[bloopernova]

I wonder if we'll ever abandon resolution-based rendering for screens, instead using a PPI/DPI vector-based system?

Since the 80s I've been wishing for a 300/600dpi resolution-independent screen. Sure, it's basically like wishing for a magic pony, but I was spoiled by getting a Vectrex[1] for a birthday in the 80s, and I really liked the concept. I know the Vectrex was a different type of rendering to the screens we use today, but I still find it fascinating.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vectrex

[globular-toast]

I wish for this too. You can get tiny screens with that kind of pixel density. My ebook reader is 300ppi and my phone is almost 650ppi!

It saddens me when I see people measuring things in pixels. It should all be measured relative to the font or perhaps the viewport size. The font size itself should just be how big the user wants the text which in turn will depend on the user's eyes and viewing distance etc. The size in pixels is irrelevant but is calculated using the monitor's PPI. Instead we get people setting font sizes in pixels then having to do silly tricks like scaling to turn that into the "real" size in pixels. Sigh...

[CharlesW]

> The font size itself should just be how big the user wants the text which in turn will depend on the user's eyes and viewing distance etc.

So software "pixels" are relative units now, but you would have them get larger or smaller as the user moves closer to or further from the screen? (I think I'm not quite getting it, sorry.)

[globular-toast]

We're wishing for a screen with such a high pixel density it makes pixels a completely irrelevant implementation detail of the screen itself. So nobody would be setting their font size (or anything else) as some number of pixels, they would in fact set it in a real physical unit like cm/inches and that choice merely comes down to personal preference, eyesight and how far you are from the screen.