Hi all,

We've been trying to organize, at least in our minds, physical pixel
sizes. This is especially true with some of the latest devices out
there. As a designer, I need to predict that this 15 pixel icon I'm
designing will be visible on different devices. Right now it will.

On 128 pixel wide screens, this image will be approximately 3.4 mm.
On 176 pixel wide screens, this image will be approximately 2.5 mm.
On a Nokia N96, this image will be 2.7 mm.
On a HTC Touch Diamond, this image will be 1.3 mm.
On a SonyEricsson Xperia, this image will be 1.2 mm.

The first two estimates will vary wildly, as the pixel density vary
wildly. But it looks like the larger the screen, the smaller the pixel.

Unfortunately, the human eye doesn't change accordingly. And that
heuristic will fail in certain situations.

So I'm going after physical screen dimensions, preferably expressed in
millimeter height and width. I'll use this for font sizing and image
sizing. I've already started collecting actual data (please help! see
blog entry below)

Could we have this added to the data structure?

http://www.littlespringsdesign.com/blog/blog/2008/10/23/screen-sizes-and-analyti\
cs/


While we are at it, for Java I also want
device_provides_separate_back_button so I know when using low level
design elements when I can use the softkeys for something useful
rather than back.


---
Barbara Ballard
barbara@...

Designing compelling, usable, and device-appropriate software and web
sites for mobile devices.