diff --git a/apps/gui/charcell/list.c b/apps/gui/charcell/list.c
index 2df030f8b6..b1d0adcdd6 100644
--- a/apps/gui/charcell/list.c
+++ b/apps/gui/charcell/list.c
@@ -51,13 +51,13 @@ void list_draw(struct screen *display, struct viewport *parent,
     int i;
     int lines;
     int start, end;
-    
+
     display->set_viewport(NULL);
-    lines = display->nb_lines;
-    
+    lines = display->getnblines();
+
     display->clear_display();
     start = 0;
-    end = display->nb_lines;
+    end = display->getnblines();
     gui_list->last_displayed_start_item[display->screen_type] = 
                                 gui_list->start_item[display->screen_type];
 
diff --git a/apps/gui/color_picker.c b/apps/gui/color_picker.c
index d1ac2a9103..eb4490035d 100644
--- a/apps/gui/color_picker.c
+++ b/apps/gui/color_picker.c
@@ -158,11 +158,12 @@ static void draw_screen(struct screen *display, char *title,
        enough to display the selected slider - calculate total height
        of display with three sliders present */
     display_three_rows =
-        display->getheight() >= MARGIN_TOP             +
-                                display->char_height*4 + /* Title + 3 sliders */
-                                TITLE_MARGIN_BOTTOM    +
-                                SELECTOR_TB_MARGIN*6   + /* 2 margins/slider  */
-                                MARGIN_BOTTOM;
+        display->getheight() >=
+            MARGIN_TOP                 +
+            display->getcharheight()*4 + /* Title + 3 sliders */
+            TITLE_MARGIN_BOTTOM        +
+            SELECTOR_TB_MARGIN*6       + /* 2 margins/slider  */
+            MARGIN_BOTTOM;
 
     /* Figure out widest label character in case they vary -
        this function assumes labels are one character */
@@ -185,8 +186,8 @@ static void draw_screen(struct screen *display, char *title,
     slider_left  = MARGIN_LEFT + SELECTOR_WIDTH + SELECTOR_LR_MARGIN +
                    max_label_width + SLIDER_MARGIN_LEFT;
     slider_width = display->getwidth() - slider_left - SLIDER_MARGIN_RIGHT -
-                   display->char_width*2 - SELECTOR_LR_MARGIN - SELECTOR_WIDTH -
-                   MARGIN_RIGHT;
+                   display->getcharwidth()*2 - SELECTOR_LR_MARGIN -
+                   SELECTOR_WIDTH - MARGIN_RIGHT;
 
     for (i = 0; i < 3; i++)
     {
@@ -209,7 +210,7 @@ static void draw_screen(struct screen *display, char *title,
                 display->fillrect(0,
                                   text_top - SELECTOR_TB_MARGIN,
                                   display->getwidth(),
-                                  display->char_height +
+                                  display->getcharheight() +
                                   SELECTOR_TB_MARGIN*2);
 
                 if (display->depth < 16)
@@ -221,7 +222,7 @@ static void draw_screen(struct screen *display, char *title,
             else if (display_three_rows)
             {
                 /* Draw ">    <" around sliders */
-                int top = text_top + (display->char_height -
+                int top = text_top + (display->getcharheight() -
                                       SELECTOR_HEIGHT) / 2;
                 screen_put_iconxy(display, MARGIN_LEFT, top, Icon_Cursor);
                 screen_put_iconxy(display, 
@@ -244,7 +245,7 @@ static void draw_screen(struct screen *display, char *title,
         /* Draw label */
         buf[0] = str(LANG_COLOR_RGB_LABELS)[i];
         buf[1] = '\0';
-        display->putsxy(slider_left - display->char_width -
+        display->putsxy(slider_left - display->getcharwidth() -
                         SLIDER_MARGIN_LEFT, text_top, buf);
 
