Blurry Text in Windows 8

Anonymous
2012-10-27T01:27:12+00:00

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.

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Performance and system failures

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Anonymous
2014-10-02T13:21:40+00:00

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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  1. Anonymous
    2013-03-27T16:16:33+00:00

    Also check out this post for more info. I'd also suggest replacing Firefox with Pale Moon, since feature list and problem-solving are way more sensible and this issue proves the point.

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  2. Anonymous
    2013-03-27T14:00:37+00:00

    Thanks for the reply.

    I've now found a solution from Bugzilla:

    https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show\_bug.cgi?id=812695

    By removing Microsoft Update KB2670838 clears the fault.

    I purchased the EAH4350 Card in 2010, as I don't do any gaming, and its been fine.

    I've already loaded the latest AMD drivers without success.

    But further research has confirmed

    Update KB2670838 is the problem.As I dont plan to use IE10, I'll see how this fix goes.It certainly has cleared the problem, so Windows Update will be switched off until further notice.
    

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  3. Anonymous
    2013-03-27T13:10:29+00:00

    THIS IS AWFUL

    Found this Thread whilst looking for a solution to this exact problem on Windows 7-64.

    I have updates setup, so Win 7-64 is obviously now damaged by these changes.

    Graphics Card is ASUS EAH4350 to which I've loaded the latest version of the AMD Driver direct from there website.

    It shows on Firefox, Chrome and IE9.

    Planning to do a clean install Of Windows 7 Ultimate 64, then load Service Pack 1  to see if thats OK, its a lot of hassle, but the picture quality is just unusable, particularly as I ware BiFocals.

    I'll leave Updates off from now on. Machine was fine until quite recently, so suspect it one of the many updates that has caused the problem.

    I've been a loyal Microsoft customer since the DOS days, and had every version of Windows upto Windows 7, together with every Office up to Office 2010 Professional.

    But it looks like my old mothers adage of an APPLE a day keeps the Doctor away was correct after all.

    I'll reluctantly be calling in to the Apple Store next, particulary as our IPad is so Good>    

    Bob

     

    That's odd.

    Most of the posters here have only had the blurry font problem with Windows 8.

    I have never had any problems with the font rendering in Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit.

    In Windows 8, I also don't have any blurry text problems with Firefox and Opera.

    Your graphics card is 5 years old.

    Check sevenforums and see if anyone else has had problems. I vaguely remember someone there having to use different drivers for their ATI 4350 graphics card.

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  4. Anonymous
    2013-03-27T01:28:01+00:00

    THIS IS AWFUL

    Found this Thread whilst looking for a solution to this exact problem on Windows 7-64.

    I have updates setup, so Win 7-64 is obviously now damaged by these changes.

    Graphics Card is ASUS EAH4350 to which I've loaded the latest version of the AMD Driver direct from there website.

    It shows on Firefox, Chrome and IE9.

    Planning to do a clean install Of Windows 7 Ultimate 64, then load Service Pack 1  to see if thats OK, its a lot of hassle, but the picture quality is just unusable, particularly as I ware BiFocals.

    I'll leave Updates off from now on. Machine was fine until quite recently, so suspect it one of the many updates that has caused the problem.

    I've been a loyal Microsoft customer since the DOS days, and had every version of Windows upto Windows 7, together with every Office up to Office 2010 Professional.

    But it looks like my old mothers adage of an APPLE a day keeps the Doctor away was correct after all.

    I'll reluctantly be calling in to the Apple Store next, particulary as our IPad is so Good>    

    Bob

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