Re: [css3-mediaqueries] tv and screen media types

On Oct 26, 2010, at 14:39 , Tab Atkins Jr. wrote:

> On Tue, Oct 26, 2010 at 2:28 PM, fantasai <fantasai.lists@inkedblade.net> wrote:
>> On 10/26/2010 11:45 AM, Tab Atkins Jr. wrote:
>>> 
>>> According to an internal bug report that I cant' figure out how to
>>> access, Google TV's browser will not respond to the TV media type,
>>> because there are enough 'screen' stylesheets on the web that doing so
>>> would produce too much breakage for Gtv users.
>>> 
>>> The same applies to media types like 'handheld' and 'projection' -
>>> Opera, I know, has to go through some ridiculous contortions to try
>>> and respect them when they exist without breaking the web otherwise.
>>> 
>>> I suggest that the 'tv', 'handheld', and 'projection' media types be
>>> allowed to match at the same time as a 'screen' media type.  That way
>>> Google TV could use both 'screen' and 'tv' media types.  As well,
>>> Opera could use both 'screen' and 'projection' when the browser was
>>> fullscreened, and both 'screen' and 'handheld' on phone browsers.
>>> (Other browsers could as well, of course.)
>> 
>> That would break anyone using these media types properly, i.e.
>> expecting 'screen' not to apply when their 'handheld' sheet is
>> enabled.
> 
> Yes, it would.  The current state, though, means that you either have
> to do silly contortions like Opera does, or just flat-out lie and just
> masquerade as a screen, like Google TV's browser is doing.
> 
> Do we have any information on how many sites actually use 'handheld'
> and 'projection' in a way that would break if this were to change?

I'm lost between two possible suggestions here.  Help?

a) devices should be allowed to style to the 'tv' media-query(ies) if present, or else to 'screen' (a TV is a sub-type of screen, after all)
b) devices should be allowed to apply rules from both 'tv' and 'screen' media types at the same time...

The problem with (a) is that you have to scan the whole sheet first to see what media types it uses, which is...nasty...

perhaps we need a new media-type, 'generic-screen', which is true for TV and projection and any other type of electronic screen (basically, 'not print'?), and consider 'screen' to be really saying 'any kind of screen for which a more specific tag does not exist (such as TV or projection)'?

David Singer
Multimedia and Software Standards, Apple Inc.

Received on Tuesday, 26 October 2010 21:47:15 UTC