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0 pointscube1314y ago0 comments

There are two things that make it less of an issue with Desktops/Laptops.

1. There aren't really that many native ratios. Realistically, you're looking at 4:3 for CRT's, 5:4 for non-widescreen LCD's, and 16:9 or 16:10 for widescreen LCD's. So that's not as bad when creating a full-screen application, because you can also letterbox the 16:10 to 16:9 for full 1080p video.

At this point, if I were a developer, I wouldn't even care about 4:3 resolutions, and just have 5:4 and 16:9.

2. Desktops and laptops, in general, have a lot more pixels to deal with, and are usually farther away from the user's face, so there is a bit more leeway when scaling your UI.

0 pointscube1314y ago0 comments

There are two things that make it less of an issue with Desktops/Laptops.

At this point, if I were a developer, I wouldn't even care about 4:3 resolutions, and just have 5:4 and 16:9.

2. Desktops and laptops, in general, have a lot more pixels to deal with, and are usually farther away from the user's face, so there is a bit more leeway when scaling your UI.

0 comments

5 comments · 2 top-level

vetinari14y ago· 3 in thread

There was time, when desktops had 640x480, 800x600 and 1024x768 (heck, the currently most sold 1366x768 is not that different), which is similar to today's smartphones. They had also much bigger diagonal/lower dpi, so there was actually less leeway and every pixel counted.

cube13OP14y ago

All of which were 4:3 ratios. 1366x768 is also 16:9.

My point is that it's easier to scale any given UI when you have known pixel ratios. While the actual number of pixels may be different, it's easier to scale a UI from 640x480 to 800x600 than to scale 640x480 to 1600x1024.

icebraining14y ago

There was time, when desktops had 640x480, 800x600 and 1024x768

Those are all the same ratio (4:3). You don't have to change the relative position or size of the elements to accommodate them all.

vetinari14y ago

OK. There were also 640x400, 640x350 (EGA) and 1280x1024. Under Windows, also "Small fonts" and "Large fonts", which changed size of controls, but not bitmaps.

Each of these options gives you something. Focusing on single resolution (or fixed-number multiples) is short signed, almost like basing your's OS binary API on soon-to-be obsolete and unstable C++ ABI (I'm taking shots at BeOS - they took the easy solution at the beginning and what problems it caused).

Especially when the system has the tools to handle the differences.

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glhaynes14y ago

Also, computer apps don't usually run full-screen.

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