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[Fatalah]

I usually have it turned off, but I just turned it on. It always seemed too blurry to me. I feel like I'm going blind. Maybe it takes some getting used to?

What do you guys do? Cleartype or not to cleartype?

 

[btrboyev]

its only meant for lcd screens

 

[dem]

Cleartype is great

Without it the text seems so jagged.

edit:
I use it on CRT aswell as LCD. It just looks better.

It looks a little weird at first... but leave it on for a few days. You wont want to go back.

 

[akascream]

Where do I choose?

 

[demon]

display properties -> appearance -> effects -> method to smooth edges


I just tried it, and I'm never using it again. It just makes text blurry, and it slowed down my computer for some reason.

 

[Baconäger]

I use it on both LCDs and CRTs. It looks better on either one.

 

[akascream]

It looks a little weird at first... but leave it on for a few days. You wont want to go back.

Haha, this sounds like a fun prank, but I'll give it a go. Things look just a tad blurry right now.

 

[Hitokage]

It's subpixel font rendering for LCDs. Meaning it draws to the individual RGB elements instead of the entire pixel block.

 

[Fatalah]

Maybe my videocard is too old. My computer is from '99...nvidia riva tnt2pro

 

[Mister Zimbu]

Thanks for reminding me; I forgot to enable it last time I installed Windows.

I always thought things looked alot better with it enabled.

 

[Manics]

I use Cleartype, much easier to read everything on my laptop.

 

[Zaptruder]

So that's why it has chromatic distortion... here I was thinking the font was antialiased.

Well, I prefer cleartype too, even with the chromatic distortion. It just makes the text look... warmer and cleaner too.

 

[demon]

Ok, so I might have changed my mind on not liking the way it looks, but why the fuck does it slow down my system? Stuff like scrolling and moving windows around is choppy. Dubya Tee Eff?

Also, am I crazy for whatever reason being reminded of Macs by this font? For some reason it just looks Macish...

 

[scorcho]

I usually have it turned off, but I just turned it on. It always seemed too blurry to me. I feel like I'm going blind. Maybe it takes some getting used to?

What do you guys do? Cleartype or not to cleartype?

i've never turned it off since i first installed windows xp oh so many years ago. one of the greatest features ever added to Win XP IMO.

 

[shantyman]

I use it on both CRT and LCD screens. I agree it looks better overall.

 

[God's Hand]

I hate ClearType. It makes the text blurry. I prefer the sharp look.

 

[Mashing]

Hmm, I just turned it on and it looks like ass. Not to mention on my LCD (which is quite a good LCD too) I can see color discrepanices and what appears to be ghosting.

It could be that I'm just used to normal text

 

[dem]

Try the cleartype tuner

http://www.microsoft.com/typography/ClearTypePowerToy.mspx

 

[Mashing]

Slightly better, but now bold fonts, ESPECIALLY verdana look like a blurry mess. Back to standard for me.

It's funny though, the font that World of Warcraft uses is EXTREMELY sharp, no blurriness looks awesome. I was actually blown away how much sharper text was in that game when I got my new LCD monitor.

 

[element]

cleartype rules

 

[VictimOfGrief]

ClearType makes everything look blurry. Those who enjoy, I'm not paying your medicare in 40+ years when you need glasses because of it. :lol

 

[Fragamemnon]

Cleartype is great for LCDs.

No point of it on a CRT, though, IMO.

 

[cloudwalking]

I have a CRT monitor. I prefer it greatly over the standard setting, but maybe that's just because I've gotten used to it. It doesn't make a whole lot of difference, just smooths things out a bit.

No cleartype:

Cleartype:

 

[demi]

I prefer without

 

[Mashing]

Look at those screenshots. I know our eyes can perceive things different and it's all about what you 're used too but I don't see myself EVER getting use to that antialiasing ClearType does. Horrible.

*which is ironic becuase I use 2XSAI in my emulators which does pretty much the same thing.

 

[Doth Togo]

I cannot tell any difference.

 

[dog$]

Thank you for this thread Fatalah.

This was activated on my Dad's machine and he forgot how to activate it, so I've been trying to alter system fonts on my machine to simulate the effect and of course it's all been in vain.

Now that I know what to do, no XP machine is safe in my hands

 

[demon]

Yeah I'm really liking this now. It gives text a much softer, yet still clear and legible, look.

 

[Keyser Soze]

The quick red fox owns all!

 

[RedDwarf]

First time trying it. It seems like some text is lighter in shade, and the overall effect seems like it's easier on the eyes after a bit, like going from a CRT to LCD. I'm giving it a couple of days.

 

[JoshuaJSlone]

I don't think with something with such small details to it a format like JPEG is decent for comparison, so I made a few GIFs. I like how ClearType takes away just a bit of the harshness, but it's always a bit freaky when I zoom in on a screen capture and it seems to break apart before my eyes.

EDIT: Another decent example from MS's website. I guess it makes sense that if there's something like italics there to help jag up the letters, ClearType will seem even better in comparison.

 

[miyuru]

I prefer without Cleartype because letters don't appear as 'fat'. Know what I mean?

 

[JoshuaJSlone]

First time trying it. It seems like some text is lighter in shade

Sometimes darker, sometimes lighter. I believe the explanation for this would be that as long as it's only using two colors, it can only make quite discrete changes in letter thickness. However, if one brings in anti-aliasing tricks one can give something the appearance of being, say, 0.3 pixels thicker or thinner, so it will seem a bit different than what we were previously used to.

