Add 3× scaling setting

[cassidyjames]

Modern hardware is cropping up where 3× scaling might make sense. We should probably go ahead and add it to the scaling factor combobox.

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[cassidyjames]

Trying to think of the right UI copy for this. Right now we have three options:

• Automatic
• LoDPI
• Pixel Doubled

"Pixel Tripled" sounds weird, and I think it'd make more sense to break into 3× at that point. Do we do something like this?

• Automatic
• LoDPI (1×)
• HiDPI (2×)
• HiDPI (3×)

Or is having the scaling factor listed there a little weird?

[jlnr]

Assuming that users will change this setting because things are too small/large on their screen, I think "Zoom: 100% / 200% / 300%" is easier to understand.

Since any change here requires a reboot, it would also be nice if "Automatic" was more specific ("Automatic (200%)") so that users don't change it from "Automatic" to e.g. 200%, only to discover that everything looks the same after a reboot.

[cassidyjames]

@jlnr I think "zoom" is probably abstracting/papering over it a bit too much. Some users will be familiar with scaling factors, and 1x/2x/3x is a common way to denote that. Whereas "Zoom" could be font zoom, the existing zoom functionality, or something new altogether. And for the vast majority of people, Automatic should be the correct setting, and we'd rather they use something less drastic like text size if they need things to be a bit bigger.

But I do think you raise a good point about "automatic" having the scaling factor listed.

Scaling factor:

• Automatic (2×)
• LoDPI (1×)
• HiDPI (2×)
• HiDPI (3×)

Is "force" too… forceful?

Scaling factor:

• Automatic (2×)
• Force LoDPI (1×)
• Force HiDPI (2×)
• Force HiDPI (3×)

[cassidyjames]

And I guess for completeness, here's the smallest diff, but I don't like it:

Scaling factor:

• Automatic
• LoDPI
• Pixel Doubled
• 3× Scaling (or something)

[steakscience]

• Automatic
• LoDPI (1×)
• HiDPI (2×)
• HiDPI (3×)

This is a good solution @cassidyjames

[matej-marcisovsky]

What about this:

• Automatic
• LoDPI
• HiDPI
• HiDPI+

Scaling factor is weird and kinda useless for regular users. As a user you have to think about what the number in parenthesis is representing - scale, zoom, three times what?

[cassidyjames]

HiDPI+ isn't an industry standard term at all, though. I think in this case I'd like to be more honest/up-front about the scaling factor. We'd also label the dropdown as "Scaling factor" still.

[jlnr]

To add one more objection, LoDPI is not an industry standard term either, and I think it sounds too negative. There's nothing wrong with 1440p at 27", or 1080p/1200p at 24". I don't have a good suggestion for an alternative, though. (Percentages ftw 😬)

[tintou]

Scaling factor: 1× 2× … n×
Btw, we don't have to hardcode the max number anymore, we can just get that number from Mutter (this combobox predates Mutter support)

[cassidyjames]

@tintou I would like to distinguish between loDPI and HiDPI since those are terms we use when talking about elementary OS, and at the very least if someone doesn't understand scaling factors, that's another possibly-familiar term they could recognize.

[matej-marcisovsky]

What about scaling factor as number input/slider with a hint text? If user slides the scale factor to 2x hint text shows up telling him that this is a good value for HiDPI monitors etc.

[cassidyjames]

Fixed in the simplest case by #262