Set default pixel density to the display's density

[SableRaf]

Most relevant area for this enhancement?

Core/Environment/Rendering

Feature to enhance

pixelDensity()

Desired enhancement

Currently, Processing defaults to pixelDensity(1), requiring users to manually set pixelDensity(2) or pixelDensity(displayDensity()) for high-DPI support. This proposal sets the default to the display's actual density, improving visual quality by default while allowing users to override it.

Potential benefits

Sharper rendering on high-DPI displays.

Possible drawbacks

No response

Additional context

No response

Would you like to work on the issue?

This is a small change which would make a good first issue. I'm happy to leave it to a new contributor.

[yehiarasheed]

I can work on this issue, please assign it to me. I will follow up with a proposed solution here as well since this is the first time for me to contribute to this repo.

[yehiarasheed]

Hello @Stefterv @SableRaf,

Just to make sure that I'm on the right track for solving this issue, I've tried setting the pixelDensity variable in the PApplet.java class dynamically by calling the displayDensity() method as the assignment value.

That said, whenever I try to set the pixel density to 1 using pixelDensity(1), it works just fine. Even if I call pixelDensity(int density) multiple times in the sketch, the last method call is the one that actually sets the value of the pixelDensity variable.

I know that the pixelDensity(int density) method is supposed to be called only once (as mentioned in the JavaDocs), but I tested calling it multiple times, and it worked as expected.

Demo

Normal Scaling

Normal.Scaling.Non-HiDPI.mode.mp4

Custom scaling (Hi-DPI)

High.Scaling.HiDPI.mode.mp4

[Stefterv]

Hi @yehiarasheed Sorry for not replying earlier,

This change is best to be as minimal as possible, if you find other issues on the way, please create separate PR's for those or just document them through a separate issue.

[yehiarasheed]

Hi @Stefterv, no worries! I now understand that you're aiming for a minimal enhancement—I initially thought Jim's comments reflected the entire team's vision.

[Stefterv]

Thanks for jumping in on this! Since it was just a quick one-line fix and we needed it for an upcoming release, I went ahead and made the change directly. Really appreciate your help though! Would love to see you contribute to other issues and I am happy to support you with those!