Resolution Independence - What Can We Expect?

[kolax]

I'm finding 1680x1050 on a 15" panel a bit small - I've been using it for nearly a week now and my eyes just don't feel relaxed. Enlarging fonts on websites isn't great - makes the website look clunky.

I've been looking at ways of scaling the OS (defaults write NSGlobalDomain AppleDisplayScaleFactor 1.0 for example) and it seems like Apple is still a bit away from resolution independence in OS X.

But lets say they they did eventually get round to implementing it properly - how would things look?

Ideally, I'd want things to be around the same DPI as 1440x900 on a 15" panel, maybe a tad smaller. So, the whole user interface would be scaled and would match what it looks like on a screen that has a lower PPI (i.e. 1440x900 on a 15" panel).

What would websites look like? Would website graphics be scaled too? Would they become pixelated or would they look pretty much the same as they do on 1440x900 on a 15" panel?

 

[wrldwzrd89]

Apple only plans zooming in, not out - so scale factors less than 1.0 make no sense. To answer your question about web sites, it will depend on the graphics format. Vector graphics formats, such as SVG, scale perfectly. Raster formats will pixelate when zoomed.

 

[kolax]

Apple only plans zooming in, not out - so scale factors less than 1.0 make no sense. To answer your question about web sites, it will depend on the graphics format. Vector graphics formats, such as SVG, scale perfectly. Raster formats will pixelate when zoomed.

I should read up on SVG..

You think Apple will apply any sort of anti-aliasing to images when scaling?

 

[wrldwzrd89]

I should read up on SVG..

You think Apple will apply any sort of anti-aliasing to images when scaling?

They already do with icons. It only seems natural that they'd apply Quartz scaling to other images too.

 

[SLR2009]

This was my most requested feature for Leopard, then Snow Leopard. I was very disappointed to hear that Resolution Independence wasn't in Leopard when it was released. Apple confirmed that it was going to be in Leopard but it never was. I really hope that it makes it in Apple's next OS. Windows has been Resolution Independent since Vista, then it was improved in Windows 7. I have a Mac Pro and text is too small to read comfortably on my 24" LED LCD Display and I have normal vision.

 

[Let's Sekuhara!]

Until resolution independence is introduced I refuse to buy a Mac with a hi-res display. Now if you want antiglare you have to go hi-res, which is limiting.

As for graphics, the only way the web will be scalable is if all the graphics that can be made into SVGs are, and any raster images are provided in multiple resolutions and distributed to you after evaluating your browser window size. This is doable, but would be available on a site-by-site basis. In other words, if the developers of that particular site implement that, then their site will look good when scaled. There's no magical fix to suddenly make the whole internet more "hi-res". Also, more detailed raster graphics mean longer load times.

 

[designgeek]

I have excellent vision, but I find it hard to see on low-res displays like my 15" 1440x900. I'm excited for the new iPhone's dense screen but I doubt iPhone OS 4.0 will have vectorized graphics. I really think that's what it takes to do high res well.

 

[macuserx86]

I'm not convinced that resolution independence will be a positive UI enhancement.

making elements of the UI arbitrarily larger or smaller on the fly seems like just another layer of confusion and wasted time waiting to happen.

If implemented, it would need to be done carefully and with very easy/quick scaling options. Win 7's "aero snap" feature is a concept that I think could be applied to a resolution independent UI.

I know the option to scale individual windows and/or UI elements is not the only part of resolution independence, but it's one of the main features of it.

I'm still not convinced that vector UI elements will be beneficial, but I'd love to be proven wrong!

 

[VPrime]

I'm not convinced that resolution independence will be a positive UI enhancement.

making elements of the UI arbitrarily larger or smaller on the fly seems like just another layer of confusion and wasted time waiting to happen.

If implemented, it would need to be done carefully and with very easy/quick scaling options. Win 7's "aero snap" feature is a concept that I think could be applied to a resolution independent UI.

I know the option to scale individual windows and/or UI elements is not the only part of resolution independence, but it's one of the main features of it.

I'm still not convinced that vector UI elements will be beneficial, but I'd love to be proven wrong!

I agree with you.. This sounds like it makes one key thing of higher resolutions useless....... Extra screen real estate. If every thing gets larger with higher resolutions, then my screen relestate will stay the same size. Sure every thing looks crisper but not worth the cost IMO.
Unless I am misunderstanding this concept.

 

[kolax]

I agree with you.. This sounds like it makes one key thing of higher resolutions useless....... Extra screen real estate. If every thing gets larger with higher resolutions, then my screen relestate will stay the same size. Sure every thing looks crisper but not worth the cost IMO.
Unless I am misunderstanding this concept.

If they offered two options - more screen real estate or larger graphics.

 

[gnasher729]

I agree with you.. This sounds like it makes one key thing of higher resolutions useless....... Extra screen real estate. If every thing gets larger with higher resolutions, then my screen relestate will stay the same size. Sure every thing looks crisper but not worth the cost IMO.
Unless I am misunderstanding this concept.

What will change: Today, you buy screen real estate in pixels. All 1920 x 1080 monitors give you the same real estate, and 1200 x 800 is less and so on. The monitor size in inches is secondary; it determines how small or how large text and icons etc. are, so a 1920 x 1080 27" monitor shows everything really large that the 1920 x 1080 15" monitor shows really small.

With resolution independence, you buy screen real estate in inches. All 24 inch monitors give you the same real estate, 13 inch is less and so on. The pixels are secondary; they determine the quality of the image. The same screen size in 1400 x 900 pixels may be poor quality, while 2500 x 1600 pixels with the same size is very high quality.

Of course resolution independence should also allow you to choose how big text and icons are, so you can fit in more smaller things or fewer bigger things on the same screen, depending on what you prefer.