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u238110 · 08-03-2014, 11:07 AM

So, basically, I've done a bit of reading on this and determined that a desktop computer is actually like a miniature. Many people have gained a glimpse into this when scanning something and then seeing how large the resulting scan is on their computer. The reason it's so large is because the desktop environment was designed for cartoon-style computer icons. In order for photos to maintain their integrity in this environment, they need to consist of lots and lots and lots of pixels, and as a result, they're so huge. People downscale their images after seeing these huge scans, not realizing that they're actually working in a miniature environment. And downscaling that big scan is like pointing your finger at the book from which it was scanned and magically making the image in the book smaller (and images embedded in books are usually downscaled to begin with). Of course, the thumbnail-size images included in books are usually so compromised in quality already, but the point is that when you downscale images, you permanently compress their integral makeup. They might look huge on your computer monitor, but they're supposed to.

We could have desktop environments that had very high resolutions and then fonts would look just as fine and sharp as they do when printed. A good way to illustrate what I'm trying to convey is by referencing the iPhone's Retina display: http://gizmodo.com/5561351/the-iphon...ay-controversy

Even though it's just a hand held device, the graphics are made up of so many pixels that if you were to throw them onto a standard desktop computer, the text characters would be half the size of the screen. The reason that graphics and imagery appears so much bigger on a standard desktop is because the desktop's display is nowhere near as concentrated as the Retina display. The Retina display is more along the lines of reality; the desktop is more along the lines of a cartoon. And as a consequence, when a photograph is viewed in this cartoon environment, it's going to be huge as a result of the environment attempting to compensate for all the information.

08-03-2014, 11:07 AM	#11
u238110 Connoisseur Posts: 91 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: Long Island, NY Device: Aura, N514KUBKKEP, 4.7.10.413	So, basically, I've done a bit of reading on this and determined that a desktop computer is actually like a miniature. Many people have gained a glimpse into this when scanning something and then seeing how large the resulting scan is on their computer. The reason it's so large is because the desktop environment was designed for cartoon-style computer icons. In order for photos to maintain their integrity in this environment, they need to consist of lots and lots and lots of pixels, and as a result, they're so huge. People downscale their images after seeing these huge scans, not realizing that they're actually working in a miniature environment. And downscaling that big scan is like pointing your finger at the book from which it was scanned and magically making the image in the book smaller (and images embedded in books are usually downscaled to begin with). Of course, the thumbnail-size images included in books are usually so compromised in quality already, but the point is that when you downscale images, you permanently compress their integral makeup. They might look huge on your computer monitor, but they're supposed to. We could have desktop environments that had very high resolutions and then fonts would look just as fine and sharp as they do when printed. A good way to illustrate what I'm trying to convey is by referencing the iPhone's Retina display: http://gizmodo.com/5561351/the-iphon...ay-controversy Even though it's just a hand held device, the graphics are made up of so many pixels that if you were to throw them onto a standard desktop computer, the text characters would be half the size of the screen. The reason that graphics and imagery appears so much bigger on a standard desktop is because the desktop's display is nowhere near as concentrated as the Retina display. The Retina display is more along the lines of reality; the desktop is more along the lines of a cartoon. And as a consequence, when a photograph is viewed in this cartoon environment, it's going to be huge as a result of the environment attempting to compensate for all the information. Last edited by u238110; 08-03-2014 at 11:13 AM.