Confused with DPI

What exactly does it mean when a typical Windows machine has font size of 96 DPI (Dot Per Inch)?

I know the Dot is not equal to pixel since you can not change the number of pixels of a monitor. But you can change the DPI, for example from 96DPI to 120DPI in Windows to make the font looks bigger. But what does the Dot in DPI physically mean?

Does Dot mean the smallest size of square that makes up a font? If that is the case, then having bigger DPI means smaller square. And the smaller the square is, the smoother your font looks like but this should not change the size of fonts at all. Your fonts will look smoother with higher DPI but it doesn't change the size of the font.

So, help me understand it folks. What is a Dot?

 

Dots per inch, I think
Why you so hung up on this?Not that big a deal.
All you have to know id 96 Dpi is smaller than 120 Dpi

 

The dot does mean a pixel, but the inch doesn't really mean an inch.

I'm serious.

But the original idea is that you set the DPI to the number of pixel per inch on your display. (Not everyone uses it that way, of course.) So you can use the DPI setting to compensate for differences in the pixel density of different displays... and by doing so, keep the actual size of text (in absolute measurements such as inches) the same.

But of course no one makes sure that you set the DPI to the real DPI of your display... so people tend to set it to whatever they like.

 

^To add to that, DPI was a much more useful measurement back in the old days of CRTs, where there was no such thing as a native resolution.

 

So, the original intention is if you superimpose a physical ruler on your screen, one inch of that ruler fits one inch of a virtual ruler on your Microsoft Word? I did that too and when I make the number of DPI equals to the physical Pixels Per Inch, the rulers do match perfectly.

But that doesn't answer the question of the meaning of Dot in DPI.

As why I am so hung up on this is I am still deciding whether or not I would want to buy a laptop whose font size is too small due to its high resolution, 1920x1080 in a 16.4" screen. Adjusting the DPI in Vista would enlarge the font but whenever I did that, other problems emerge such as blurry or jaggy icons, things don't line up etc. I am hoping that if I know what Dot really means or If I know exactly how scaling really work with Vista, I would be able to solve my problem.

 

Hendra I see your point and understand your concern. That said are you going to watch 1080p movies? If not buy lower. Also what size screen are we talking about? It matters as swarmer eluded to. I myself would buy a native resolution I was comfortable with for what I do most. I would run HD at 720p as it is more used and does look good or use interpolation with 1080p. Just thoughts?

 

Yes, I am going to watch 1080p movies with a 16.4" screen. The screen native resolution is 1920x1080. I am talking about upcoming Sony FW290. How far should I increase the DPI? Should I increase the DPI to match the physical monitor Pixels Per Inch? Some programs don't seem to like it when the DPI is set to anything other than default 96DPI. Even Firefox 3. Look at this screenshot that I have taken with Windows Vista SP1:



The one on the left is at default 96 DPI. The one on the right is at 120 DPI.
Did you see the blurry and jagged checkmark? How do I keep the icon smooth at higher DPI?

 

Try a lower resolution when not watching movies,this will solve the jaggies.

 

I don't like lowering the resolution because the fonts and stuffs look blurry.

 

Maybe you need a better screen.I always have no problems lowering screen resolution

 

All LCDs are like that. You can't lower the resolution without sacrificing the sharpness. If you can't tell the difference of the sharpness, you must have very high tolerant of what you might consider sharp. Look at it again, see the monitor at its native resolution and try to read a webpage, now decrease the resolution, you should be able to see the difference in sharpness.

 

To tell you the truth the sharpness of a checkmark is no big deal to me, sorry I could not help you more.