Solution(s) for coder with quite poor eyesight

[Tommi Prami 131]

Current 24" monitor with 1920x1200 has DPI/PPI (what ever) that makes most of the default fonts, like in Delphi ide too small (for me).

 

Solutions I can think of

 

1. Monitor with lower DPI but not smaller resolution (Cause now the desktop size is pretty limited). But all larger monitor seems to be 4K
2. Way to change IDE font(s) to larger, not just code, which I use now size 12, but it gives me already just barely room horizontally to see code.
3. Get large 4K display (if can) and raise DPI from windows. but at least previously et opened kind of can of worms. Delphi really should normalize the dfm always to the native 96 DPI, so it would be consistent and easy to compare. 
   1. Is that a problem, are there teams that coders use different DPI?
   2. And if problems, does it really matter?
4. Am I missing some obvious solution, than Quitting my job and move into wilderness, away from all the technology?

[TiGü 21]

Do you use Windows 10?

Why not increase the DPI for the current Monitors?

You can use a 1920 x 1200 Monitor with a 125%, 150% or 175% scaling.

Source: https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/5990-change-dpi-scaling-level-displays-windows-10-a.html

 

[Uwe Raabe 2063]

As long as the IDE is fully suitable at higher DPI settings, I tend to overwrite the DPI awareness in the shortcut properties to "System (Enhanced)". Although the icons are still a bit blurry, the text is pretty clear. This way the IDE Form Designer will still detect 96 dpi for a DFM internally even when run on a 4K display set to a higher DPI value.

[Der schöne Günther 316]

I depend on contact lenses. When I don't have them in (at home), I can barely see anything. But then, I can just crank Windows DPI up to 200% and everything is fine on my 27" screen (2560x1440). Normally, I have 125% DPI on that screen.

 

I am, however, not using Delphi at home anymore as it is extremely blurry on 125% DPI. All my other code editors don't have this problem and can instantly switch to higher/lower DPIs with no issues.

 

At 200% DPI, the Delphi IDE should probably look fine, I never tried.

 

What operating systems are you using? Quite some things have improved in the last versions...

Edited February 20, 2019 by Der schöne Günther

[Tommi Prami 131]

I use Win10, latest version.

 

Previously Delphi saved the higher DPI to the dfm, and therefor you jsut can't compare changes on saved on different machines (with different DPI). Would be super cool if deDelphi would always save as standard 96dpi not the one dev machine happens to use.

 

-Tee-

[Uwe Raabe 2063]

1 hour ago, Tommi Prami said:

Would be super cool if deDelphi would always save as standard 96dpi not the one dev machine happens to use.

At least that is what I see on my system (with Delphi 10.2.3 and 10.3.1). The IDE always designs with 96 dpi even on a monitor with 144 or 192 dpi.

 

I have one 27" 4k Monitor set to either 150% or 200% and two 24" Full-HD ones (primary on 100%). All forms are stored the same (96 dpi) whether designed on any monitor.

[Tommi Prami 131]

24 minutes ago, Uwe Raabe said:

At least that is what I see on my system (with Delphi 10.2.3 and 10.3.1). The IDE always designs with 96 dpi even on a monitor with 144 or 192 dpi.

 

I have one 27" 4k Monitor set to either 150% or 200% and two 24" Full-HD ones (primary on 100%). All forms are stored the same (96 dpi) whether designed on any monitor.

At least we had to set all of our desktops (Previous versions of Delphi at least)  to 100% font size/DPI setting, because Delhi will save the Dpi value to the Dfm, and sizes of components are scaled also. Should do quick test tough...

[Tommi Prami 131]

Pumped into this on, somewhere in here : https://github.com/zMotoR/IDEFont

Seemed like perfect solution, but it'll change the Font size of the Form editor also, which leads into resized components on the form.

 

Filed an issue for the projects, don't know is it possible to set font form by form, in the IDE; but that plugin is very close what would be good enough for me.

 

-Tee-

[Uwe Raabe 2063]

11 minutes ago, Tommi Prami said:

At least we had to set all of our desktops (Previous versions of Delphi at least)  to 100% font size/DPI setting

Perhaps the crucial thing is the 100% on the primary monitor? I remember to have seen problems on other systems with a different setting.

[Tommi Prami 131]

Might be, but I would specifically need more than 100% font size if use 4K monitor, even on very large one.

 

-Tee-

[Dalija Prasnikar 1399]

27" monitor with 1920x... resolution and 100% font size might be good enough.

There is quite a difference between 24" and 27".

[Tommi Prami 131]

Any models available for those specs... That would be better than nothing. 

 

Not more desktop area tough.

 

-Tee-
 

[Dalija Prasnikar 1399]

2 hours ago, Tommi Prami said:

Any models available for those specs... That would be better than nothing. 

 

There is plenty... HP, Dell, ViewSonic... it should not be hard to find suitable one.

 

I am using 1920x1080 at 24" and I have seen 27" 2K monitor simulating HD resolution using 100% font sizes. I could read it across the room.

[Attila Kovacs 631]

try something with dot pitch >= 0.3mm ( <~83DPI ), or a 4K with similar pixel-group size in 200% scaling 

[Tommi Prami 131]

On 2/20/2019 at 5:51 PM, Dalija Prasnikar said:

I am using 1920x1080 at 24" and I have seen 27" 2K monitor simulating HD resolution using 100% font sizes. I could read it across the room.

How sharp was the text in that situation?

 

-Tee-

[Tommi Prami 131]

On 2/20/2019 at 8:39 PM, Attila Kovacs said:

try something with dot pitch >= 0.3mm ( <~83DPI ), or a 4K with similar pixel-group size in 200% scaling 

As stated above, using other Dpi than 100% is not good. Because it'll affect into Dfm-files. And you just can't know is there true changes between two, if edited with environments with different Dpi. 

 

If Delphi woulöd normalize the dfm into 100% font sizes, and Form editor would be totally Dpi agnostic, at design time, it would be way easier to work in a team with different Dpi environments,

 

-Tee-

[Dalija Prasnikar 1399]

2 hours ago, Tommi Prami said:

How sharp was the text in that situation?

 

Pretty good, but not ideal.

[Микола Петрівський 10]

7 hours ago, Tommi Prami said:

As stated above, using other Dpi than 100% is not good. Because it'll affect into Dfm-files. And you just can't know is there true changes between two, if edited with environments with different Dpi. 

 

If Delphi woulöd normalize the dfm into 100% font sizes, and Form editor would be totally Dpi agnostic, at design time, it would be way easier to work in a team with different Dpi environments

RAD Studio works like that since Berlin, probably. But on HiDPI screens everything is very small.

And do not mix real Screen DPI and Windows Screen DPI, these two values do not have to be the same.

[David Schwartz 427]

FWIW, a 55" 4k monitor is equivalent to a 2x2 layout of 27" monitors without the seams between them.

 

Windows 10 has a setting somewhere where you can enlarge windows and it will stretch everything inside it to make their contents proportionally larger. I don't know what that setting is, but I've seen it in action a few times when it was enabled accidentally. I enlarged my Delphi IDE once and it just magnified everything as I made the window bigger. That's not what I was trying to do, and it took a while to disable that setting. I don't even remember what it was.