solutions for my visually impaired mom

[user124]

hi all,

i'm about to buy my mom her first computer for xmas. problem is: she cant see very well (50% on one eye, 20% the other).
when she's visiting me and uses my computer she usually needs to be al last 30cm close to the screen to see anyting.
now i've played around a little bit
- enlarging the fonts in the DE
- enlarging the fonts in the web browser
DE is kde -> qt, ff dosnt use the enlarged system fonts. in addition web pages get all messed up when one sets the default font to "large"
- upping the dpi
again only enlarges fonts but not the bitmaps
- setting the video resolution of the grafics card lower then the native resolution of the lcd
by far the best solution because everything is enlarged.... but the x-y ratio doesnt fit anymore and
in addition the upscale algoritm of the lcd softens the edges.

so my idea and question: is it possible to have a "double-every pixel" videomode? that is for example
the monitor natively has a 1920x1200 resolution - X will use that but tell the DE only 960x600 is available and every pixel
that is drawn to the screen is doubled in x and y direction.
that would solve the softening problem and the problems with every program no matter what widget set it uses.
_________________
The target was there, pretty as a picture. I made the run, let the bomb go. That was my greatest thrill.

[gerard27]

I just tried this in kde.
Go to system-settings > display & monitor > size & orientation and change the resolution to your hearts content.
My eyesight is better than your mother's but much less than normal.
To change the character size of the menu in FF install x11-yhemes/gtk-chtheme.
Good luck.
Gerard.

Edit: I have spectacles for computer use only.
_________________
To install Gentoo I use sysrescuecd.Based on Gentoo,has firefox to browse Gentoo docs and mc to browse (and edit) files.
The same disk can be used for 32 and 64 bit installs.
You can follow the Handbook verbatim.
http://www.sysresccd.org/Download

[PaulBredbury]

Maybe see what tricks Vinux uses.

[Circuitsoft]

Try using cvt to generate a custom modeline of exactly half the monitor's resolution.