# Why using pdf we get better results than using dvi?

In How can I auto adjust a equation to appear in the entire page? (Scale to equations, is this exist?) I asked how I could change the equation sizes.

Nothing seemed to work. But the problem was I was using latex (Kile) and seeing the the results in dvi. When I used pdflatex as @Hooked proposed I got good results in the pdf.

Why? Why I can't use dvi? Or if I can use dvi, how to do this?

The code below generated this (using latex and dvi):

when the correct is this(possible using pdflatex).):

\documentclass[landscape, 12pt]{report}
\usepackage{graphicx}
\pagestyle{empty}

\begin{document}
\noindent Here is some text
$$\resizebox{1.0 \textwidth}{!} {  a + b  }$$
and here is some more.
\end{document}

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Please include code and images directly within your post so users can see everything related to your problem on the same page. –  doncherry Nov 21 '11 at 23:39
I have uploaded the figures and your code. Please confirm that this is correct. Also, there should be no reason to use pastebin for the code as you can include it here directly. –  Peter Grill Nov 21 '11 at 23:55
Thx, all edits are welcome. –  GarouDan Nov 22 '11 at 0:32

I think it is a problem of your DVI-viewer. Perhaps the font problem.

I tried your code with LaTeX, and the dvi-file look quiet similar to your pdf-example (the text inside the resizebox looks is a bit grainy).

I converted the dvi with dvipdfmx (dvi can't be imported here), the result is:

### 2011-11-21 Edit: Uploaded cropped image

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I use okular in Ubuntu 10.04 lts. Do you recomend another viewer to linux? –  GarouDan Nov 21 '11 at 23:01
Sorry. I use windows, so I can't recommend a viewer for Linux. –  knut Nov 21 '11 at 23:05
Using evince I got the same visualization. It's a linux problem? –  GarouDan Nov 21 '11 at 23:20
@knut: Please use appropriate sized images. The surrounding white space does not add any information. Thanks. –  Peter Grill Nov 21 '11 at 23:59
@GarouDan: IIRC, when the output format is dvi, the graphics package package uses PS code to scale the box. Most dvi viewers do not evaluate the PS code (because it can be time consuming), therefore you do not see any scaling. When you convert the dvi to ps (using dvips) or to pdf (using dvipdfm), the PS code is evaluated, so you will see the correct result. –  Aditya Nov 22 '11 at 0:17