This article will be useful only to owners of portable computers (laptops) and users of LCD monitors. Due to the physical principles of displaying dots on an LCD screen, regular fonts have too sharp edges, which somewhat impairs the readability of text on the screen. More precisely, the text is readable, however, the eyes get tired too quickly. By the way, this explains complaints about fatigue when working with texts on an LCD.
To eliminate this effect, in the new operating room Windows system XP, Microsoft company applied new technology ClearType screen font smoothing. When using this technology for the first time, there is a feeling of some blurriness. However, this is a deceptive feeling. In fact, ClearType allows you to make characters smoother and more natural, i.e. more familiar to the human eye. To smooth fonts, ClearType uses signal processing and LCD properties.
To use ClearType, your graphics card must support more than 256 colors (it is better to set 24-bit or 32-bit mode). Activation of the technology is possible from the screen properties menu -> design -> effects.
We won't go into detail about how ClearType technology improves the quality of screen fonts. Instead, we will show you the test text enlarged 16 times.
We think this graphic perfectly illustrates how ClearType works.
However, despite how easy ClearType is to use, there is one small drawback. The built-in ClearType activation feature does not allow the user to adjust the anti-aliasing quality. What is it for? The fact is that not all people have the same vision, and the quality of LCD monitors also differs. For some users, the default anti-aliasing settings are sufficient, for others they are not.
To eliminate this shortcoming, dear Mike Dixon ( [email protected]), wrote a simple ClearTweak utility, which can be downloaded from the official website. It allows you to change the anti-aliasing quality or contrast of screen fonts. The program works very simply. After completing the installation procedure and launching ClearTweak, you will see approximately the following program interface (the frame depends on the selected Windows XP theme).
As you can see, the program's interface includes two main areas. At the top of the window there are radio buttons for selecting the screen font smoothing mode. Here you can refuse smoothing, select standard mode anti-aliasing or mode using ClearType technology. When using the last item, the ClearType anti-aliasing settings menu is activated.
Below this item is a window displaying an example of how fonts will be displayed with the selected settings.
In the screenshots we provide examples of the program working in different modes.
No anti-aliasing applied
Applications of standard anti-aliasing
Anti-aliasing using ClearType technology with default settings Windows settings XP
ClearType anti-aliasing with reduced contrast (1000)
| Ideal IBM laptops for Windows XP |
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IBM ThinkPad(r) T Series laptops can dramatically improve and simplify your mobile computing experience. They are thin, light and ideal travel companions. With their help you will gain access to the Internet. Possibility for you to connect an optional digital camera UltraPort Camera. The inclusion of titanium composite materials makes the ThinkPad T Series incredibly durable. Agree, it’s almost impossible to work when all the characters on the screen are blurry and ripple. I know firsthand this problem and the pain in the eyes when long work on a computer with this text. Unfortunately, no one is immune from this and, I hope, thanks to this article, we will be able to “overcome” blurry font. The problem of blurry font did not escape the Tens users. This is usually encountered when updating the operating system. Before we start looking at ways to fix blurry font, I would like to add something. Perhaps it's not the case operating system and everything is much simpler. Before you start performing the operations below, we strongly recommend that you check whether the screen resolution on your computer is set correctly. There is a possibility that the reason for the blurry font is a mismatch between the resolution of your monitor and the operating system. Have you checked? Has the blurry font disappeared? Then let's begin. Typically, blurry font appears as a result of applying an incorrect scale. There are two ways to fix this problem: by changing the scale for an individual application or for the system as a whole. Fix blurry fonts in apps in Windows 10If the font is blurred not in your system, but in one or more programs, then this method is for you. With the help of the steps below, you will get rid of ripple letters whether it is Skype or Windows Player Media. Click right click click on the shortcut of the program you are interested in, go to “Properties”, then select the “Compatibility” tab. Check the box to disable image scaling at high screen resolutions and click OK. Fixing blurry fonts in Windows 10If the font is blurry throughout the system, then the above method will not suit you. Fortunately, there are several ways to eliminate blurry fonts in Windows 10 in general. In this method we will reduce the number of dots per inch (dpi), this is not as difficult as it seems.  If you don't like the result of the work done above, there is another option. Its essence is that we are returning scaling methods from Windows 7 and Windows 8 to Windows 10. Sometimes this gives much better results than with standard settings.  