Bad font size in forum

[stax76]

I've a 23" LCD at 1920x1080 with a Firefox plugin that sets the default zoom to 150%, this looks good on most sites and forums but at forum.doom9.org some fonts are way too big, this was customized, right? Looks very bad. What monitor size, resolution and zoom do people here use?

[ronnylov]

I think the fonts are too small on the laptop with 1650x1024 resolution, but maybe I should start using the zoom function too?
(Using Opera Browser at 100% zoom)

[stax76]

@ronnylov

Yes you should use zoom.

@all

I made some screenshots and came to the conclusion that the old vBulletin version which doom9.org uses has generally too large font sizes, the new vBulletin version and phpBB don't suffer this problem. The reason for this is probably when the old vBulletin version was designed there were hardly people with Full HD monitors, maybe such monitors didn't even exist, now they are affordable, a good Samsung 23" Full HD monitor cost only 165€.

Screenshot of vBulletin latest version, font size is good:



Screenshot of phpBB, font size is good:



Screenshot of vBulletin old version at the Doom9.org, fonts size is too big:



Screenshot of another vBulletin old version, fonts size is too big too:



Screenshot of the forum at divx.com, not high DPI and zoom compatible:

[Atak_Snajpera]

Oh stax.....

View -> Zoom -> reset

FireFox remembers zoom factor for each site.

[stax76]

Then some font sizes are too small.

<div class="smallfont">RipBot264 author</div>

Maybe it can be hacked with Greasemonkey.

[Atak_Snajpera]

Then some font sizes are too small.

Well... In this case you should buy something larger than 23'' or you should seat closer to display or use CTRL+ +. At home in Poland I have 23'' Samsung with native resolution 2048x1152 and I still see everything very well without adjusting zoom.

23'' Samsung SyncMaster 2343BW
price ~190euro

[stax76]

23" is already rather large, the problem is really the site because most other sites are OK, the new vBulletin is perfect.

[Atak_Snajpera]

Why don't you use CTRL + "+" for forum.doom9.org only?

[stax76]

I can use that but a problem remains, the difference between small and large elements is too big so I have the choice between some things too big or others too small.

[webstoney]

Originally Posted by stax76

I can use that but a problem remains, the difference between small and large elements is too big so I have the choice between some things too big or others too small.

This is because some font sizes are in pt, others in px. pt-font-sizes take the actual dpi of your screen into account. You might try to tweak firefox's layout.css.dpi setting in about:config

the standard -1 tries to determine the dpi-setting from windows, the correct value for a 23" 1920 resolution is 96dpi. Try to change that to etter fit your needs (but this setting is browserwide, so try with other sites too).

[stax76]

I had solved this with:

Main Menu > Tools > Options > Content > Fonts & Colors > Advanced > Minimum Font Size

the correct value for a 23" 1920 resolution is 96dpi

Absolutely no, with 96 DPI Fonts in applications are ridiculous small. It should be at least 120 DPI (uses XP style scaling by default) or 144 DPI (uses DPI virtualization by default). Since weeks I'm working on making StaxRip DPI aware, it's a HUGE task so I have some high DPI experience.

[webstoney]

Originally Posted by stax76

Absolutely no, with 96 DPI Fonts in applications are ridiculous small. It should be at least 120 DPI (uses XP style scaling by default) or 144 DPI (uses DPI virtualization by default).

Well, here dpi (or better said ppi correctly) is just the resolution of a medium (here: screen). A 23" LCD does have a width of approx. 20", with 1920 pixels you have 1920/20 = 96 pixels per inch.

Had the same screen 1600x900 pixels resolution it would have 80dpi.

Try the simple test here.

The table should be 50mm (or 2 inch) high, if your dpi/ppi value is correct in Firefox. IE does have its woes though, it doesn't seem to correct all values but just the font-sizes accordingly.

This is what screen-resolution is about.

[stax76]

The table is 11 cm here, I guess because my default zoom 150% in Firefox and my DPI value defined in Windows is 144 and that is different from the native DPI value of my monitor, maybe I'm writing nonsense, at least everything looks good at the moment.

[webstoney]

Originally Posted by stax76

The table is 11 cm here, I guess because my default zoom 150% in Firefox and my DPI value defined in Windows is 144 and that is different from the native DPI value of my monitor, maybe I'm writing nonsense, at least everything looks good at the moment.

Hehe, this is exactly how it works and exactly wrong settings :-)

But you see how it *should* work?

[stax76]

My eyes are happy with my settings!

[foxyshadis]

Originally Posted by webstoney

Well, here dpi (or better said ppi correctly) is just the resolution of a medium (here: screen). A 23" LCD does have a width of approx. 20", with 1920 pixels you have 1920/20 = 96 pixels per inch.

Had the same screen 1600x900 pixels resolution it would have 80dpi.

Try the simple test here.

The table should be 50mm (or 2 inch) high, if your dpi/ppi value is correct in Firefox. IE does have its woes though, it doesn't seem to correct all values but just the font-sizes accordingly.

This is what screen-resolution is about.

You don't understand the purpose of Windows' DPI setting, or why stax (and I) use it. It's a logical DPI, not physical DPI. Once you get a monitor with a very high physical DPI, or so large that you have to sit back from it to view it comfortably, you'll understand. 96 DPI is only truly comfortable for people with 20/20 eyesight at a maximum of about 1 ft from the screen, telling people that they're mistaken to use anything else is your mistake.

Unfortunately, vbulletin is in the wrong to ever use pixel values for normal fonts. That's insane. I'd love to fix it here if I could, even though I only use 115 DPI and it's not such a big deal.