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28 | 17/03 — 2020 | 28 | 17/03 — 2020 |
29 | <div class="stats"> | 29 | <div class="stats"> |
30 | <span class="stats-number"> | 30 | <span class="stats-number"> |
31 | 32.36 | 31 | 32.37 |
32 | </span> | 32 | </span> |
33 | <span class="stats-unit">cm</span> | 33 | <span class="stats-unit">cm</span> |
34 |   | 34 |   |
35 | <span class="stats-number"> | 35 | <span class="stats-number"> |
36 | 3.2 | 36 | 3.3 |
37 | </span> | 37 | </span> |
38 | <span class="stats-unit">min</span> | 38 | <span class="stats-unit">min</span> |
39 | </div> | 39 | </div> |
@@ -42,34 +42,75 @@ | |||
42 | Font Size Fallacies | 42 | Font Size Fallacies |
43 | </h1> | 43 | </h1> |
44 | <div class="post-text"> | 44 | <div class="post-text"> |
45 | <p>I am not an expert with fonts, but I do have some experience <a href="#fn1" class="footnote-ref" id="fnref1" role="doc-noteref"><sup>1</sup></a>, and common sense. This post aims to debunk some misconceptions about font sizes!</p> | 45 | <p>I am not an expert with fonts, but I do have some experience <a |
46 | <p>11 px on your display is <em>probably not</em> 11 px on my display. Let’s do some quick math. I have two displays, 1366x768 @ 21" and another with 1920x1080 @ 13", call them <code>A</code> and <code>B</code> for now.</p> | 46 | href="#fn1" class="footnote-ref" id="fnref1" |
47 | <p>Display <code>A</code> has 1,049,088 pixels. A pixel is a square, of side say, <code>s</code> cm. The total area covered by my 21" display is about 1,066 cm^2 (41x26). Thus,</p> | 47 | role="doc-noteref"><sup>1</sup></a>, and common sense. This post aims to |
48 | debunk some misconceptions about font sizes!</p> | ||
49 | <p>11 px on your display is <em>probably not</em> 11 px on my display. | ||
50 | Let’s do some quick math. I have two displays, 1366x768 @ 21” and | ||
51 | another with 1920x1080 @ 13”, call them <code>A</code> and | ||
52 | <code>B</code> for now.</p> | ||
53 | <p>Display <code>A</code> has 1,049,088 pixels. A pixel is a square, of | ||
54 | side say, <code>s</code> cm. The total area covered by my 21” display is | ||
55 | about 1,066 cm^2 (41x26). Thus,</p> | ||
48 | <pre><code>Display A | 56 | <pre><code>Display A |
49 | Dimensions: 1366x768 @ 21" (41x26 sq. cm) | 57 | Dimensions: 1366x768 @ 21" (41x26 sq. cm) |
50 | 1,049,088 s^2 = 1066 | 58 | 1,049,088 s^2 = 1066 |
51 | s = 0.0318 cm (side of a pixel on Display A)</code></pre> | 59 | s = 0.0318 cm (side of a pixel on Display A)</code></pre> |
52 | <p>Bear with me, as I repeat the number crunching for Display <code>B</code>:</p> | 60 | <p>Bear with me, as I repeat the number crunching for Display |
61 | <code>B</code>:</p> | ||
53 | <pre><code>Display B | 62 | <pre><code>Display B |
54 | Dimensions: 1920x1080 @ 13" (29.5x16.5 sq. cm) | 63 | Dimensions: 1920x1080 @ 13" (29.5x16.5 sq. cm) |
55 | 2,073,600 s^2 = 486.75 | 64 | 2,073,600 s^2 = 486.75 |
56 | s = 0.0153 cm (side of a pixel on Display B)</code></pre> | 65 | s = 0.0153 cm (side of a pixel on Display B)</code></pre> |
57 | <p>The width of a pixel on Display <code>A</code> is <em>double</em> the width of a pixel on Display <code>B</code>. The area occupied by a pixel on Display <code>A</code> is <em>4 times</em> the area occupied by a pixel on Display <code>B</code>.</p> | 66 | <p>The width of a pixel on Display <code>A</code> is <em>double</em> the |
67 | width of a pixel on Display <code>B</code>. The area occupied by a pixel | ||
68 | on Display <code>A</code> is <em>4 times</em> the area occupied by a | ||
69 | pixel on Display <code>B</code>.</p> | ||
58 | <p><em>The size of a pixel varies from display to display!</em></p> | 70 | <p><em>The size of a pixel varies from display to display!</em></p> |
59 | <p>A 5x11 bitmap font on Display <code>A</code> would be around 4 mm tall whereas the same bitmap font on Display <code>B</code> would be around 1.9 mm tall. A 11 px tall character on <code>B</code> is visually equivalent to a 5 px character on <code>A</code>. When you view a screenshot of Display <code>A</code> on Display <code>B</code>, the contents are shrunk down by a factor of 2!</p> | 71 | <p>A 5x11 bitmap font on Display <code>A</code> would be around 4 mm |
60 | <p>So screen resolution is not enough, how else do we measure size? Pixel Density! Keen readers will realize that the 5^th grade math problem we solved up there showcases pixel density, or, pixels per cm (PPCM). Usually we deal with pixels per inch (PPI).</p> | 72 | tall whereas the same bitmap font on Display <code>B</code> would be |
61 | <p><strong>Note:</strong> PPI is not to be confused with DPI <a href="#fn2" class="footnote-ref" id="fnref2" role="doc-noteref"><sup>2</sup></a> (dots per inch). DPI is defined for printers.</p> | 73 | around 1.9 mm tall. A 11 px tall character on <code>B</code> is visually |