Ready! All that remains is to reboot the system and enjoy the absence of headaches after working at a computer with blurry characters. How to fix blurry fonts in Windows 7Everyone's favorite "seven" can also become a victim of blurry font. The root of the problem is the “crooked” ClearType font smoothing, which is used everywhere in Windows 7, even where it is not particularly needed. It would be possible to simply disable ClearType, but, unfortunately, this is not always enough. To solve the problem, you can use several methods: Disable ClearType AntialiasingThe first two methods are very easy to implement. To disable antialiasing, follow these steps:  This completes the first method of eliminating blurry font. "XP style scale"The second method is as simple as the previous one. We follow the same steps as above until step 1.4. and go to the “Screen” menu. There we select the item “Other font size (dots per inch)”. A kind of ruler will appear on which we correct the scale to 100% and check the “Use Windows XP style scales” checkbox. Old fontsThe last method will seem more difficult for an inexperienced user, but we can handle it. The essence of this method is to use old fonts; for this we will have to make changes to the registry, but first things first. The first thing you need to do is create a file with the .reg extension and copy the code below into it. Apple and Microsoft have always been at odds over how to display fonts on a computer screen. However, both companies use subpixel rendering to achieve sharper-looking fonts. The difference lies in the rendering algorithm. Apple tries to preserve the design of the font as much as possible, while allowing for slight blurriness. Microsoft fits characters within pixel boundaries, which prevents blurring and improves readability, even at the cost of not completely matching the style. The GDI++ program was originally developed in Japan. They have to display hieroglyphs on the screen, all the strokes in them must look beautiful and readable. But in standard system rendering they look terrible, even with ClearType anti-aliasing enabled.
The utility replaces the system rasterization module with its own, as a result of which font smoothing becomes similar to Mac OS. Development of the original version of GDI++ was discontinued back in 2006, but the source code of the library is posted in open access, so the project is now supported by enthusiasts. The most stable version with configs for various monitors is attached.
GDI.8.1.2009.0101.zip (433,013 bytes) Launch via gditray.exe, selecting a configuration through the Preferences in Use menu in the tray. I can’t give definite recommendations, try different config options, choose the one that best suits your monitor. Enable/disable via the Enable and Disable menu items.
You can run GDI++ only for some specific program, to do this you need to create a launch shortcut by specifying target program as a parameter for the file gdi++.exe. "C:\Program Files\GDI++\gdi++.exe" "C:\Windows\notepad.exe"
The most modern option is MacType. There is a multilingual interface, including Russian, a choice of launch options, and more advanced settings. Last update from 2013. Apparently, this is now the most optimal option to use. MacType.1.13.1231.zip (3,124,190 bytes) In addition to the Japanese, the advantages of GDI++ have been appreciated by many users around the world. This is especially true for those who have to spend a lot of time working with texts. For example, I have the code editor and browser open almost all the time, it’s comfortable to perceive large volumes text information very important to me. And how fun it was to work! Here, for example, is what Sublime Text looks like with the fonts "Anonymous Pro" and "PragmataPro". This may not be so noticeable in screenshots, but in practice the difference is noticeable, especially on a large monitor.
And this is what the font in my favorite one looked like Firefox browser and in file manager Total Commander. Rendering with GDI++ has become smoother, letters look bolder, and the eyes actually get less tired.
Unfortunately, there were some downsides. Some programs began to slow down a little when scrolling through text. For gdipp, the configuration of exception programs is done in the file gdipp_setting.xml, which is located in the folder with installed program. After making changes, the service must be restarted. Exceptions are determined by the names of the executable files, several preset values are already there, you can easily add your own:
There is one more factor - anti-aliasing, which not all browsers (including Chrome) are friendly with when using non-standard fonts, although standard ones do not smooth out everything either. It turns out that the font becomes angular, and its borders are sharp and this is not very comfortable for reading. In case you need to use a third-party font, for example with "Google.Fonts", then the most reliable method is to create a full set of font formats, including SVG. You can use it, for example, only for headings. If the font is standard, then you can immediately go to the CSS method located below, as it is very simple and clear. Basic CSS methods to make fonts more readable CSS methodThis method is very minimalistic, because to implement it, just 3 lines of code are enough and assign the “title” class to the anti-aliased text. Text smoothing occurs due to the shadow and is applicable only for headings. This method can be regarded as a “hack”. Title ( text-shadow: -1px -1px 1px rgba(255,255,255, 0.2), 1px 1px 