[mythtv] Mythweb font size and color

Chris Petersen lists at forevermore.net
Thu Feb 10 06:53:28 UTC 2005


> I am not advocating using pixel sizes nor point sizes - they are
> essentially the same thing.  IIRC Pixel size = point size * dpi / 72.
> If your system is set to 75 dpi, then pixel size =~ point size.
> 
> I'm suggesting that the font-size be scaled.  Either by percentage (85%)
> or em (0.9em).  I believe that there is a bug in IE5.5 that does not
> render ems correctly in certain cases, so I usually stick with percentage.

Right.  But what you're saying makes no sense to me.  Browsers' default 
font sizes are set in points.  So if I say "9pt" or "11px" or "1.75em" 
or "80%" it still compares that size against the "12pt" that the browser 
thinks is its default.  When you "zoom" a page, a percentage is applied 
to that calculated difference.  None the chosen method of portraying the 
info should have a bearing on the ultimate outcome of the file size. 
I've never seen a browser work other than this.

> I recognize that you are trying to cram a lot of information into a fixed
> space, so some scaling of the font size is in order.  I just think that
> scaling with percentages is a more appropriate mechanism than specifying a
> fixed size.

But I'm not scaling by percentages.  I want a rather specific font size 
that matches against images or the rest of the stuff on my screen 
(outside of the browser window).  For a lot of my stuff, I'd *much* 
rather that the browser be rendered incapable of changing my font sizes 
(esp. if I specify pixel sizes).  It doesn't.  Heck, not even all 
browsers render things the same size when you specify them in pixel 
heights, esp. if you're comparing normal text with form input fields).

When I say 12pt, I mean 12pt.  If I say "100%" but haven't specified a 
font size, I don't know what size "100%" is in relation to.  What if I'm 
trying to do something like the search box in mythweb, where I need to 
match it and some other text against the height of some images -- I 
don't want to say "100%" and have that be 100% of 24pt.  Each of the 
units in css was created for certain instances -- I can see how handy it 
might be to define sets of fonts to be in relation to each other (eg. 
header at 150%, text at 100%, footnotes at 50%), but in all 
circumstances, they go back to either the point-size specified in the 
browser or css defaults, or the pixel size specified in the css.

> Perhaps on your system, 12 point is huge, but on mine, it's a little on
> the small side.  Now, I may have to review my settings, but it is not a
> problem on most, if not all, web sites that I come across.

my "system" is a collection of about a dozen boxes (mac+linux+windows at 
home, linux+windows+windows+... at work).  Granted, I don't do mythweb 
testing at work, but everything else I play with follows the rules I 
outlined above.

Or maybe you're setting your default sizes for your browser in points, 
rather than using "zoom" like its intended for?

I just don't see what I can do that would satisfy your desire for a 
default-small font and still have it work with everyone else.  I specify 
9pt because it's small in relation to the default 12pt.  If I specify 
75%, it'll still be the same size in your browser as it is at 9pt.  I'm 
not about to go leaving out a global font size, since I want a specific 
look (12pt or so for default), and many IE browsers are defaulted to 
14pt which is just huge.

> It got cut off from my initial post, but the Status page has green font
> which is difficult to see.  I am not sure if there is a blue-green color
> blindness, but it is hard for me to read and I have no color blindness.
> The green is especially hard to read in the Job queue - for instance when
> a job is running.

Odd.  It's very clear for me.  I just made it a little brighter -- 
hopefully that will help.

-Chris


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