diff --git a/doc/sources/guide/environment.rst b/doc/sources/guide/environment.rst
index ff7d12409..b98f4bb2b 100644
--- a/doc/sources/guide/environment.rst
+++ b/doc/sources/guide/environment.rst
@@ -32,6 +32,11 @@ KIVY_NO_FILELOG
 KIVY_NO_CONSOLELOG
     If set, logs will be not print on the console
 
+KIVY_DPI
+    If set, the value will be used instead of the value returned by the window.
+
+    .. versionadded:: 1.4.0
+
 Path control
 ------------
 
@@ -95,3 +100,4 @@ KIVY_CLIPBOARD
     Implementation to use for clipboard management
 
     Values: pygame, dummy
+
diff --git a/kivy/__init__.py b/kivy/__init__.py
index 2a6a013e8..b82419f20 100644
--- a/kivy/__init__.py
+++ b/kivy/__init__.py
@@ -171,6 +171,8 @@ def kivy_usage():
             Save current Kivy configuration.
         --size=640x480
             Size of window geometry.
+        --dpi=96
+            Manually overload the Window DPI (for testing only.)
     '''
     print kivy_usage.__doc__ % (basename(sys.argv[0]))
 
@@ -284,7 +286,8 @@ if not environ.get('KIVY_DOC_INCLUDE'):
             opts, args = getopt(sys_argv[1:], 'hp:fkawFem:sr:dc:',
                 ['help', 'fullscreen', 'windowed', 'fps', 'event',
                  'module=', 'save', 'fake-fullscreen', 'auto-fullscreen',
-                 'display=', 'size=', 'rotate=', 'config=', 'debug'])
+                 'display=', 'size=', 'rotate=', 'config=', 'debug',
+                 'dpi='])
 
         except GetoptError, err:
             Logger.error('Core: %s' % str(err))
@@ -353,6 +356,8 @@ if not environ.get('KIVY_DOC_INCLUDE'):
         elif opt in ('-d', '--debug'):
             level = LOG_LEVELS.get('debug')
             Logger.setLevel(level=level)
+        elif opt == '--dpi':
+            environ['KIVY_DPI'] = arg
 
     if need_save and 'KIVY_NO_CONFIG' not in environ:
         try:
diff --git a/kivy/base.py b/kivy/base.py
index d9aa1cf2f..1374d4eb3 100644
--- a/kivy/base.py
+++ b/kivy/base.py
@@ -15,10 +15,12 @@ __all__ = (
     'stopTouchApp',
 )
 
+from os import environ
 from kivy.config import Config
 from kivy.logger import Logger
 from kivy.clock import Clock
 from kivy.event import EventDispatcher
+from kivy.utils import platform, reify
 
 # private vars
 EventLoop = None
@@ -103,6 +105,32 @@ class EventLoopBase(EventDispatcher):
         '''
         return self.me_list
 
+    @reify
+    def dpi(self):
+        '''Return the DPI of the screen. Depending of the platform, the DPI can
+        be taken from the Window provider (Desktop mainly), or from
+        platform-specific module (like android/ios).
+
+        On desktop, you can overload the value returned by the Window object
+        (96 by default), by setting the environ KIVY_DPI::
+
+            KIVY_DPI=200 python main.py
+
+        .. versionadded:: 1.4.0
+        '''
+        custom_dpi = environ.get('KIVY_DPI')
+        if custom_dpi:
+            return float(custom_dpi)
+
+        plat = platform()
+        if plat == 'android':
+            import android
+            return android.get_dpi()
+
+        # for all other platforms..
+        self.ensure_window()
+        return self.window.dpi
+
     def ensure_window(self):
         '''Ensure that we have an window
         '''
diff --git a/kivy/core/text/text_pil.py b/kivy/core/text/text_pil.py
index 252599ae5..886839179 100644
--- a/kivy/core/text/text_pil.py
+++ b/kivy/core/text/text_pil.py
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ class LabelPIL(LabelBase):
     _cache = {}
 
     def _select_font(self):
-        fontsize = int(self.options['font_size'] * 1.333)
+        fontsize = int(self.options['font_size'])
         fontname = self.options['font_name_r']
         id = '%s.%s' % (unicode(fontname), unicode(fontsize))
         if not id in self._cache:
diff --git a/kivy/core/text/text_pygame.py b/kivy/core/text/text_pygame.py
index d01e3a707..85323f242 100644
--- a/kivy/core/text/text_pygame.py
+++ b/kivy/core/text/text_pygame.py
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ class LabelPygame(LabelBase):
             if ext.lower() == 'ttf':
                 # fontobject
                 fontobject = pygame.font.Font(fontname,
-                                int(self.options['font_size'] * 1.333))
+                                int(self.options['font_size']))
 
