MX Linux Forum

My previous post viewtopic.php?t=85127 is probably related to this viewtopic.php?t=85129.

Is 96 DPI some kind of standard? Why do some desktop environments default to 96 DPI display resolution when the actual display DPI is almost always different and not allow you to change it or not work properly if you do manage to change it to match your display?

The AI answer I got on google makes sense: Desktop environments often default to 96 DPI (Dots Per Inch) due to historical reasons and the need for a consistent baseline for older applications. While many modern displays have a higher DPI, the 96 DPI value serves as a reliable default for backward compatibility and to ensure that older software functions as expected.

If you are using a DE that won't allow adjustments to your specific needs, it's time to move on.

The resolution of the human eye, is somewhere between 200 and 300 DPI under optimal conditions. So 96 DPI is a good choice for normal conditions (for the printers it is ~ 600 or 1200 DPI )

As far as I understand 96 DPI has to do with font size/resolution. Stick to 96 DPI if you want your fonts to have their natural size on Linux. A cool thing is that you can increase the size of your fonts by increasing this number (don't overthink - it just works like that). It's a "legacy" number, but very useful in real life.

j2mcgreg wrote: Thu Jul 03, 2025 10:27 am If you are using a DE that won't allow adjustments to your specific needs, it's time to move on.

As far as I know KDE6 removed this font DPI functionality in their Wayland session, because it would confuse users now that scaling works well... or something like that.
https://invent.kde.org/plasma/plasma-de ... /issues/62

Most Linux desktops still have it, but maybe that will change with Wayland. Windows 11 has font scaling for Accessibility needs (and regular scaling, but not font size adjustment in point sizes).

I have seen 96 DPI as the standardall the way back to when I started using Windows 98se and always seemed to be the standard of all the LINUX distros I tried. Regardless if it was if it was Windows or LINUX the DPI was always adjustable and was always set to 96 by default.