62 | <p>In our example, <code>A</code> is a 75 ppi display and <code>B</code> is around 165 ppi <a href="#fn3" class="footnote-ref" id="fnref3" role="doc-noteref"><sup>3</sup></a>. A low ppi display appears to be ‘pixelated’, because the pixels are more prominent, much like Display <code>A</code>. A higher ppi usually means you can view larger images and render crispier fonts. The average desktop display can stuff 100-200 pixels per inch. Smart phones usually fall into the 400-600 ppi (XXXHDPI) category. The human eye fails to differentiate detail past 300 ppi.</p> | 74 | equivalent to a 5 px character on <code>A</code>. When you view a |
63 | <p><em>So … streaming an 8K video on a 60" TV provides the same clarity as a HD video on a smart phone?</em></p> | 75 | screenshot of Display <code>A</code> on Display <code>B</code>, the |
64 | <p>Absolutely. Well, clarity is subjective, but the amount of detail you can discern on mobile displays has always been limited. Salty consumers of the Xperia 1 <a href="#fn4" class="footnote-ref" id="fnref4" role="doc-noteref"><sup>4</sup></a> will say otherwise.</p> | 76 | contents are shrunk down by a factor of 2!</p> |
65 | <p>Maybe I will talk about font rendering in another post, but thats all for now. Don’t judge a font size by its screenshot.</p> | 77 | <p>So screen resolution is not enough, how else do we measure size? |
66 | <section class="footnotes" role="doc-endnotes"> | 78 | Pixel Density! Keen readers will realize that the 5^th grade math |
79 | problem we solved up there showcases pixel density, or, pixels per cm | ||
80 | (PPCM). Usually we deal with pixels per inch (PPI).</p> | ||
81 | <p><strong>Note:</strong> PPI is not to be confused with DPI <a | ||
82 | href="#fn2" class="footnote-ref" id="fnref2" | ||
83 | role="doc-noteref"><sup>2</sup></a> (dots per inch). DPI is defined for | ||
84 | printers.</p> | ||
85 | <p>In our example, <code>A</code> is a 75 ppi display and <code>B</code> | ||
86 | is around 165 ppi <a href="#fn3" class="footnote-ref" id="fnref3" | ||
87 | role="doc-noteref"><sup>3</sup></a>. A low ppi display appears to be | ||
88 | ‘pixelated’, because the pixels are more prominent, much like Display | ||
89 | <code>A</code>. A higher ppi usually means you can view larger images | ||
90 | and render crispier fonts. The average desktop display can stuff 100-200 | ||
91 | pixels per inch. Smart phones usually fall into the 400-600 ppi | ||
92 | (XXXHDPI) category. The human eye fails to differentiate detail past 300 | ||
93 | ppi.</p> | ||
94 | <p><em>So … streaming an 8K video on a 60” TV provides the same clarity | ||
95 | as a HD video on a smart phone?</em></p> | ||
96 | <p>Absolutely. Well, clarity is subjective, but the amount of detail you | ||
97 | can discern on mobile displays has always been limited. Salty consumers | ||
98 | of the Xperia 1 <a href="#fn4" class="footnote-ref" id="fnref4" | ||
99 | role="doc-noteref"><sup>4</sup></a> will say otherwise.</p> | ||
100 | <p>Maybe I will talk about font rendering in another post, but thats all | ||
101 | for now. Don’t judge a font size by its screenshot.</p> | ||
102 | <section id="footnotes" class="footnotes footnotes-end-of-document" | ||
103 | role="doc-endnotes"> | ||
67 | <hr /> | 104 | <hr /> |
68 | <ol> | 105 | <ol> |
69 | <li id="fn1" role="doc-endnote"><p>https://github.com/nerdypepper/scientifica<a href="#fnref1" class="footnote-back" role="doc-backlink">↩︎</a></p></li> | 106 | <li id="fn1"><p>https://github.com/nerdypepper/scientifica<a |
70 | <li id="fn2" role="doc-endnote"><p>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dots_per_inch<a href="#fnref2" class="footnote-back" role="doc-backlink">↩︎</a></p></li> | 107 | href="#fnref1" class="footnote-back" role="doc-backlink">↩︎</a></p></li> |
71 | <li id="fn3" role="doc-endnote"><p>https://www.sven.de/dpi/<a href="#fnref3" class="footnote-back" role="doc-backlink">↩︎</a></p></li> | 108 | <li id="fn2"><p>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dots_per_inch<a |
72 | <li id="fn4" role="doc-endnote"><p>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_Xperia_1<a href="#fnref4" class="footnote-back" role="doc-backlink">↩︎</a></p></li> | 109 | href="#fnref2" class="footnote-back" role="doc-backlink">↩︎</a></p></li> |
110 | <li id="fn3"><p>https://www.sven.de/dpi/<a href="#fnref3" | ||
111 | class="footnote-back" role="doc-backlink">↩︎</a></p></li> | ||
112 | <li id="fn4"><p>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_Xperia_1<a | ||
113 | href="#fnref4" class="footnote-back" role="doc-backlink">↩︎</a></p></li> | ||
73 | </ol> | 114 | </ol> |
74 | </section> | 115 | </section> |
75 | 116 | ||