             # fallback to search a system font
             if fontobject is None:
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ class LabelPygame(LabelBase):
 
                 # fontobject
                 fontobject = pygame.font.Font(font,
-                                int(self.options['font_size'] * 1.333))
+                                int(self.options['font_size']))
             pygame_cache[fontid] = fontobject
             pygame_cache_order.append(fontid)
 
diff --git a/kivy/core/window/__init__.py b/kivy/core/window/__init__.py
index 833fc3021..0ad21777d 100755
--- a/kivy/core/window/__init__.py
+++ b/kivy/core/window/__init__.py
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ from kivy.modules import Modules
 from kivy.event import EventDispatcher
 from kivy.properties import ListProperty, ObjectProperty, AliasProperty, \
         NumericProperty, OptionProperty, StringProperty
-from kivy.utils import platform
+from kivy.utils import platform, reify
 
 # late import
 VKeyboard = None
@@ -804,6 +804,18 @@ class WindowBase(EventDispatcher):
         '''
         pass
 
+    @reify
+    def dpi(self):
+        '''Return the DPI of the screen. If the implementation doesn't support
+        any DPI lookup, it will just return 96.
+
+        .. warning::
+
+            This value is not cross-platform. Use
+            :data:`kivy.base.EventLoop.dpi` instead.
+        '''
+        return 96.
+
     def configure_keyboards(self):
         # Configure how to provide keyboards (virtual or not)
 
diff --git a/kivy/properties.pxd b/kivy/properties.pxd
index 47ba06247..f8ae80270 100644
--- a/kivy/properties.pxd
+++ b/kivy/properties.pxd
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ cdef class Property:
     cdef str _name
     cdef int allownone
     cdef object defaultvalue
-    cdef init_storage(self, dict storage)
+    cdef init_storage(self, object obj, dict storage)
     cpdef link(self, object obj, str name)
     cpdef link_deps(self, object obj, str name)
     cpdef bind(self, obj, observer)
@@ -15,7 +15,8 @@ cdef class Property:
     cpdef dispatch(self, obj)
 
 cdef class NumericProperty(Property):
-    pass
+    cdef float parse_str(self, object obj, value)
+    cdef float parse_list(self, object obj, value, bytes ext)
 
 cdef class StringProperty(Property):
     pass
diff --git a/kivy/properties.pyx b/kivy/properties.pyx
index 39713ed6a..f07c53b08 100644
--- a/kivy/properties.pyx
+++ b/kivy/properties.pyx
@@ -153,6 +153,9 @@ __all__ = ('Property',
 
 from weakref import ref
 
+EventLoop = None
+
+
 cdef class Property:
     '''Base class for building more complex properties.
 
@@ -197,8 +200,8 @@ cdef class Property:
         def __get__(self):
             return self._name
 
-    cdef init_storage(self, dict storage):
-        storage['value'] = self.defaultvalue
+    cdef init_storage(self, object obj, dict storage):
+        storage['value'] = self.convert(obj, self.defaultvalue)
         storage['allownone'] = self.allownone
         storage['observers'] = []
 
@@ -223,8 +226,8 @@ cdef class Property:
         '''
         d = dict()
         self._name = name
-        self.init_storage(d)
         obj.__storage[name] = d
+        self.init_storage(obj, d)
 
     cpdef link_deps(self, object obj, str name):
         pass
@@ -327,27 +330,87 @@ cdef class NumericProperty(Property):
 
     The NumericProperty accepts only int or float.
 