1px rgba(255,255,255, 0.2), 1px 1px 1px rgba(0,0,0, 0.7); ) CSS3 methodWhen solving the problem of font smoothing in the Chromium engine, one programmer on Google.Code suggested fast decision on CSS3. This turned out to be very rational, because you can abandon SVG and third-party web fonts, which weigh about 200~500 KB and require additional loading time. This code needs to be added to the css file: Body ( -webkit-font-smoothing: subpixel-antialiased !important; -webkit-backface-visibility: hidden; -moz-backface-visibility: hidden; -ms-backface-visibility: hidden; ) * this hint is used for all headers on this site This method has a couple of disadvantages: The problem with kerning can be solved with something like this CSS code: Body ( font-size: 125%; letter-spacing: 0.05em; line-height: 1.3em; ) body > * ( font-size: 85%; line-height: 1.3em; ) * of course, these parameters need to be slightly adjusted to suit the site’s features
Which method and how to apply it is an individual decision. But the result is the same - beautiful fonts and satisfied readers. SVG methodYou will need a web font generator fontsquirrel.com/tools/webfont-generator You need to download the desired font in the “.otf or .ttf” format and set these settings:
Agree to the requirements and click “DOWNLOAD YOUR KIT” After downloading the archive, you will only need to connect the SVG font to the site, but it is advisable to use all formats. CSS code for connecting fonts, which can be placed in separate file: @font-face ( font-family: "Open Sans"; src: url("/font/opensans.eot"); src: url("/font/opensans.eot?#iefix") format("embedded-opentype "), url("/font/opensans.woff") format("woff"), url("/font/opensans.ttf") format("truetype"), url("/font/opensans.svg#OpenSansRegular ") format("svg"); font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; ) * in this case, all Open Sans fonts are located in the “font” folder in the root of the site A couple of simple hints:
Maybe you are familiar with the situation when you go to a website and there are crooked fonts (small, hard to read, like in the picture on the left)... But don’t rush to criticize the designer. The designer tried and tried, choosing the font and its style. And here you are! Oops, the designer screwed it up! Maybe you've seen this more than once, maybe you come across it all the time? Then it's worth checking whether you have screen font smoothing enabled? This problem most likely arose not so long ago, due to the widespread use of LCD displays, which have more a high resolution. The pixel is visible better, blurring, as on the “tube”, does not occur. And “pixelization” has led to the fact that instead of an inclined line we see steps. In order to see how the author of the site intended everything, to see all the beauty, you need to enable screen font smoothing. In different operating systems, in different versions, this setting may be located in a different place than in others. Let's try to describe the different options. Windows XP Right-click on the desktop - Properties - Appearance - Effects
Click - Apply, then - OK. Reboot and OP! Everything is beautiful. On modern operating systems, such as Windows XP, if you use an LCD monitor, there may be a ClearType Settings option in Control Panel. Enter this section and run the ClearType Setup Wizard. Carrying out step by step instructions, you will very precisely and subtly configure font anti-aliasing specifically for your video card and your monitor. And the fonts will no longer be “stepped” and “blurry”. This setting is similar to how everything is implemented in Windows 7 and 8. Smoothing Windows 7 Screen Fonts This option is in a different location and has more options and tests to choose from the best option display text. “Control Panel” - “Design and Personalization” - “Screen”. Then on the left you need to select “Clear Type Text Settings”. A wizard will launch that allows you to enable, configure, or disable Clear Type. Windows 8 There was no need to configure, everything was already ready. But, if you are interested, all Clear Type settings are located in the same place as in Windows 7. On the desktop, right-click and select “Screen Resolution”. At the top line “Control Panel - Appearance and Personalization - Display - Screen Resolution”, click on the “Display” item. On the left, select “Adjust Clear Type Text”. Make sure that the “Turn On Clear Type” checkbox is checked and click the “Next” button. That is, we launch the Clear Type setup wizard. We follow the instructions on the screen until we achieve the best display of fonts. Safari Safari - browser from Apple. But there is also a version for Windows. It is possible that the configuration in the operating system itself occurs differently. Write if you know how. In the upper right corner Safari browser Click the settings icon (gear). Select the tab " Appearance" In the “Font Smoothing” drop-down menu, select what we like best: “Best for CRT” (I used this method as the best. Look at the screenshot), “Light” (The letters have become bold), “Medium - optimal for flat screens" (very bold), "Strong" (it couldn't be bolder - text blocks have darkened, the perception of paragraphs has changed), " Standard Windows"(looks the same as in Windows. The browser reads settings from the operating system).  (No ratings yet)  Loading...Share with friends:
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Check the box next to: “Apply the following method for smoothing screen fonts” and select Clear Type from the drop-down menu.