Actually, that's a decent idea for yet another comparison image. Notice how on the left, there's a clear change in thickness from 13 to 14 and from 22 to 24, whereas on the right it's more gradual. Or how everything below 8 is lighter, but with a more identifiable shape.

I prefer without Cleartype because letters don't appear as 'fat'. Know what I mean?

Yeah, same phenomenon. It definitely makes a visual difference. Looking at that comparison image it seems the "increased fatness" is most noticeable at 11-13, at least with Times New Roman.

 

[miyuru]

Yeah at larger sizes, there's more 'room' for proper antialiasing. But with smaller and coincidentally more common sizes, seems the characters themselves become larger so they can be smoothened out.

 

[bionic77]

Cleartype is awesome for reading ebooks on my PDA. I really wish publishers would push more of this technology. I don't really use it on my laptop or desktop though.

 

[FiRez]

indeed it looks more blurried at the edges, like I was using the PC after waking up

 

[tedtropy]

Call my crazy, but I like the sharper looking text. Cleartype just makes me rub my eyes and think my contacts are acting up.

 

[Tenacious-V]

Hellz yeah I use it! Makes everything nice and smooth baby! Smoooooooth..!

Things look nice and clean.

 

[Zensetsu]

Its purdy lookin'.

 

[Mejilan]

Holy shit. I never knew about this. Enabled Cleartype, downloaded the tuner. Loves it!

 

[Dice]

I've used it since I got XP, it's great.

Maybe my videocard is too old. My computer is from '99...nvidia riva tnt2pro

That's my favorite band.

 

[michael000]

Lol sad, cleartype is what my monitor looks like when i don't wear my glasses :lol

 

[pestul]

Everyone's eyes must be seriously different (20/10 Vision).. cause I can't stand it. Then again, I actually approve of low H frequencies like 60Hz too, because I can't stand the blurring in anything over 75Hz (I use this just in case i'm killing my eyes).

 

[Zaptruder]

Everyone's eyes must be seriously different (20/10 Vision).. cause I can't stand it. Then again, I actually approve of low H frequencies like 60Hz too, because I can't stand the blurring in anything over 75Hz (I use this just in case i'm killing my eyes).

In all seriousness, the real issue with cleartype text is that it has chromatic abberation; i.e. the color at the edge of the text isn't actually black or a shade of gray, but either a blue, green, red; people can pick up on this difference easily, even if they can't identify what it is.

On the otherhand, it provides a smoother more natural looking shape, which reduces some amount of eyestrain, making the words easier to read. Some people won't like it because they're not used to it, while others might even find it easier to read solely black text, even with the aliased edges.

Some people actually have monitor resolution so high that it doesn't matter; i.e. they need to increase the size of their font or risk degrading their eyesight...

and finally, the higher the frequency with CRT monitors, the better for the eyes; freqs of 75hz below have visible flickering (you can even see it at 75hz if you look out of the corner of the eye), which in turn can cause you to keep your eyes open longer than you would normally; less blinking, more strain, dryer eyes, nausea, etc.

LCD monitors have a constant projection of light on the otherhand, so in terms of that, they're not too bad. But the ghosting and other issues can be troublesome with LCD monitors.

 

[scorcho]

I prefer without Cleartype because letters don't appear as 'fat'. Know what I mean?

well cleartype works best on higher resolutions, and there are utilities you can download that will allow you to 'tweak' how much cleartype smooths out the font.

 

[pestul]

and finally, the higher the frequency with CRT monitors, the better for the eyes; freqs of 75hz below have visible flickering (you can even see it at 75hz if you look out of the corner of the eye), which in turn can cause you to keep your eyes open longer than you would normally; less blinking, more strain, dryer eyes, nausea, etc.

While true, the 80s generation was putting up with like 36Hz 8hrs a day and I'm pretty sure they're doing okay. I think the PC age is still a huge longitudinal study in the making. Looking back, we haven't really been using computers for so long. Perhaps we're all doomed to sterility/blindness/brain cancer and we don't even know it yet.

Also for the record.. I have a hard time using AA in games on my PC because of the blurring it causes too. I certainly can't use over 4xAA or the sharpness of textures is totally gone.

 

[Zaptruder]

While true, the 80s generation was putting up with like 36Hz 8hrs a day and I'm pretty sure they're doing okay. I think the PC age is still a huge longitudinal study in the making. Looking back, we haven't really been using computers for so long. Perhaps we're all doomed to sterility/blindness/brain cancer and we don't even know it yet.

Also for the record.. I have a hard time using AA in games on my PC because of the blurring it causes too. I certainly can't use over 4xAA or the sharpness of textures is totally gone.

Well, it shouldn't be doing that; so either your video card sucks or your just fucked in the head.

For most people, the smoother the image is without arbitary jagged elements, the closer to a natural image it represents... which is a good thing.

 

[scorcho]

it should be clarified, the image isn't blurry, it's aliased, which is completely different. blurry implies that the text looks out of focus, which it isn't at all. again, this depends what resolution you are running at and how sharp your monitor can handle that resolution.

aliasing tricks the brain into 'filling in the dots', giving the text the appearance of a much higher resolution than it actually is. if your monitor doesn't have good focus or you run at a low resolution (anything below 1024x768 is horrible for me), then cleartype's usefulness will decrease for you. IMO it doesn't matter if it's CRT or LCD to see its benefits. a sharp looking CRT at 1024 or 1280 resolution still makes cleartype look pretty.

that said cleartype does look much better IMO on my 17" LCD than my 17" CRT at the same resolution.

 

[Papi]

I just turned it on. The internet is 10 times better now.
Italics look nice.

 

[Belfast]

Ugh. I just turned it on and it made me dizzy. ><