javascript function to modify a php variable

i'm working on an old code(2006) that creates a table in php with ... to do a photo gallery. In this code, there is a php variable to define the number of columns that will be displayed on the page (this variable is defined by the user from the UI). I need to get this page responsive and I want that variable to be 3 on small device to display 3 columns.

I was thinking to use a matchMedia() to change the variable te 3 on small device but I don't know if it's possible to change a php variable from a JS function.

Maybe it isn't the best solution but I can't think of another way.

Here's a part of the code that creates the table :

$arrayDesPhotos = array();

if (isset($cart->article)) {
foreach($cart->article as $article => $contenu){
        $arrayDesPhotos[] = round($article,0);
}
}



$fin = ($deb*$nombre_total_photos_par_page);
$nbr_files = count($filelistVignettes["links"]);
$navig = "";

if($nbr_files > $nombre_total_photos_par_page) {
        $paginationNbr = ceil($nbr_files/$nombre_total_photos_par_page);


        $navig.="<table style='width:885px' ><tr><td  style='text-align:right;padding-right:10px;'>";
        if($deb > 1) $navig.="<img onclick='javascript:changePage(".($deb-1).");' src='images/previous.gif'  style='cursor:pointer;'></img>";
        $navig.="</td><td style='text-align:center;font-family:arial,verdana, sans;font-size:13px;font-weight:bold'>";
        for($p=0; $p < $paginationNbr; $p++){
                if(($p+1) == $deb) $styleNumber="color:#ff0000;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:none";
                else $styleNumber="normal";
                $navig.="<a class='num-page'href='javascript:changePage(".($p+1).");' style='color:#000000;padding-left:5px;font-weight:normal;".$styleNumber."' href='' >".($p+1)."</a>";
                if($p == 34 ) $navig.="<br/>";    
        }
        $navig.="</td><td style='text-align:left;padding-left:10px;'>";
        if($deb < $paginationNbr) $navig.="<img onclick='javascript:changePage(".($deb+1).");' src='images/next.gif'  style='cursor:pointer;'></img>";
        $navig.="</td></tr></table>";

}
echo "<table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 class='tableGalerie'>";
echo "<tr><td class='titleGalerie' colspan='".$nombre_de_photos_par_ligne."'>";

if ($_SESSION["directory"] == "eglisesaintelisabeth") {
        echo '<span id="labelTeteDeGalerie" style="margin-right:12px;">Récupération des photos le Dimanche 28 Juin, au 28 rue Jean Mermoz</span>';
        
        echo '<span id="labelTeteDeGalerie" style="margin-right:12px;">(1 Photo 10€ / dès 6 Photos, 8€ / dès 10 photos, 6€)</span>';
}
else {
        echo $_SESSION["titleBook"];
}

echo            "</td></tr>";
                echo "<tr><td colspan='".$nombre_de_photos_par_ligne."'>" .
                $navig
                ."</td></tr>";