[geeks] Does size matter

[Joshua Boyd]

On Mon, Aug 25, 2008 at 12:54:17PM -0400, der Mouse wrote:

> Honestly, I don't think we (FSVO "we") _want_ resolution independence
> yet.  Not until pixels are too small to see (meaning at least 300dpi,
> probably finer, for general-purpose use, though, for people whose
> eyesight is deteriorating, that may be unnecessary).

> Until then, a difference of one pixel still makes a substantial
> difference, so good results require knowing about individual pixels.

OTOH, until we get resolution independence there is little motivation
for LCD manufactors to increase DPI significantly in general.  In
specific cases, we may already be there, such as the IBM 200 DPI screen
they had a few years ago, or the new crop of 1920x1200 15" LCDs, which
comes to about 150DPI.  For color, 200DPI on a screen is about equal to
a printer advertised as 600 DPI.  Black and white isn't going to be
quite as sharp though.  

Meanwhile, resolution independence does exist in some places, such as
PDF previews, vector illustration programs (CAD, Illustrator, Inkscape),
word processors and spread sheets, etc.  It also exists in SVG icons or
other vector icon formats.

On the path towards resolution independence, I certainly hope we won't
lose out on being able to choose not to use it though.  I certainly
think that rxvt looks better than any of the more resolution independent
terminals I've ever tried.

BTW, GTK+ is working on adding resolution independence.  I believe the
goal is to have it in the next version, which I believe will effect
nearly every control and widget. After that, on the common GNOME
desktop, it is mainly a matter of adding support to the window manager
as well.