-    >>> Widget.x = 42
-    >>> print Widget.x
+    >>> wid = Widget()
+    >>> wid.x = 42
+    >>> print wid.x
     42
-    >>> Widget.x = "plop"
-    Traceback (most recent call last):
-     File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
-     File "properties.pyx", line 93, in kivy.properties.Property.__set__
-     File "properties.pyx", line 111, in kivy.properties.Property.set
-     File "properties.pyx", line 159, in kivy.properties.NumericProperty.check
+    >>> wid.x = "plop"
+     Traceback (most recent call last):
+       File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
+       File "properties.pyx", line 93, in kivy.properties.Property.__set__
+       File "properties.pyx", line 111, in kivy.properties.Property.set
+       File "properties.pyx", line 159, in kivy.properties.NumericProperty.check
      ValueError: NumericProperty accept only int/float
+
+    .. versionchanged:: 1.4.1
+        NumericProperty can now accept custom text and tuple value to indicate a
+        type, like "in", "pt", "px", "cm", "mm", in the format: '10pt' or (10,
+        'pt').
+
     '''
     def __init__(self, defaultvalue=0, **kw):
         super(NumericProperty, self).__init__(defaultvalue, **kw)
 
+    cdef init_storage(self, object obj, dict storage):
+        storage['format'] = 'px'
+        Property.init_storage(self, obj, storage)
+
     cdef check(self, obj, value):
         if Property.check(self, obj, value):
             return True
         if type(value) not in (int, float):
-            raise ValueError('%s.%s accept only int/float' % (
+            raise ValueError('%s.%s accept only int/float (got %r)' % (
                 obj.__class__.__name__,
-                self.name))
+                self.name, value))
+
+    cdef convert(self, obj, x):
+        if x is None:
+            return x
+        tp = type(x)
+        if tp is int or tp is float:
+            return x
+        if tp is tuple or tp is list:
+            if len(x) != 2:
+                raise ValueError('%s.%s must have 2 components (got %r)' % (
+                    obj.__class__.__name__,
+                    self.name, x))
+            return self.parse_list(obj, x[0], <bytes>x[1])
+        elif tp is str:
+            return self.parse_str(obj, x)
+        else:
+            raise ValueError('%s.%s have an invalid format (got %r)' % (
+                obj.__class__.__name__,
+                self.name, x))
+
+    cdef float parse_str(self, object obj, value):
+        return self.parse_list(obj, value[:-2], <bytes>value[-2:])
+
+    cdef float parse_list(self, object obj, value, bytes ext):
+        # 1in = 2.54cm = 25.4mm = 72pt = 12pc
+        global EventLoop
+        if EventLoop is None:
+            from kivy.base import EventLoop
+        cdef float rv = float(value)
+        cdef float dpi = EventLoop.dpi
+        obj.__storage[self.name]['format'] = ext
+        if ext == 'in':
+            return rv * dpi
+        elif ext == 'px':
+            return rv
+        elif ext == 'pt':
+            return rv * dpi / 72.
+        elif ext == 'cm':
+            return rv * dpi / 2.54
+        elif ext == 'mm':
+            return rv * dpi / 25.4
+
+    def get_format(self, obj):
+        '''
+        Return the format used for Numeric calculation. Default is px (mean
+        the value have not been changed at all). Otherwise, it can be one of
+        'in', 'pt', 'cm', 'mm'.
+        '''
+        return obj.__storage[self.name]['format']
 
 
 cdef class StringProperty(Property):
@@ -601,8 +664,8 @@ cdef class BoundedNumericProperty(Property):
             self.max = value
         Property.__init__(self, *largs, **kw)
 
-    cdef init_storage(self, dict storage):
-        Property.init_storage(self, storage)
+    cdef init_storage(self, object obj, dict storage):
+        Property.init_storage(self, obj, storage)
         storage['min'] = self.min
         storage['max'] = self.max
         storage['use_min'] = self.use_min
@@ -727,8 +790,8 @@ cdef class OptionProperty(Property):
         self.options = <list>(kw.get('options', []))
         super(OptionProperty, self).__init__(*largs, **kw)
 
-    cdef init_storage(self, dict storage):
-        Property.init_storage(self, storage)
+    cdef init_storage(self, object obj, dict storage):
+        Property.init_storage(self, obj, storage)
         storage['options'] = self.options[:]
 
     cdef check(self, obj, value):
@@ -769,8 +832,8 @@ cdef class ReferenceListProperty(Property):
             self.properties.append(prop)
         Property.__init__(self, largs, **kw)
 
