XP Users: Turn on ClearType!
Run Windows XP and want to have the benefit of easier to read, less-jaggy fonts system-wide? Yeah, I thought so too. Right-click the desktop, select Properties, head over to the Appearance tab and click on the Effects button. In the window that opens up, check the second box that says Use the following method to smooth edges of screen fonts and select ClearType from the drop-down menu, then OK out of all windows.
Those steps will just enable ClearType on your system with the default settings. If you want to fine tune the appearance, download the ClearType Tuner from Microsoft and use its wizard. It can do things like adjust contrast and LCD screen striping.
After browsing around online on a friend’s computer I realized how horrible everything looks, my site included, without ClearType enabled.
Unless you’re still using a CRT of course. Guess this is what I get for not investing in computer stuff until I switch to Apple. :E
Yeah, ClearType was developed with LCDs in mind.
I switched to an LCD recently and enabled ClearType. Tried the ClearType tuner too, but the fonts still looked blurry so I disabled it.
Anyone else sharing the same experience?
Back when I used Windows and owned a CRT, I used ClearType on a CRT also. I always thought it looked better since ClearType added more weight to the fonts.
Yes, it’s a world of difference!
By the way Paul, I’m hoping to read your review of Windows Live Writer. I hope to have my thoughts soon (got a big week).
Konstantinos - Yeah, the fonts looks quite blurry, or rather it looks more like fonts on Mac notebook. I don’t know whether this is good for my eyes.
I’ve been using ClearType on my CRT’s for the last few years. I can’t live without it. Everything looks horrible with out it.
You need decent resolution ( > 1024 in my opinion ) for ClearType to not blur, but man it makes a difference. That was the first thing I changed on my work laptop this summer.
@Kyle - I’m writing a review for Windows Live Writer right now.. so far, I like it.
It’s all about the pixel pack!
Just a note, IE 7 final will have ClearType enabled by default, just for that one application. And IE7 will also supposedly come out as a level 1 automatic updates. Which means, in a short amount of time, most of the web will be viewing our sites with ClearType finally, even if they know nothing about it and what it is.
@Joshua - I think it’s absolutely awesome that IE7 is going to be an automatic update. I can see it pissing many people off though.. because the design and layout is radically different from IE6. Now I won’t have to deal with as many little annoying bugs on my sites.
On my crt it looked horrible. Way too blurry. Tried it once but went back in seconds. On my new tft it looks better. Just tried it again. However, I’ll leave it turned off I think, because when testing websites I want to know how it looks for most people. I will use my macbook to look at pretty stuff :)
If you’re using CRT and run a high resolution it looks quite good.
In my experience, I’ve found Windows users generally prefer jagged Atari type. Anything that is not pixelated is considered blurry. Microsoft has a lot of damage to undo to the typography world.
I’m very glad IE 7 is going to be on automatic update. My site looks almost perfect in it, and in IE6 it is all screwed up.
I am running 1024×768 on a 13 inch monitor. (Crazy, I know…it is a CRT also…haha) I can bring myself to buy a LCD right now. ClearType does not look too bad but I have gotten so used to Standard that ClearType is too much for me to handle right now.
@Konstantinos: I’m experiencing the same issue. I’ve disabled ClearType on my Sony Vaio VGN-S2XP (model provided for monitor reference).
I remember reading some neat stories about font rendering/smoothing, years ago.
For what it’s worth, Apple (naturally, right!) were one of the earlier groups to do this (I *think* the Xerox Alto may have had anti-aliased or smoothed fonts, which Apple was so inspired by) - but MS finally got wise to things with WinXP.
Steve Gibson (grc.com) has a cool little utility demoing how ClearType effectively works, as well as some documentation. Quite interesting stuff.
Basically the way LCD pixels are arranged (RGB,) Steve says you effectively have triple the resolution actually shown on your screen - hence “Sub-Pixel Font Rendering” as he calls it.
http://www.grc.com/cleartype.htm
Interesting stuff. If I remember correctly, that’s sometimes why you see funny “halo” effects of color around some letters on CRTs when you have ClearType turned on, since CRTs don’t really work that way.
Most LCDs are “RGB” anyway, some (as MS’ cleartype tuning tool accounts for) are ordered differently, like BGR.
Beautiful. But don’t you think that in IE7 (Beta of course), it is like ClearType already “built in”. You get a beautiful smooth edges screen font even in CRT without ClearType. More or less like how screen font appears in linux (Fedora Core).
When I first found out about this hack and made the switch on my home PC, it was like the clouds parted and the angels sang. I couldn’t live without it now and using a PC without ClearType turned on is like having rabid needles trace the Mona Lisa on my eyeballs.
I am currently using a 24″ Dell LCD. Before I used ClearType on my old 17″ Daytek LCD, but now I am using standard. I am a webdesigner, so I need to fully see everything, so that’s why I use Standard instead of ClearType, helps a lot, plus ClearType can be pretty blurry on this kind of PC.
Josue made me do this in IRC, and thank god he did. I hadn’t realized how bad the fonts looked until it was enabled. And now all of the new windows fonts look amazing.
I can’t believe you never knew about ClearType!!!
Come one…it’s not only the Mac that has smoove fonts, as I type this on an MBP!
If your cleartype looks blurry, make sure your screen resolution is set to the adviced screen resolution for your monitor (just look at the specifications of your monitor).
Cleartype is great… if you’ve got the graphics card horsepower to not slow down your system. I’ve have a screamer card with 256 Mb - not exactly SLI or a 512 Mb PCI-E, but still, quite fast to play most anything… and ClearType makes it appreciably slower. And for those who say there is no effect on a CRT, there is - if you are running at high-enough resolution. Mine is 1600 x 1200 and is quite noticeable, but not worth it enough for me to lose speed. It’s all about speed. I’ll go blind before I give up speed.
It’s not that the fonts would appear blurry, but atleast on my Hitachi 17″ LCD with ClearType enabled small white fonts on a black background appear pretty red on the edges. For example a dot on Tahoma 8 (white, black bg) is pink.
Tweaking how ClearType works with the tuner works a bit, but then the fonts become too weighted for my taste, so I’m using Standard.
Now My Computer Is Looking more Clear lol