         /* Draw color value */
@@ -255,24 +256,21 @@ static void draw_screen(struct screen *display, char *title,
         /* Draw scrollbar */
         gui_scrollbar_draw(display,
                            slider_left,
-                           text_top + display->char_height / 4,
+                           text_top + display->getcharheight() / 4,
                            slider_width,
-                           display->char_height / 2,
+                           display->getcharheight() / 2,
                            rgb_max[i],
                            0,
                            rgb->rgb_val[i],
                            sb_flags);
 
         /* Advance to next line */
-        text_top += display->char_height + 2*SELECTOR_TB_MARGIN;
+        text_top += display->getcharheight() + 2*SELECTOR_TB_MARGIN;
 
         if (!display_three_rows)
             break;
     } /* end for */
 
-    /* Draw color value in system font */
-    display->setfont(FONT_SYSFIXED);
-
     /* Format RGB: #rrggbb */
     snprintf(buf, sizeof(buf), str(LANG_COLOR_RGB_VALUE),
                                rgb->red, rgb->green, rgb->blue);
@@ -287,7 +285,7 @@ static void draw_screen(struct screen *display, char *title,
         int height = display->getheight() - top - MARGIN_BOTTOM;
 
         /* Only draw if room */
-        if (height >= display->char_height + 2)
+        if (height >= display->getcharheight() + 2)
         {
             display->set_foreground(rgb->color);
             display->fillrect(left, top, width, height);
@@ -357,19 +355,21 @@ static int touchscreen_slider(struct rgb_pick *rgb, int *selected_slider)
             max_label_width = x1;
     }
     /* Get slider positions and top starting position */
-    text_top     = MARGIN_TOP + display->char_height + TITLE_MARGIN_BOTTOM + SELECTOR_TB_MARGIN;
+    text_top     = MARGIN_TOP + display->getcharheight() + TITLE_MARGIN_BOTTOM +
+                   SELECTOR_TB_MARGIN;
     slider_left  = MARGIN_LEFT + SELECTOR_WIDTH + SELECTOR_LR_MARGIN +
                    max_label_width + SLIDER_MARGIN_LEFT;
     slider_width = display->getwidth() - slider_left - SLIDER_MARGIN_RIGHT -
-                   display->char_width*2 - SELECTOR_LR_MARGIN - SELECTOR_WIDTH -
-                   MARGIN_RIGHT;
+                   display->getcharwidth()*2 - SELECTOR_LR_MARGIN -
+                   SELECTOR_WIDTH - MARGIN_RIGHT;
     display_three_rows =
-        display->getheight() >= MARGIN_TOP        +
-                           display->char_height*4 + /* Title + 3 sliders */
-                           TITLE_MARGIN_BOTTOM    +
-                           SELECTOR_TB_MARGIN*6   + /* 2 margins/slider  */
-                           MARGIN_BOTTOM;
-    if (y < MARGIN_TOP+display->char_height)
+        display->getheight() >=
+            MARGIN_TOP                 +
+            display->getcharheight()*4 + /* Title + 3 sliders */
+            TITLE_MARGIN_BOTTOM        +
+            SELECTOR_TB_MARGIN*6       + /* 2 margins/slider  */
+            MARGIN_BOTTOM;
+    if (y < MARGIN_TOP+display->getcharheight())
     {
         if (button == BUTTON_REL)
             return ACTION_STD_CANCEL;
diff --git a/apps/gui/pitchscreen.c b/apps/gui/pitchscreen.c
index 2a568afc0a..c4f78f4baa 100644
--- a/apps/gui/pitchscreen.c
+++ b/apps/gui/pitchscreen.c
@@ -60,12 +60,12 @@ static void pitch_screen_draw(struct screen *display, int pitch, int pitch_mode)
 
     display->clear_display();
 