-    cdef init_storage(self, dict storage):
-        Property.init_storage(self, storage)
+    cdef init_storage(self, object obj, dict storage):
+        Property.init_storage(self, obj, storage)
         storage['properties'] = self.properties
         storage['stop_event'] = 0
 
@@ -869,8 +932,8 @@ cdef class AliasProperty(Property):
         self.bind_objects = list(v) if v is not None else []
         self.use_cache = 1 if kwargs.get('cache') else 0
 
-    cdef init_storage(self, dict storage):
-        Property.init_storage(self, storage)
+    cdef init_storage(self, object obj, dict storage):
+        Property.init_storage(self, obj, storage)
         storage['getter'] = self.getter
         storage['setter'] = self.setter
         storage['initial'] = True
diff --git a/kivy/uix/label.py b/kivy/uix/label.py
index 211363941..90ca51954 100644
--- a/kivy/uix/label.py
+++ b/kivy/uix/label.py
@@ -148,6 +148,9 @@ class Label(Widget):
             # markup have change, we need to change our rendering method.
             d = Label._font_properties
             dkw = dict(zip(d, [getattr(self, x) for x in d]))
+            # XXX font_size core provider compatibility
+            if Label.font_size.get_format(self) == 'px':
+                dkw['font_size'] *= 1.333
             if markup:
                 self._label = CoreMarkupLabel(**dkw)
             else:
@@ -162,6 +165,11 @@ class Label(Widget):
                 self._label.text = value
             elif name == 'text_size':
                 self._label.usersize = value
+            elif name == 'font_size':
+                # XXX font_size core provider compatibility
+                if Label.font_size.get_format(self) == 'px':
+                    value *= 1.333
+                self._label.options[name] = value
             else:
                 self._label.options[name] = value
         self._trigger_texture()
@@ -266,7 +274,7 @@ class Label(Widget):
     'DroidSans'.
     '''
 
-    font_size = NumericProperty(12)
+    font_size = NumericProperty('12px')
     '''Font size of the text, in pixels.
 
     :data:`font_size` is a :class:`~kivy.properties.NumericProperty`, default to
diff --git a/kivy/uix/textinput.py b/kivy/uix/textinput.py
index c6dfbb75c..3839076c3 100644
--- a/kivy/uix/textinput.py
+++ b/kivy/uix/textinput.py
@@ -1074,9 +1074,15 @@ class TextInput(Widget):
 
     def _get_line_options(self):
         # Get or create line options, to be used for Label creation
+
+        # XXX font_size core label compatibility
+        factor = 1.
+        if TextInput.font_size.get_format(self) == 'px':
+            factor = 1.333
+
         if self._line_options is None:
             self._line_options = kw = {
-                'font_size': self.font_size,
+                'font_size': self.font_size * factor,
                 'font_name': self.font_name,
                 'anchor_x': 'left',
                 'anchor_y': 'top',
diff --git a/kivy/utils.py b/kivy/utils.py
index e43742293..1130db85c 100644
--- a/kivy/utils.py
+++ b/kivy/utils.py
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ __all__ = ('intersection', 'difference', 'strtotuple',
            'is_color_transparent', 'boundary',
            'deprecated', 'SafeList',
            'interpolate', 'OrderedDict', 'QueryDict',
-           'platform', 'escape_markup')
+           'platform', 'escape_markup', 'reify')
 
 from sys import platform as _sys_platform
 from re import match, split
@@ -370,3 +370,28 @@ def escape_markup(text):
     '''
     return text.replace('[', '&bl;').replace(']', '&br;').replace('&', '&amp;')
 
+
+class reify(object):
+    '''
+    Put the result of a method which uses this (non-data) descriptor decorator
+    in the instance dict after the first call, effectively replacing the
+    decorator with an instance variable.
+
+    It acts like @property, except that the function is only ever called once;
+    after that, the value is cached as a regular attribute. This gives you lazy
+    attribute creation on objects that are meant to be immutable.
+
+    Taken from Pyramid project.
+    '''
+
+    def __init__(self, func):
+        self.func = func
+        self.__doc__ = func.__doc__
+
+    def __get__(self, inst, cls):
+        if inst is None:
+            return self
+        retval = self.func(inst)
+        setattr(inst, self.func.__name__, retval)
+        return retval
+