On 12/09/2020 10:09, David Gee wrote:
Some LCD panels can display more than one resolution—my HP laptop (which now runs Linux) I have set to 1600 x 900 instead of its native 1920 x 1080 and it's much easier than at its native resolution. The ARMbook can't be set successfully to other resolutions in RISC OS—
I wonder this can be done in Linux (I only run mine in RO). ThisYou don't need to do it in Linux, just about every Linux desktop allows you to change the size of fonts and icons, precisely so you do not have to drive your monitor at a non native resolution, which results in horrible fuzziness.
would tell whether the limitation is in the hardware or in the RO
drivers.
If the hardware only supports native resolution then the OS wouldRISC OS can do this, either add a EX0 EY0 to the string in the Display Manager menu mode box. There's probably a way of setting that permanently in the MDF but I can't recall right now.
need to do scaling. This is effectively what "Big Mode"
does—everything is doubled in size.Apple do the same, by making the
resolution of the screen twice what it would have been; on the
current MacBook Air, the resolution is 2560 x 2600.
If you need/want fractional scaling, things get trickier. With control of the hardware, Apple don't (need to) do this. Windows 10 does attempt this; it has improved over time but is still not perfect on some apps—including Ovation Pro. The GNOME desktop in Linux now supports it, but it has to be turned on specially—this suggests it might not work too well.
I think 1920 x 1080 really isn't a suitable resolution for most laptops—too small to be seen easily, and not high enough a resolution for doubling up to work well. At least the ARMbook lets you change the resolution quickly—even if not everything doubled in size in Big Mode (for example, bitmapped fonts in editors—but the text in StrongEd's "list of found" does double in size…)
