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TVs and projectors should be an exception. They are always mentioned as an objection when this comes up, but I think there is no problem to limit resolution to

TVs and projectors should be an exception. They are always mentioned as an objection when this comes up, but I think there is no problem to limit resolution to certain devices where it makes sense. "Non-technical" people don't understand why 1cm isn't the same on screen or printed out. They hold a piece of paper to the screen and are frustated. That 12pt means something different on Mac than on Windows is also confusing - and the exact handling changes between apps. I think Word makes it so that the printed out size is the same (it has to be), but the displayed size is smaller. On my Mac, "100%" zoom doesn't fit a piece of paper, but "135%" does. On Windows, it is about "115%" for me. Other apps have subtly different behavior. It would be really great for multimonitor setup if stuff would have the same physical size on each screen (and while we are at it, color! Even a very basic per-model color calibration would be better than nothing). It would be really useful if you could display something at an exact scale on a tablet, and maybe hold a real ruler up to it. I understand why this stuff is hard, I've worked a bit on related things myself. And to be honest, most people won't probably notice. But I still think it would be a good usability and ergonomics improvement.

masklinn 9y ago
> TVs and projectors should be an exception. No, they are just extremes making the point unmistakably clear, if you decide they're exceptions you just refuse to accept the issue exists at all. The exact same issue exists going from a smartphone to a tablet to a laptop or desktop computer, just to a lower degree. If you're not solving the issue such that it works from a smartphone to a projector, you're not actually solving it you're just providing one more bandaid, of which we already have plenty.
- captainmuon 9y ago
  The difference is, on a projector I want the content to be blown up. That's the whole purpose. On the other hand, I want text on monitors to look like printed out, and hung up. Real paper doesn't scale with viewing distance. Instead, there is foreshortening - stuff a bit further away looks smaller, but I know it is the same size. It doesn't mean all text should be the same size ever - on the contrary. If I sit further away, I want to choose a larger font size or greater magnification. All I want is, when dealing with physicality - stuff to print out, or stuff behind a touchscreen that pretends to be real - I want to be able to set a slider to "100%", and put a ruler or comparison document up to the screen, and have it match perfectly. I want stuff on dual monitors and large tablets to be the same size by default. I needed these features already several times this week: I printed out a document just to get a better impression of how the font size looks on paper. I also had a scan of an architectural drawing on milimeter paper (1cm = 1m), and wanted to compare it with a paper blueprint - if it was the same scale, I could just hold a ruler against it.

masklinn 9y ago

> TVs and projectors should be an exception. No, they are just extremes making the point unmistakably clear, if you decide they're exceptions you just refuse to accept the issue exists at all. The exact same issue exists going from a smartphone to a tablet to a laptop or desktop computer, just to a lower degree. If you're not solving the issue such that it works from a smartphone to a projector, you're not actually solving it you're just providing one more bandaid, of which we already have plenty.

captainmuon 9y ago
The difference is, on a projector I want the content to be blown up. That's the whole purpose. On the other hand, I want text on monitors to look like printed out, and hung up. Real paper doesn't scale with viewing distance. Instead, there is foreshortening - stuff a bit further away looks smaller, but I know it is the same size. It doesn't mean all text should be the same size ever - on the contrary. If I sit further away, I want to choose a larger font size or greater magnification. All I want is, when dealing with physicality - stuff to print out, or stuff behind a touchscreen that pretends to be real - I want to be able to set a slider to "100%", and put a ruler or comparison document up to the screen, and have it match perfectly. I want stuff on dual monitors and large tablets to be the same size by default. I needed these features already several times this week: I printed out a document just to get a better impression of how the font size looks on paper. I also had a scan of an architectural drawing on milimeter paper (1cm = 1m), and wanted to compare it with a paper blueprint - if it was the same scale, I could just hold a ruler against it.