-    if (display->nb_lines < 4) /* very small screen, just show the pitch value */
+    if (display->getnblines() < 4) /* very small screen, just show pitch value*/
     {
         w = snprintf((char *)buf, sizeof(buf), "%s: %d.%d%%",str(LANG_PITCH),
                   pitch / 10, pitch % 10 );
-        display->putsxy((display->lcdwidth-(w*display->char_width))/2,
-                         display->nb_lines/2,buf);
+        display->putsxy((display->lcdwidth-(w*display->getcharwidth()))/2,
+                         display->getnblines()/2,buf);
     }
     else /* bigger screen, show everything... */
     {
@@ -242,7 +242,7 @@ bool pitch_screen(void)
                 nudged = (new_pitch != pitch);
                 pitch = new_pitch;
                 break;
-                
+
             case ACTION_PS_NUDGE_LEFTOFF:
                 if (nudged) {
                     pitch = pitch_increase(pitch, PITCH_NUDGE_DELTA, false);
@@ -268,7 +268,7 @@ bool pitch_screen(void)
                     return 1;
                 break;
         }
-        
+
         if(delta)
         {
             if (pitch_mode == PITCH_MODE_ABSOLUTE) {
@@ -276,10 +276,10 @@ bool pitch_screen(void)
             } else {
                 pitch = pitch_increase_semitone(pitch, delta > 0 ? true:false);
             }
-            
+
             delta = 0;
         }
-        
+
     }
 #if CONFIG_CODEC == SWCODEC
     pcmbuf_set_low_latency(false);
diff --git a/apps/gui/quickscreen.c b/apps/gui/quickscreen.c
index 4e55dfed7d..9c850b74ca 100644
--- a/apps/gui/quickscreen.c
+++ b/apps/gui/quickscreen.c
@@ -207,7 +207,7 @@ static void gui_quickscreen_draw(struct gui_quickscreen *qs,
         value = option_get_valuestring((struct settings_list*)qs->items[i],
                                        buf, MAX_PATH, temp);
 
-        if (vps[screen][i].height < display->char_height*2)
+        if (vps[screen][i].height < display->getcharheight()*2)
         {
             char text[MAX_PATH];
             snprintf(text, MAX_PATH, "%s: %s", title, value);
diff --git a/apps/main.c b/apps/main.c
index d59d17a5f1..bacaa51e01 100644
--- a/apps/main.c
+++ b/apps/main.c
@@ -288,7 +288,6 @@ static void init(void)
     debug_init();
 #endif
     /* Must be done before any code uses the multi-screen APi */
-    screen_access_init();
     gui_syncstatusbar_init(&statusbars);
     ata_init();
     settings_reset();
@@ -404,13 +403,12 @@ static void init(void)
     button_init();
 
     powermgmt_init();
-    
+
 #if CONFIG_TUNER
     radio_init();
 #endif
 
     /* Must be done before any code uses the multi-screen APi */
-    screen_access_init();
     gui_syncstatusbar_init(&statusbars);
 
 #if CONFIG_CHARGING && (CONFIG_CPU == SH7034)
@@ -448,11 +446,11 @@ static void init(void)
 #ifdef HAVE_EEPROM_SETTINGS
     eeprom_settings_init();
 #endif
-    
+
     usb_start_monitoring();
 #ifndef HAVE_USBSTACK
     while (usb_detect() == USB_INSERTED)
-    {   
+    {
 #ifdef HAVE_EEPROM_SETTINGS
         firmware_settings.disk_clean = false;
 #endif
@@ -517,7 +515,7 @@ static void init(void)
         remove(TAGCACHE_STATEFILE);
 #endif
     }
-    
+
     gui_sync_wps_init();
     settings_apply(true);
     init_dircache(false);
diff --git a/apps/onplay.c b/apps/onplay.c
index 9ca0c6743e..cfe1985eb9 100644
--- a/apps/onplay.c
+++ b/apps/onplay.c
@@ -674,8 +674,9 @@ static void draw_slider(void)
     int i;
     FOR_NB_SCREENS(i)
     {
-        show_busy_slider(&screens[i], 1, LCD_HEIGHT-2*screens[i].char_height,
-                         LCD_WIDTH-2, 2*screens[i].char_height-1);
+        show_busy_slider(&screens[i], 1,
+                         LCD_HEIGHT-2*screens[i].getcharheight(),
+                         LCD_WIDTH-2, 2*screens[i].getcharheight()-1);
         screens[i].update();
     }
 }
diff --git a/apps/playlist_viewer.c b/apps/playlist_viewer.c
index 62e755a53a..3b74406d37 100644
--- a/apps/playlist_viewer.c
+++ b/apps/playlist_viewer.c
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@
 
