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I currently use a 22" (1920 X 1080) monitor from 2 ft away. I have to work with text a lot. In order to improve readability of text in my browser I started using add-ons like Blacken, No Small Text and NoSquint. Even then I would find myself either squinting at the page or zooming on it too much. So I started imposing font rules using custom stylesheets and Stylish for websites I frequent the most. I have put up those that work best here.

Over the past few years the text on the web has gotten smaller, what with all the retina displays flying around. Yet 17"-21" retina displays are nowhere to be found for the desktop users. Therefore, I am thinking of buying a 27" monitor that I can put at the same distance as my current 22" one and be able to see larger text.

My question is would this work out for my situation? Would using a larger monitor with the same resolution let me read comfortably?

P.S: For those curious, the monitor I am almost set on buying is a Samsung 27" S27D390H.

Harsh Vardhan
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  • though hardware/software recommendations are off-topic for SU… getting a bigger screen with only 1080p resolution is going to feel fuzzier than your current setup. Get at least a 2k monitor if you want a 27", the samsung you quoted will be pretty nasty :( – Tetsujin Mar 22 '15 at 22:23
  • Maybe you should get your eyes checked. Seriously, this is not a put-down. – sawdust Mar 23 '15 at 00:11
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    If your eyesight will never get better (even with glasses), or you have a large distance from the monitor a 27" at the same res, will make the stuff bigger. Works fine for my older landlord whos ocular clarity is low :-). if your vision is good and you can clearly see everything , you will be distracted by the cell walls, the pixels being larger blocks. With my eyesight and distance i was unable to go to the 27" (at the same res) as an improvment. – Psycogeek Mar 23 '15 at 00:59
  • This question may be helpful: http://superuser.com/questions/846261/aging-eyes-screen-size-and-resolution/846269#846269 – fixer1234 Mar 23 '15 at 01:23
  • Here is something else that is a big help with Chrome - install the high contrast extension and a high contrast skin called Slinky Elegance and set it to "Increased Contrast" ==> https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/high-contrast/djcfdncoelnlbldjfhinnjlhdjlikmph?hl=en A black and white round icon will show top right on your screen where you can make the settings. – whs Mar 23 '15 at 01:38
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    Consider getting computer glasses. They are a single prescription lens that focuses at the computer distance. It puts your entire visual field in focus at the monitor. They can make a huge difference compared to glasses corrected to normal reading distance, or multi-focal or progressive lenses. – fixer1234 Mar 23 '15 at 01:40
  • @fixer1234 I got my eyes checked and found that my reading eyesight is alright. It is only at long distance that I have to work harder to read. It has been corrected by the lenses I was prescribed. So how will these special "computer glasses" remedy my situation at reading distances. – Harsh Vardhan Mar 25 '15 at 00:10
  • If you don't need glasses for computer work, this is irrelevant for you. – fixer1234 Mar 25 '15 at 00:14
  • @fixer1234 I think your solution would work the best for me. I did not consider the fact that we don't use computers at reading distance. So if I could get a prescription for lenses corrected for computer vision it should make a difference. How much difference did it make for you? – Harsh Vardhan Mar 26 '15 at 15:58
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    Tremendous benefit for me, but mainly because my regular glasses are progressive lenses. They have a small "sweet spot" at the monitor's distance, which doesn't encompass the whole screen so it can be hard to use. Also, it is toward the bottom of the lens, so focusing on the top of the screen is a literal pain in the neck. I got computer glasses a couple of years ago and they're a fantastic solution, at least for me. – fixer1234 Mar 26 '15 at 16:49

2 Answers2

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What matters is the relative size of the pixels of course. The monitor you've listed has a native resolution of 1920 x 1080, the same as your 22"

That means that each pixel will be visibly larger if you keep the monitor at the same distance and therefore, the image will be slightly larger too. The downside being that you may find the edge-to-edge viewing angle too large causing you eye or neck strain.

UPDATE: As pointed out by @Tetsujin, going bigger with the same resolution is not really the best option. Going bigger with a higher resolution will enable you to make use of changing the DPI in the OS to make things bigger without making things too blurry. At my age, this is increasingly a necessity anyway!

Julian Knight
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  • icons like dinner-plates & text akin to 1985 capability - I wouldn't touch it with a barge-pole ;) – Tetsujin Mar 22 '15 at 22:27
  • You are correct of course & I should have said that. I'll update the answer. – Julian Knight Mar 22 '15 at 22:38
  • Screen magnification (dpi changes), degrades sharpness, so it is not the best solution for making things larger. The image will always be sharpest at its native resolution. Discussed here: superuser.com/a/857792/364367. Either go with a larger monitor with the same resolution,. or a larger monitor with higher resolution but select a larger font size (creates natively larger characters rather than interpolating a smaller one). – fixer1234 Mar 23 '15 at 01:31
  • Whilst that used to be good advise, the increase in super high-res but physically small screens (such as my Surface Pro 3) mean that this is no longer the case. OS level DPI changes are rarely ideal but they don't necessarily degrade sharpness. Sometimes it does introduce other issues though so should only be done where necessary. – Julian Knight Mar 23 '15 at 08:10
  • I never bought that monitor, but bought two 22" FHD monitors and positioned them vertically on my desk. I have now decided to get a curved ultrawide WQHD monitor of 34 inches. I plan to keep at least 2 feet away from my face and crank up its DPI. I have selected your answer as correct because going big with higher resolution is the correct advice. – Harsh Vardhan Dec 17 '17 at 13:24
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A bigger monitor will certainly give you better options. You can e.g. increase the DPI to 150% (even try 200%). The settings are in Control Panel\Appearance and Personalization\Display.

Another option to consider is a high contrast theme. That works well with the internet explorer in Windows 8.1 and somewhat in Windows 10. I have made a little settings video for W8.1 and W10. In W7 it is a bit different.

whs
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  • Why couldn't you increase DPI to 150% or 200% with a smaller monitor? – ChrisInEdmonton Mar 22 '15 at 23:37
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    Changing the DPI means that you fit less content in the available screen real estate. At 200%, you fit half the content, which is why you start with a higher-resolution screen. However, as I noted on Julian Knight's answer, changing the DPI uses interpolation to enlarge things, which destroys the sharpness. The way to enlarge text and retain sharpness is by using larger screen fonts, which are defined by a larger matrix that is natively displayed. – fixer1234 Mar 23 '15 at 01:17
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    You can increase the DPI on a smaller monitor, but then you often lose part of windows - e.g. in the W8.1 task manager you may not see the bottom and cannot click the Apply or Disable buttons.. My rule of thumb is 125% for 15" and 150% for 22" and above. – whs Mar 23 '15 at 01:45
  • @fixer1234, see my comment above about super high-res screens. On Windows and Mac at least, this isn't always the case. The best solution to the question is to get a larger but higher res screen and adjust DPI to need. whs, this shouldn't be the case. W8.1 generally handles it OK unless you push things too far. Generally, you need plenty of spare pixels for this to work well. – Julian Knight Mar 23 '15 at 08:13
  • OP specified a larger monitor with the SAME resolution. – ChrisInEdmonton Mar 24 '15 at 20:20