Consider using vector graphics for higher resolution screens?

[leon.lain.delysid]

Hi!
Just wanted to point out the fact that on higher resolution screens, like 4k screen such as what I am using at home, the icons all look bad. That's because with 4k resolution, everything is magnified 2x. So any picture will be magnified 2x too. That agrees really well with vector graphics, but not with standard pixel pictures of fixed width.

Here are two screenshots so you can see for yourself. I tried forum attachments first but the pictures were resized and lossied down into JPEG boxes, so I uploaded them elsewhere.
http://s18.postimg.org/nfo8w0auv/ubuntuforums1.png
http://s21.postimg.org/676wxkbcn/ubuntuforums2.png
NB: I see the smileys on the right for instance: the popcorn one looks OK but the other ones are normal size, i.e. they look blurry on 4k screens. So I don't know what's going on with this smiley, but it'd be nicer if everything looked smooth on the whole website. Vector graphics are the way to go, period.

Also, I wanted to add. This post is in no way a complaint, but just a suggestion to improve this website or any other that any of you devs might be admins of in the future. I think not many people are lucky enough to have screens with extreme resolutions, so this isn't something that's easy to think of. I haven't found a single thread about this in this sub-forum.
(And kinda off topic, if anyone out there is pondering whether to switch to a 4k screen or higher resolution and isn't sure, I say definitely do it! (Just check that your graphics card can support this before.) This changed my life like you wouldn't believe! The world through my computer is actually beautiful now! Just be prepared to accept that movies aren't distributed in such a resolution (I've searched and only found porn, so if you'd like to experience that then go crazy ) and that images in general are often not very high resolution and will look pixelized like on my screenshots. But video games will definitely just blow your mind. And, if that still needs to be said anymore, GNU/Linux and GNOME just work perfectly well with such resolutions. I use Ubuntu GNOME, so I don't know about Unity though but you'll find witness accounts easily out there. GNOME has a "magnify everything 2x, 3x, 4x, etc." option. Everything looks the same size as before, only everything looks much smoother, much more beautiful…)

[leon.lain.delysid]

I don´t know how to "upscale" from 2K resolution to 4K resolution.

The answer is, you can't. To be able to view my problem same as I view it, you have to view the website on a 4k screen (resolution 3840×2160 pixels). But, you can easily see on my screenshots that these icons are lower resolution images just magnified. Just view the screenshots magnified at 100% and not resized to fit your screen, otherwise this way the icons get downscaled back down to your own resolution and you won't see a difference.
To change that problem, we have to change these images to vector graphics versions of the same images. These icons just don't look smooth on 4k screens.

[leon.lain.delysid]

Hum… Why? Did I make a mistake? I wasn't talkng about just converting the pictures, of course that can't be done. It's just whoever drew them may still have their drawings or maybe they can make vector graphics images, I don't know.
I have a computer science degree. I have had classes in mathematics, lets say a little advanced, but not a lot, I guess. Did I make mistakes somewhere?

[leon.lain.delysid]

To be able to view my problem same as I view it, you have to view the website on a 4k screen (resolution 3840×2160 pixels).

Or, I take that back. Anyone can actually view this problem at home on any screen. All you'd need to do is use the same setting as I do: set the scale to 2x in the GNOME Tweak Tool and see for yourself that the icons don't get upscaled but rather just magnified and so 1 pixel becomes 4 which makes the icons look blurry. Doing that on a 1080p (1920×1080) screen will make everything look very big, but you'll see things in the same smoothness as I do, and icon on the website don't get smooth like the fonts always do.

[bapoumba]

Whoever drew them may still have their drawings > maybe.
Do we have them ? No..

Long answer : the person who did them is gone. If anyone is interested to work on them, that would be fine, considering some of the icons are not from us but from either vB, the smilies factory or the text editor.