen). Variations (plural) refers to variations in general, so that's the one you want.

According to ngrams, due to variations in is far more prevalent than due to variation in.