Re: Start menu items inncorrectly sized when changing screen DPI

alex.melhuish6388_at_gmail.com
Date: 02/07/05 

Date: 7 Feb 2005 07:15:21 -0800

I know this. Think about the practicalities. As you increase the
resolution, the monitor becomes less able to handle higher refresh
rates. The resolution of 1280x960 (which I might add *is* a 4:3
resolution. 1280x1024 is *not*) seemed to be the best setting for
resolution to refresh ratio.
Also, I don't care if that's 'preferable' - it's technically wrong! I
do a lot of graphic design work, using professional applications like
Adobe Photoshop. Photoshop uses the DPI setting of the monitor to
determine what is a *real* inch (as *all* applications should). So that
when you choose view>print size, it really *is* print size. You could
literally hold up a piece of paper that size to the screen, and it
would fit exactly.

My point is there is a bug in Windows, which must be fixed. I can live
with this, but it's still a problem. I find it rather aggrovating that
so many people don't know how to setup their equipment properly. The
biggest horror must be the thought of application developers unaware of
this fact, who blindly design their software in 96 DPI (no doubt on a
21" monitor in 1600x1200 squinting at their tiny fonts).

Even if this problem isn't fixed in an update, I would hope that the
Avalon team wake up to monitor DPI, and stop calling it by a stupid
name like 'screen fonts'. It has nothing to do with fonts - it's about
physical resolution (not virtual pixel resolution). A simple routine
when installing Windows is all that's required:
Request the type of monitor and it's dimensions (i.e. CRT or LCD, 17"
or 21") then use the optimum resolution based on this data (i.e. LCD is
*always* run at full resolution, for 17" this is normally 1280x1024).
Then, ask the user to place a ruler on the screen, and drag the slider
until the physical ruler matches the virtual ruler on screen. Done -
now 12pt on screen is 12 pt on paper. 3 centimetres on screen is 3
centimetres on paper. When you select 100% in word, and hold up a piece
of paper to the screen, it's exactly the same size. Wouldn't that be a
lovely world? Would it really be *that* hard?
This would all be so much simpler in Avalon, as it's vector based
(rather than the pixels of Windows XP and previous) so scaling is very
simple.

Wake up Microsoft - people do want this, and you should've realised
this long ago. Find me a monitor that uses 96 DPI nowadays!

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