[Discuss] 4K (or 5K) resolution for Linux desktop

[Robert Krawitz]

On Wed, 6 Jan 2016 11:56:27 -0500, Rich Pieri wrote:
> On 1/6/2016 10:05 AM, Mike Small wrote:
>> Eh? I thought point meant point and that this only happened when
>> you make the mistake of specifying your font size in pixels, e.g.
>> pixelsize instead of size in fontconfig language. Though that
>
> What point means is how large a typeface is in print. Points and picas
> are absolute measurements like inches. An inch is an inch. A point is a
> point.
>
> When translated to computer screens the pixel size and density (ppi)
> does matter because 100 pixels on one screen is not the same absolute
> dimensions as 100 pixels on a different screen. Most contemporary
> desktop environments have mechanisms for scaling so that a 1 inch line
> is 1 inch regardless of the display's ppi -- but most also default to
> 96ppi which means you get the behavior I described.
>
> Which brings me back to the point I made about screen size: you have to
> upscale everything on a UHD screen in order to make everything appear to
> be the same size as it would appear on a 1080p screen with the same
> dimensions. Which is to say, the 4 times greater resolution of UHD is
> wasted if you need to make everything 4 times larger in order to achieve
> consistency.

But (at least for me) it doesn't need to be the same size if the
resolution is higher.
-- 
Robert Krawitz                                     <rlk at alum.mit.edu>

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