high resolutionn/tiny fonts

[Felix Miata]

Bill Vance composed:

> http://fm.no-ip.com/Auth/dpi-screen-window.html

> Returned:

>  one inch 
> 90 DPI

>  25.4 mm 
>  	UA Default
> Font Size 
> 08pt
> 10pt
> 12pt
> 14pt
>  	Screen Total 	Screen Available 	Window 	Viewport
> Width 	Height 	Width 	Height 	Width 	Height 	Width 	Height
> 16px 	1920 	1080 	1920 	1045 	703 	485 	703 	414
> Your DPI, Default Font Size, Screen Resolution & Window Dimensions
> If the black blocks above left do not measure as indicated, your DPI
> is not accurately set for your display.

> ...that little.
> "measuring bar thingy", up in the top left corner came out
> to apx. 1 11/16".

As display size gets larger, given no other changes, it gets wider.

As resolution gets higher, given no other changes, it gets narrower.

The combination of display size and resolution provide display pixel density,
usually reported as DPI, but sometimes PPI. The physical PPI of your display
is a fixed value, usually reported in fractions of an inch, and called "dot
pitch" such as .29 or .37. Regardless of display pitch, your DE's DPI remains
dependent on display size and resolution at a calculated logical value that
may or may not be anywhere close physically to the dot pitch. If the DE's DPI
is higher than the physical pitch, X will interpolate as required for best
fit, which means you can specify a DE density higher than physical density to
give a net result equal to the best the physics offer.

As DE DPI gets higher, given no other changes, it gets wider (and KDE fonts
get bigger).

Thus if you want bigger fonts (and other desktop objects), one way is to
force DPI upward. The KDE font settings panel is one way that can be done.
Other ways include Xft.dpi, xrandr, and xorg.conf, all of which can affect
the KDM greeter as well as your desktop, while the setting in the fonts panel
won't affect the greeter.

Working backwards from the data that URL provided, we assume your Firefox is
using default about:config settings, then use the resolution, 1920x1080, and
the reported DPI, 90, to either calculate that the display has a physical
size in between 24" and 25", or look it up in a chart, such as:
http://fm.no-ip.com/PC/displays.html. One fly in the working backwards
ointment is there are ways 90 could have been forced to an artificial value
rather than a real one. Xorg itself forces 96 by default, and most DEs,
including KDE, accept it by default. The other fly is that about:config
settings in Firefox may have been altered to skew the reported value along
with its font sizes. In Konq, I don't think that kind of adjustment and
skewing is possible.

Without seeing Xorg.0.log from your 14.04 installation, and comparing it to
one from 12.04, we can't know specifically why the fonts in 14.04 were
smaller. And, simply comparing them won't necessarily provide enough
information. In most cases I've seen a reported DPI of 90, it was produced
because it was an Xft.dpi setting, which 'xrdb -query | grep dpi' should have
reported if set on your system.
-- 
"The wise are known for their understanding, and pleasant
words are persuasive." Proverbs 16:21 (New Living Translation)

 Team OS/2 ** Reg. Linux User #211409 ** a11y rocks!

Felix Miata  ***  http://fm.no-ip.com/