Font Sizes on LCD

[bubbagump]

Here is my problem: a lot of middle-aged people (do not want to wear reading glasses while using the computer) I know want LCD panels, but they do not realize that a major part of the clarity, etc is directly related to running the screen at a high native resolution. In windows this is a pain since there is no good way of resizing everything, so they just run the screens at something that is a disgrace to their 21" LCDs. Are Macs and better with this? I cannot seem to find any way to make the system fonts bigger in OS X, while increasing icon sizes is no problem. I think I could get a lot of mac converts if I could demonstrate mac superiority that actually affects them.

Thanks,

MrBubba

 

[MisterMe]

Re: Font Sizes on LCD

Originally posted by bubbagump
Here is my problem: a lot of middle-aged people (do not want to wear reading glasses while using the computer) I know want LCD panels, but they do not realize that a major part of the clarity, etc is directly related to running the screen at a high native resolution. In windows this is a pain since there is no good way of resizing everything, so they just run the screens at something that is a disgrace to their 21" LCDs. Are Macs and better with this? I cannot seem to find any way to make the system fonts bigger in OS X, while increasing icon sizes is no problem. I think I could get a lot of mac converts if I could demonstrate mac superiority that actually affects them.

Thanks,

MrBubba

For more than a decade, the Macintosh has been accessible to the impaired. MacOS X has two preference panes that aid those with sight and/or hearing impairments. One is Universal Access. The other is Displays. Displays allows you to adjust the screen resolution so that you can read the text. Universal Access provides a suite of adjustments. There are even accomodations for the partially paralyzed.

 

[Makosuke]

Outside of the Universal Access features--which would certainly help if their vision is very poor--a Mac is going to do exactly the same thing as a PC: You can easily set the resolution of an LCD to something lower than whatever's native, but it's going to look identical to the same thing on a PC.

I do have a few suggestions: For one, don't get a really high-end LCD; cheaper ones tend to be low resolution even at large physical sizes, making them sharper than a CRT but with a larger image size.

Alternately, there are a lot of combo HDTV-monitors out there, which tend to be low resolution for their size, which is exactly what these people would want.

Another thing to look at would be overriding the MacOS font settings to make the Finder text large, and increasing the minimum font size in their web browser. This is a bit of a hassle to set up, but will be a lasting, if not perfect, solution.

Finally, running a very good LCD at a non-native resolution probably won't be that bad--you can always let them try it out and see. It certainly won't produce an image as crisp as what the monitor is capable of, but the interpolation on modern LCDs isn't bad, and it'll still be easier on the eyes than most CRTs.