A browser which makes use of a high-resolution screen?

October 28, 2006 6:27 PM

Is there any browser which can be configured to make use of the full width of my 1400x1500 monitor in displaying websites?

Most commercial sites seem to be optimized for 1024x768, and they just leave acres of blank space in the right third of my screen.

Increasing the font size with either Firefox or IE is not much help because on most sites it doesn't change the column width. My screen is only 14", so if I make the text large enough to read, it looks ridiculous crammed into these tiny columns.

It really annoys me that web designers seem to have decided to ignore the original basic principle of HTML, i.e. how things are displayed should be up to the user, and flexible. Hardcoding the size of any element in pixels used to be a big no-no.

But anyway, is there any solution?

posted by tabulem to computers & internet (19 comments total)

PS Ask mefi is a pretty reasonable site: it uses the whole screen and if I just increase the text size, I can make it big enough to read without messing up the whole interface.

But look at, for example, cnn.com on a monitor larger than 1024x768 and you'll see what I mean. Sites that fail are more common than sites that work.
posted by tabulem at 6:28 PM on October 28, 2006

I'd suggest using Opera and just magnifying the page. It's usually pretty effective for me when I need to do such a thing.
posted by DoctorFedora at 6:45 PM on October 28, 2006

This is something that makes more sense if you use a Mac; it's kind of the default behavior. But don't use the screen for just one window - put your browser in one spot, IM next to it, text editor next to that, and so on and so forth (depending on what programs you use).
posted by spaceman_spiff at 6:53 PM on October 28, 2006 [1 favorite]

Y'know, ignore me. I didn't read the whole comment. Sorry. Can I ask why your resolution is that high?
posted by spaceman_spiff at 6:54 PM on October 28, 2006

Seconding Opera-- its magnification feature will increase the size of columns along with the text. Also, I doubt your monitor is 1400x1500-- possibly 1400x1050?
posted by alexei at 6:59 PM on October 28, 2006

Using a widescreen LCD at anything less than it's native resolution looks craptacular. I just bought a second-hand 2405fpw - anything but 1900x1200 looks horrible.
posted by datacenter refugee at 7:00 PM on October 28, 2006

(that last comment was aimed at spaceman_spiff) - shoulda included that . . .
posted by datacenter refugee at 7:01 PM on October 28, 2006

DoctorFedora, thanks for the answer. That's exactly what I was looking for. With Opera and 150% zoom, my whole screen is utilized, and I can read the text.

spacemann_spiff, thanks too. Yes, I thought about using the extra space for other things, but I'm a PC user so accustomed to using the whole screen most of the time. To answer your question, it's a ThinkPad laptop, 14", 1400x1050. It looks nice, but it turns out be overkill. My previous laptop was a 1024x768 and that was actually more convenient on the whole.
posted by tabulem at 7:01 PM on October 28, 2006

Yes, sorry, 1400x1050, my typo. And yes, changing the monitor resolution is not a solution, makes everything look blurry.
posted by tabulem at 7:03 PM on October 28, 2006

Once you figure out which zoom works best for you - customize the keyboard shortcuts under Tools | Preferences | Advanced TAB | Shortcuts | Keyboard setup.

A more detailed how to is here.
posted by bigmusic at 7:45 PM on October 28, 2006

Not precisely what you're looking for, but perhaps NoSquint?
posted by WCityMike at 7:48 PM on October 28, 2006

It really annoys me that web designers seem to have decided to ignore the original basic principle of HTML, i.e. how things are displayed should be up to the user, and flexible. Hardcoding the size of any element in pixels used to be a big no-no.

First of all, the modern xhtml+css mentality is to separate form from content. Not to give users complete control over form. Secondly, having text span from left to right across a huge monitor (like Metafilter does) is fairly awful from a reading perspective. This is the reason newspapers are printed in narrow columns. Much much easier to read.
posted by knave at 7:59 PM on October 28, 2006

IE7 has a similar zoom feature built in, and there's a Firefox extension to enable that type of zooming, I believe.
posted by anildash at 9:08 PM on October 28, 2006

Could I ask what you'd like web developers to do instead of specify attribute dimensions in pixels? It may not be the most flexible thing, but what's the alternative? I already specify all my text sizing in EMs, so user's browsers control the relative text size, but if I have to match a column to the size of a logo, or create a box with rounded corners, what choice is there but to size in pixels?

Until web developers can use vector graphics natively in browsers, there's little choice but to use pixels.

I'm open to suggestions - though, if there's a better way.
posted by odinsdream at 8:14 AM on October 29, 2006

Thanks for the further comments. I'm not an expert on web design; I was on top of it maybe seven years ago, but things have come a long way since then.

To answer your question odinsdream, my suggestions would be (1) don't match a column to the size of a logo; have it match at 1024x768 (the most common resolution) and determine column width based on window size, so the logo will just look a bit too small at higher resolutions; (2) specify the rounded corners in pixels for 1024x768, and accept that users at different resolutions won't see quite what you intended.

I think the basic point is that "something's gotta give". I would rather that be aesthetics than useability.

Anyway, I'm now using Opera with 150% zoom, and I'm happy with the results so far.

Thanks again for all the helpful information.
posted by tabulem at 9:22 AM on October 29, 2006

I think the basic point is that "something's gotta give". I would rather that be aesthetics than useability.

Ooh! Ooh! I know someone who's never had to develop a website for a client!! :-)

Seriously, I don't know who these lucky bastards are who manage to convince their clients that low-graphics, useable websites are the way to go, but no matter how clearly or vehemently I express it, every client I've had wants their logos larger, the websites constrained to a specific size, and would rather a website looks good to them than have the website look okay for everybody.
posted by Deathalicious at 2:24 PM on October 29, 2006 [1 favorite]

I believe CTRL + mousewheel is the shortcut to the zoom function in Opera.
posted by Tixylix at 3:39 PM on October 29, 2006

I second that the "solution" is to stop using maximized windows. Make them 800 pixels wide and now you can fit two pages on the screen at a time. Or keep your MP3 player or IM client visible, etc.
posted by smackfu at 7:33 AM on October 30, 2006

Deathalicious; I'm sure most web developers see where tabelum is coming from; we're just more acutely aware of the reality of current web design limitations. Limitations like raster graphics, for example.

There is no solution to pixel-based design limitations, because there is no standard way to include vector graphics in a website.

Opera's Zoom feature is nice and all, but I bet rounded corners on CSS boxes start to look more and more like the little staircases of pixels that they actually are. In a vector-based web, this wouldn't need to happen - opera could truly resize the graphics and the page losslessly.

Unfortunately, reality isn't there yet.
posted by odinsdream at 11:41 AM on October 30, 2006