Playing on a 4k Monitor

[khanable]

Originally Posted by Naethyn [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I play on a 4k monitor. I recommend playing with a center of screen approach that most modern MMO's take. Instead of health bars and everything at the edges of your screen, they are at the center bottom.

[You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

This is 3440x1440, which isn't 4k. Going to assume it's a 34" panel, which doesn't have too dense of a pixel/inch ratio (so UI elements at normal desk-sitting position are probably OK for most people).

People are using the term "4k" when the 4k resolution is really only a part of the problem. I think the issue is going to boil down to pixels/inch of the display and the viewing distance from the display.

The more common situations is as follows (at least as far as I can tell):

1) People using a high resolution with small physical screen size that sit within a meter of the screen (typical desk setup). An example would be a 28" monitor with a native 3840×2160 resolution ("4k"). EQ can absolutely run at that resolution, but the UI elements are very small as the pixels/inch is vastly more dense than a typical 1080p monitor of approximately the same size. Another example would be a baller af gaming laptop with a 15" 4k screen.. having an even more dense pixel/inch ratio (though I suspect the viewing distance would be shorter here, but same concept).

2) People using a 4k TV or other large display (50" or whatever size) at a viewing distance of a few meters. The issue here is more about the UI being small due to distance, rather than physical screen size. People sitting about a meter (typical desk settings) from a 43" with this resolution probably don't have too much of a problem with the UI elements.

There isn't really a 1-size fits all solution to this, as some pixel/inch ratio and viewing distance combinations may need a 2x UI scale, others may need a 1.5x, etc. I think for 90% of the people out there, using a 2x UI scale is going to be perfectly fine. As someone else pointed out, simply scaling the UI isn't going to solve all the issues. You'll need a larger font. I think the best route to go here is to find an open source clone of Arial and use FontForge to scale it 200% and then manually adjust the kerning, right & left side bearings, ascent, and descent of the font so that it doesn't look like balls (I've started researching this but it is so fucking boring oh my god). The next step, IMO, would be to start scaling the UI elements by 200% - don't have to worry about scaling the actual artwork used in the UI just yet, as the client is smart enough to autoscale them for now (they'll be blurry, but meh). Once that is fully working a revamp of the images used in the UI can be done (and you'll need to update the animations file to make use of the new dimensions).

It's a lot of work, and it's something I've been toying with here and there.. just throwing some more ideas at this discussion.

[ziffiz]

Originally Posted by khanable [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

This is 3440x1440, which isn't 4k. Going to assume it's a 34" panel, which doesn't have too dense of a pixel/inch ratio (so UI elements at normal desk-sitting position are probably OK for most people).

People are using the term "4k" when the 4k resolution is really only a part of the problem. I think the issue is going to boil down to pixels/inch of the display and the viewing distance from the display.

The more common situations is as follows (at least as far as I can tell):

1) People using a high resolution with small physical screen size that sit within a meter of the screen (typical desk setup). An example would be a 28" monitor with a native 3840×2160 resolution ("4k"). EQ can absolutely run at that resolution, but the UI elements are very small as the pixels/inch is vastly more dense than a typical 1080p monitor of approximately the same size. Another example would be a baller af gaming laptop with a 15" 4k screen.. having an even more dense pixel/inch ratio (though I suspect the viewing distance would be shorter here, but same concept).

2) People using a 4k TV or other large display (50" or whatever size) at a viewing distance of a few meters. The issue here is more about the UI being small due to distance, rather than physical screen size. People sitting about a meter (typical desk settings) from a 43" with this resolution probably don't have too much of a problem with the UI elements.

There isn't really a 1-size fits all solution to this, as some pixel/inch ratio and viewing distance combinations may need a 2x UI scale, others may need a 1.5x, etc. I think for 90% of the people out there, using a 2x UI scale is going to be perfectly fine. As someone else pointed out, simply scaling the UI isn't going to solve all the issues. You'll need a larger font. I think the best route to go here is to find an open source clone of Arial and use FontForge to scale it 200% and then manually adjust the kerning, right & left side bearings, ascent, and descent of the font so that it doesn't look like balls (I've started researching this but it is so fucking boring oh my god). The next step, IMO, would be to start scaling the UI elements by 200% - don't have to worry about scaling the actual artwork used in the UI just yet, as the client is smart enough to autoscale them for now (they'll be blurry, but meh). Once that is fully working a revamp of the images used in the UI can be done (and you'll need to update the animations file to make use of the new dimensions).

