ncowie wrote: > An em is equal to the width of an uppercase M in that font face and
That would be a print media em. For the web, we have a standard definition: http://www.w3.org/TR/CSS21/syndata.html#em-width > point size, except on the web it is 16 pixels or the if the font size > has been declare = to the font height. No, it's not 16px. It's whatever size the user's browser default is set to. In most modern browsers, it just happens to start at 16px in most cases, but that is partly by accident, and is subject to user adjustment in multiple ways. Technically, the most common browser default is 12pt (IE Win), as it was in Netscape 4 and below. At the 96 DPI doze default, 12pt translates to 16px. No matter how a user adjusts his doze system "font size", the default (medium) is always 12pt. If he selects "large fonts", the DPI is changed to 120, with the result that 12pt in standards mode becomes 20px. Other easy to select system "font size" settings are 150% and 200%, making 12pt 24px and 32px respectively. Note that on high resolution (1400 or more wide) laptops, the manufacturers commonly change from the default to "large fonts" on the assembly line. Note too that laptops have overtaken desktop systems in sales, so "large fonts" by default aren't particularly uncommon any more. > I would suggest that it is to do with the width of an uppercase M in > Times New Roman in the default size as the default font for a PC > browser. It's as the W3C defines it above. Different font families render at differing apparent sizes for any given nominal font size. Times New Roman is much smaller than Georgia and Verdana. > I did a little experimenting a couple of days ago with ems on my blog > http://nickcowie.com/2005/about-em Actually, the Times New Roman on that page isn't necessarily Times New Roman, since you failed to quote it in your style rule. On this system, all profiles in all browsers have the default set to 20px. On my Linux server, all profiles in all browsers have the default set to 28px, or an equivalent pt size. On my other systems, some are set to 16px, but most are set higher, typically to 22px (1400 wide) or 26px (1600 wide). 16px can be awfully small compared to the default (unlike the assertion on your page): http://mrmazda.no-ip.com/SS/points-168d-1792w.png http://members.ij.net/mrmazda/auth/PointsDemo.html http://mrmazda.no-ip.com/SS/nickcowie1.png Since your your blog link above ATM isn't valid XHTML http://validator.w3.org/check?uri=http%3A%2F%2Fnickcowie.com%2F2005%2Fabout-em, I've taken the liberty of reducing it to the testcase and description, with some minor adjustments at http://members.ij.net/mrmazda/tmp/about-em.html in order to provide an alternate look, with a 1280 wide resolution OS/2 screenshot at http://mrmazda.no-ip.com/SS/nickcowie2.png showing Times New Roman doesn't necessarily fit your description. -- "Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you." Psalm 55:22 NIV Team OS/2 ** Reg. Linux User #211409 Felix Miata *** http://members.ij.net/mrmazda/auth/ ****************************************************** The discussion list for http://webstandardsgroup.org/ See http://webstandardsgroup.org/mail/guidelines.cfm for some hints on posting to the list & getting help ******************************************************
