Re: A bug?

["Daniel B." <dsb@smart.net>]

Russell Shaw wrote:
> ...
> Doesn't that mean that any assumptions about font and window sizes by
> X apps is all wrong? Instead of 1pt being 1/72", it's more like 1/60",

Actually, 1 point is always 1/72".  (That's the definition of a point.)

But you are absolutely correct that many assumptions about displayed 
font sizes are wrong.

> ... It also means that
> changing the resolution from 800x600 to 1024x768 changes the *physical*
> screen size, 

Do you mean the screen size of a font (the size of a font on the screen),
or the screen size (the size of the screen)?


> making all the fonts and everything else change size when
> they should be constant.

Which sizes do you think should be constant?

If I increase my screen resolution (number of pixels), it's usually
because I want more information on my screen, so (usually) everything
should stay the same size in pixels but shrink in physical size on the
screen.

(Of course, there are other cases too.  One might increase screen
resolution to display something more smoothly but still want physical
sizes of everything to stay the same.)


I think the problem is that we don't distinguish between the specified
printing size of text and the currently displayed size of text.
(Actually, that second part is "the size on the display of the screen
font currently used to display text with the specified printing size.")

To me, a "10-point font" is one that prints on paper with a size of 10
points (if no further scaling is done when printing).  Obviously, text
set to print at 10 points can appear at any size on the screen.

It makes sense to talk about a "10-point screen font" only when it's
calibrated for the screen resolution in pixels and for the physical
screen size.


Regarding assumptions' being wrong, one major peeve is MS Outlook and
its users.  When the default "12-point" font size looks too big on their
screens, they think that it's appropriate to set the font size to "10
points."  That causes Outlook to send HTML mail with an HTML font size of
2.  My browser/mailer is adjusted to display normal-sized text (size=3)
at a comfortable screen size.  Of course, when I get the Outlook-
originated mail with a reduced HTML font size, it displays uncomfortably
small on my screen.  ...all because Bill Gates and company don't provide
a way to display message text in a smaller screen font on the local 
machine without screwing with the HTML font size.




Daniel
-- 
Daniel Barclay
dsb@smart.net