diff --git a/content/posts/the-importance-of-ppi.md b/content/posts/the-importance-of-ppi.md index 0d5ea8e..1f095f1 100644 --- a/content/posts/the-importance-of-ppi.md +++ b/content/posts/the-importance-of-ppi.md @@ -1,7 +1,6 @@ +++ title = 'The Importance of PPI' date = 2023-12-09T21:31:44-06:00 -draft = true description = 'My first blog post' +++ This is my first blog post!! I will attempt to introduce myself and @@ -23,5 +22,19 @@ but I hope to also blog about other things (life, music, etc.) as well! Let's se With that out of the way, I'd like to introduce the topic I have chosen for this post, PPI. **PPI** or *pixels per inch* refers to the number of pixels in an inch on the display. The two factors that influence PPI are screen size and resolution. The larger the screen size for the same resolution, the lower the PPI. The higher the resolution for the same screen size, the higher the PPI. ## Why is it Important -I would like to first introduce this post on the topic [What is HiDPI](https://cassidyjames.com/blog/what-is-hidpi/). This post -does a great job of explaining why \ No newline at end of file +PPI is important because it represents how big/small the fonts/GUI/Applications look on your screen, and how much usable screen real estate you have on your display. +Having too low a PPI means not having enough screen real estate, and having too high a PPI means your apps and fonts will look tiny. + +I would like to also introduce this post for further reading on the topic [What is HiDPI](https://cassidyjames.com/blog/what-is-hidpi/). This post +does a great job of explaining why PPI is important. But the TLDR is: + +- HiDPI ideally means pixel-doubling (twice as many in each direction so 4x the number of square pixels) +- Half pixels are a lie +- 4K does not mean HiDPI, and might not always be the best resolution +- Some manufacturers make poor decisions + +> For example, on a 15” display, 1080p (1920×1080) at 1× scaling produces a great usable amount of real estate without the fonts and icons being too small. 1080p pixel doubled is 4K (3840×2160), so that makes sense on that physical size; everything will be the same size, but twice as crisp. However, on a smaller display like 12 or 13”, 1080p at 1× is far too dense (meaning the UI is far too small) for most users. So 4K on this physical size is actually worse than something like 3200×1800 (equivalent to 1600×900 pixel doubled). + +The reality of the fact is, most manufacturers these days slap some sort of hi-res display on every device in order for it to sell well. However, what should matter more is the actual PPI of the display, or how much screen resolution you're getting at a specific screen size. A good rule of thumb to follow is to hit around 120 PPI for desktop monitors and 140 PPI for laptop screens (add a range of about 16 PPI above and below the target as wiggle room). This makes 1080p/4K a perfect resolution for 14"-17" laptop displays. Many laptops I've seen are now coming with Quad-HD displays (2560x1440) which actually run into the big problem of software-based fractional scaling, as described in the above article, leading to fuzziness, bluriness, and generally reduced clarity of text and apps. + +I hope to blog more on varied topics in the future, let's see where this goes :). \ No newline at end of file