It's a lot of work, and it's something I've been toying with here and there.. just throwing some more ideas at this discussion.

Good observations however I will say in regard to point 2. I am using a pair of 43" 4K TV's sitting about a meter away and I cant read a single thing on the UI at 4K. Frankly its a challenge at 1920x1080. So yes I could try to move closer, but its not really practical without changing out my desk/chair setup.

The reason I went to these large TV/Monitors ironically was to attempt to make things larger and easier to see.

[khanable]

Originally Posted by ziffiz [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Good observations however I will say in regard to point 2. I am using a pair of 43" 4K TV's sitting about a meter away and I cant read a single thing on the UI at 4K. Frankly its a challenge at 1920x1080. So yes I could try to move closer, but its not really practical without changing out my desk/chair setup.

The reason I went to these large TV/Monitors ironically was to attempt to make things larger and easier to see.

if you're having issues with 43", 1080p, at a meter-ish away then you are definitely the third, smaller category of folks that need like 2.5-3x [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

but it kind of illustrates the point tho, there isn't a 1-size fits all solution to this

[Tupakk]

I can't wait for a 2x UI with fonts. I have been dealing with 3 meter distance for a few months in my living room setup and it's killing me. I made a macro just to force tell windows to chatfont 5.

Also this can't be anymore boring than the HD face makeover y'all are doing [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I have no problem being your test dummy

55" tv playing in 1600 900 reso at roughly 3 meters

[khanable]

Originally Posted by Tupakk [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I can't wait for a 2x UI with fonts. I have been dealing with 3 meter distance for a few months in my living room setup and it's killing me. I made a macro just to force tell windows to chatfont 5.

Also this can't be anymore boring than the HD face makeover y'all are doing [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I have no problem being your test dummy

55" tv playing in 1600 900 reso at roughly 3 meters

do me a favor and post a screenshot, I don't even think 2x UI elements would fit within a 1600x900 window lol

[Tupakk]

Originally Posted by khanable [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

do me a favor and post a screenshot, I don't even think 2x UI elements would fit within a 1600x900 window lol

I only play 1600 x 900 because it makes it a little bit bigger. I'm not opposed to switching it to a different resolution to fit whatever needs you need.

But I will on my break when I get home.

[Naethyn]

Good call Cucu. This is what I'm rolling atm. https://www.amazon.com/Asus-PG348Q-3.../dp/B01C83BE6U

I love it. I've used other monitors with high resolution and this is the only one I've used where the corners don't feel blurry while staring at the center of the screen.

[Tupakk]

Here is the link to the screenshot

https://puu.sh/wsnQM/a6a30b7048.bmp


Played in Fullscreen 1600x900

[Triiz]

Originally Posted by Tupakk [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

. I made a macro just to force tell windows to chatfont 5.

You can change the default font size in the .ini so that every tell window will auto-load with chat font 5. Search "chatfont" then change it to 5.

Is there a reason you're using /chatfont 5 instead of /chatfont 6 if small text is your issue? I'm not on 4k so don't have any of the issues you guys have, but the text with /chatfont 6 is quite noticeably larger than /chatfont 5 on my display.

[Tupakk]

Originally Posted by Triiz [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

You can change the default font size in the .ini so that every tell window will auto-load with chat font 5. Search "chatfont" then change it to 5.

Is there a reason you're using /chatfont 5 instead of /chatfont 6 if small text is your issue? I'm not on 4k so don't have any of the issues you guys have, but the text with /chatfont 6 is quite noticeably larger than /chatfont 5 on my display.

5 is readable for me its the text in the UI that I have a hard time reading.