Blurry Text in Windows 8

Anonymous

I did a clean install of Windows 8 RTM when it became available.

The blurry font rendering that plagued the Preview versions has remained.

It is particularly bad in IE10 and Office 2013.

No amount of adjustment with Clear Type tuner helps much.

I have tried all the fixes recommended like ticking "use Software rendering instead of GPU rendering" in IE10 and in Options in Office 2013.

It makes absolutely no difference.

I installed Windows 8 on completely different hardware to check if it was a graphics card issue. The poor font rendering was still there.

I am currently dual booting Windows 7 and 8 on the same PC. Fonts in Windows 7 remain perfectly clear. In windows 8 they are so bad, the OS is basically unusable.

How do I get readable fonts in Windows 8?

Hardware: ASUS P8Z77-V PRO, Intel Core i7 3770K, ASUS Radeon HD7770 graphics, Samsung Syncmaster 2443BW 24 inch monitor.

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Anonymous

In Chrome 37.x go to chrome://flags and disable DirectWrite. That's the first thing i did with this update.

Torsten

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Anonymous

2014-09-02T10:28:26+00:00

You have pretty much summed up my own personal take on this terrible situation!

But it gets worse.

As a frequent user (and long time admirer) of Google Chrome, I am now dismayed to find that the latest version (37.x) now works with DirectDraw (for fonts).

Now, this has been heralded as a big *improvement* - but for me it is _disaster_.

Why? Because as I had managed to disable the ironically named "ClearType" (by unchecking the Performance Settings > Visual Effects > Smooth Edges of Screen Fonts option) - all of a sudden the (previously *great!* Web Fonts headings (etc.) in Google Chrome NOW NO LONGER WORK! (and appeared majorly jagged - very poor).

The solution to that problem?? - Well, the only one I can find is (yes, you guessed it..) - CHECKING / turning on the "Smooth Edges of Screen Fonts" option!

So... I am now left with decent headings and fonts on Chrome again (though unless it is my imagination they don't look at good as they did previously.. / pre "DirectDraw" support..) - but worst of all just about ALL of my Windows 8.1. UI has the **** / jagged / blurry / greyed-out text that I had previously.

In short: A nightmare.

I too am a LONG standing MicroSoft power-user - but this situation is a complete and utter disaster.

@MicroSoft: Repeat After Me:

"A Desktop Computer is a Desktop Computer, not a Tablet. A Tablet is a Tablet, not a Desktop Computer."

"A Desktop Computer is a Desktop Computer, not a Tablet. A Tablet is a Tablet, not a Desktop Computer."

"A Desktop Computer is a Desktop Computer, not a Tablet. A Tablet is a Tablet, not a Desktop Computer."

"A Desktop Computer is a Desktop Computer, not a Tablet. A Tablet is a Tablet, not a Desktop Computer."

"A Desktop Computer is a Desktop Computer, not a Tablet. A Tablet is a Tablet, not a Desktop Computer."

[etc.]

I only hope that they finally see what a serious issue this is. I do NOT even want "smooth" text in most of my applications!!! Just the Web Browser will do. Everything else (Textpad, FileZilla, PaintShop Pro, Office, Etc. Etc. looks perfectly FINE with so-called "old fashioned" text (i.e. that with no anti-aliasing).

Aaarrgghh!!

John.
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Anonymous

2014-09-01T04:17:04+00:00

I was experiencing the same thing with Office 2013 in particularly. But the desktop would look perfectly fine.

It is now working correctly.

Go to Control Panel --> Display --> Screen Resolution --> Click Make text and other items larger or smaller --> Uncheck "Let me choose one scaling level for all my displays"

Ironically, in my case I needed to check the "Let me choose one scaling level for all my displays" option. Once I did, all my windows went back to having regular clear, non-blurry, non-fuzzy text.

I haven't installed Office 2013 yet (still in the process of upgrading this computer). I was seeing the issue in other windows, such as Device Manager, various Properties windows, and installer windows.

I guess once I've installed it, I'll see whether my Office 2013 windows look fuzzy because I've turned this option on. :)
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Anonymous

2014-02-18T13:57:52+00:00

Hello,

I was experiencing the same thing with Office 2013 in particularly. But the desktop would look perfectly fine.

It is now working correctly.

Go to Control Panel --> Display --> Screen Resolution --> Click Make text and other items larger or smaller --> Uncheck "Let me choose one scaling level for all my displays"

You will have to sign out for it to take effect.

It resolved my issue so I thought I would share.

Lynx357Mag
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Anonymous

2014-01-31T15:05:45+00:00

So, that's why I don't like the looks of my documents anymore. Again a bad move for desktop users by MS to make way for the stupid tablet Metro thing!

I whish Microsoft would decide that a tablet and a desktop are different things after all. Integration of the experience of the two is a nice idea, but not at the cost of ruining my expensive desktop computer. experience. Screw the Metro renderer without clear type! I'm just typing stuff on a big screen. I use Start8 to get my startbutton back. This dualistic world of Win 8 sucks. And I don't want my personal live forced onto on Microsoft servers.

This was the next push in the declining sales of desktop computers. I've been pushing myself into Windows 8 / 8.1 for a while now and while at some point I thought is was an improvement, Now I'm starting to feel more and more sorry for the whole Windows 8 thing. I've heard said that the Windows 7 interface looks outdated, but I like it better than the squary boring Windows 8 interface.
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