KDE Desktop Resolution - NOT OVERSCAN!

[Dale_K]

I have posted this before and had a few suggestions that didn't work out, just hoping something different/new will come of it.

I would like to change the resolution of the KDE desktop for the purposes of being able to read text when browsing the internet from my couch 10 feet away.  I run my MD at 720P and when I drop to KDE or use the computing menu to open a browser, the text is far too small to read from a distance any further than 2 feet.

Can I and/or How do I change the resolution of KDE to something lower without changing the resolution of the whole MD?

Thanks,

Dale

[colinjones]

Your problem as nothing to do with screen resolution. Two issues 1) your screen DPI setting, and 2) how your application selects the font size for display.

1) With the OS/Kubuntu stuff, ie the system UI things, the font size is pretty much static across the interface. However it will calculate this base on the assumed Dots Per Inch setting for your screen. It is very common for a screen to supply incorrect screen dimensions, etc causing this calculation to be way out. So if your system fonts are too small, you can change the DPI settings in your xorg.conf file... look for an article on the wiki to do with "tiny fonts on kde desktop"

2) Once the desktop is fine.... then fonts within applications (such as web pages) will tend to be driven by what the web site defines... this may not be appropriate for distant viewing, however there is a very simple way to override these settings to make web pages perfectly readable.... in Firefox you just hit CTRL+ and CTRL- to increase and decrease the font size.

[Dale_K]

Colin,

Thx for the reply.

Unfortunately, I have played with the DPI settings as outlined in the "tiny fonts" wiki, the problem was that when I changed that setting in xorg, my menus in the OSO became HUGE.

I'm also aware of the Ctrl+ Ctrl- in Firefox and it works sort-of.  On many pages increasing that to the size I need to be legible completely jacks the page layout.  I was hoping for a more permanent solution as well.

I referred to resolution because that's what I change when I plug my laptop into my TV to get a larger font size.

[colinjones]

OSO?

Ideally you want to decouple size from resolution, and use DPI to control presentation, as this allows components that use the DPI system to scale along with fonts, widgets, etc... Not using resolution means that you don't have to decrease your resolution just to increase the size of things.... decreasing resolution is obviously undesirable on a system intended to play video!

[Dale_K]

OSO = On Screen Orbiter

So, is there a way to increase the DPI in KDE without changing the OSO menus?  As I said when I change the DPI my KDE looks good but the menus in the OSO are gigantic.

[colinjones]

hmmm someone else will have to answer that for you. I have never seen the DPI setting have any effect on the "OSO" size at all. My understanding is that it shouldn't have any effect as the scaling for that is quite separate from the KDE desktop scaling.... I have set mine as high as 130 x 130 and my Orbiter remains the same.