 /* The number of items between the selected one and the end/start of
  * the buffer under which the buffer must reload */
-#define MIN_BUFFER_MARGIN (screens[0].nb_lines+1)
+#define MIN_BUFFER_MARGIN (screens[0].getnblines()+1)
 
 /* Information about a specific track */
 struct playlist_entry {
@@ -182,7 +182,7 @@ static void playlist_buffer_load_entries_screen(struct playlist_buffer * pb,
 {
     if(direction==FORWARD)
     {
-        int min_start=viewer.selected_track-2*screens[0].nb_lines;
+        int min_start=viewer.selected_track-2*screens[0].getnblines();
         while(min_start<0)
             min_start+=viewer.num_tracks;
         min_start %= viewer.num_tracks;
@@ -190,7 +190,7 @@ static void playlist_buffer_load_entries_screen(struct playlist_buffer * pb,
     }
      else
     {
-        int max_start=viewer.selected_track+2*screens[0].nb_lines;
+        int max_start=viewer.selected_track+2*screens[0].getnblines();
         max_start%=viewer.num_tracks;
         playlist_buffer_load_entries(pb, max_start, BACKWARD);
     }
diff --git a/apps/screen_access.c b/apps/screen_access.c
index de59537770..2f928b7360 100644
--- a/apps/screen_access.c
+++ b/apps/screen_access.c
@@ -32,6 +32,73 @@
 
 #include "screen_access.h"
 
+/* some helper functions to calculate metrics on the fly */
+static int screen_helper_getcharwidth(void)
+{
+#ifdef HAVE_LCD_BITMAP
+    return font_get(lcd_getfont())->maxwidth;
+#else
+    return 1;
+#endif
+}
+
+static int screen_helper_getcharheight(void)
+{
+#ifdef HAVE_LCD_BITMAP
+    return font_get(lcd_getfont())->height;
+#else
+    return 1;
+#endif
+}
+
+static int screen_helper_getnblines(void)
+{
+    int height=screens[0].lcdheight;
+#ifdef HAVE_LCD_BITMAP
+    if(global_settings.statusbar)
+        height -= STATUSBAR_HEIGHT;
+#ifdef HAVE_BUTTONBAR
+    if(global_settings.buttonbar && screens[0].has_buttonbar)
+        height -= BUTTONBAR_HEIGHT;
+#endif
+#endif
+    return height / screens[0].getcharheight();
+}
+
+#if NB_SCREENS == 2
+static int screen_helper_remote_getcharwidth(void)
+{
+#ifdef HAVE_LCD_BITMAP
+    return font_get(lcd_remote_getfont())->maxwidth;
+#else
+    return 1;
+#endif
+}
+
+static int screen_helper_remote_getcharheight(void)
+{
+#ifdef HAVE_LCD_BITMAP
+    return font_get(lcd_remote_getfont())->height;
+#else
+    return 1;
+#endif
+}
+
+static int screen_helper_remote_getnblines(void)
+{
+    int height=screens[1].lcdheight;
+#ifdef HAVE_LCD_BITMAP
+    if(global_settings.statusbar)
+        height -= STATUSBAR_HEIGHT;
+#ifdef HAVE_BUTTONBAR
+    if(global_settings.buttonbar && screens[0].has_buttonbar)
+        height -= BUTTONBAR_HEIGHT;
+#endif
+#endif
+    return height / screens[1].getcharheight();
+}
+#endif
+
 struct screen screens[NB_SCREENS] =
 {
     {
@@ -39,6 +106,7 @@ struct screen screens[NB_SCREENS] =
         .lcdwidth=LCD_WIDTH,
         .lcdheight=LCD_HEIGHT,
         .depth=LCD_DEPTH,
+        .getnblines=&screen_helper_getnblines,
 #if defined(HAVE_LCD_COLOR)
         .is_color=true,
 #else
@@ -47,6 +115,8 @@ struct screen screens[NB_SCREENS] =
 #ifdef HAVE_LCD_BITMAP
         .pixel_format=LCD_PIXELFORMAT,
 #endif
+        .getcharwidth=screen_helper_getcharwidth,
+        .getcharheight=screen_helper_getcharheight,
 #if (CONFIG_LED == LED_VIRTUAL)
         .has_disk_led=false,
 #elif defined(HAVE_REMOTE_LCD)
@@ -137,8 +207,11 @@ struct screen screens[NB_SCREENS] =
         .lcdwidth=LCD_REMOTE_WIDTH,
         .lcdheight=LCD_REMOTE_HEIGHT,
         .depth=LCD_REMOTE_DEPTH,
+        .getnblines=&screen_helper_remote_getnblines,
         .is_color=false,/* No color remotes yet */
         .pixel_format=LCD_REMOTE_PIXELFORMAT,
+        .getcharwidth=screen_helper_remote_getcharwidth,
+        .getcharheight=screen_helper_remote_getcharheight,
         .has_disk_led=false,
         .set_viewport=&lcd_remote_set_viewport,
         .getwidth=&lcd_remote_getwidth,
@@ -219,32 +292,3 @@ void screen_clear_area(struct screen * display, int xstart, int ystart,
     display->set_drawmode(DRMODE_SOLID);
 }
 #endif
-
-void screen_access_init(void)
-{
-    int i;
-    struct screen *display;
-    FOR_NB_SCREENS(i)
-    {
-        display = &screens[i];
-#ifdef HAVE_LCD_BITMAP
-        ((struct screen*)&screens[i])->setfont(FONT_UI);
-#endif
-
-        int height=display->lcdheight;
-#ifdef HAVE_LCD_BITMAP
-        if(global_settings.statusbar)
-            height -= STATUSBAR_HEIGHT;
-#ifdef HAVE_BUTTONBAR
-        if(global_settings.buttonbar && display->has_buttonbar)
-            height -= BUTTONBAR_HEIGHT;
-#endif
-        display->getstringsize((unsigned char *)"A", &display->char_width,
-                                &display->char_height);
-#else
-        display->char_width  = 1;
-        display->char_height = 1;
-#endif
-        display->nb_lines = height / display->char_height;
-    }
-}
diff --git a/apps/screen_access.h b/apps/screen_access.h
index d800c31489..c76d2b1c86 100644
--- a/apps/screen_access.h
+++ b/apps/screen_access.h
@@ -60,12 +60,12 @@ struct screen
     enum screen_type screen_type;
     int lcdwidth, lcdheight;
     int depth;
-    int nb_lines;
+    int (*getnblines)(void);
 #ifdef HAVE_LCD_BITMAP
     int pixel_format;
 #endif
-    int char_width;
-    int char_height;
+    int (*getcharwidth)(void);
+    int (*getcharheight)(void);
     bool is_color;
 #if (CONFIG_LED == LED_VIRTUAL) || defined(HAVE_REMOTE_LCD)
     bool has_disk_led;
@@ -165,11 +165,6 @@ void screen_clear_area(struct screen * display, int xstart, int ystart,
                        int width, int height);
 #endif
 
-/*
- * Initializes the whole screen_access api
- */
-extern void screen_access_init(void);
-
 /*
  * exported screens array that should be used
  * by each app that wants to write to access display