Poor font rendering in Windows 8 (blurry text)

Anonymous
2013-02-24T00:17:00+00:00

Apparently there is a huge problem with **** font rendering in Windows 8. Text appears very blurry. Programs affected by the new rendering are: Internet Explorer 10, the modern interface (start screen), Office 2013 and other 3rd party applications that rely on this rendering technology. There is no way to fix this problem, unless Microsoft recognizes it.

I 've gathered links bellow that refer to the same problem to highlight its importance and display the number of users that are affected:

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_8-performance/windows-8-blurryfuzzy-text-and-icons-on-menu-not/ef8945ff-9920-47b2-b4ec-db1c5fbab7de

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/ie/forum/ie10-windows_8/windows-8-fonts-in-metro-ui-and-ie-10-blurry/3c29c415-54fd-44c8-b290-1c01dd05beaf

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/ie/forum/ie10-windows_8/font-are-blurry-in-internet-explorer-10-windows-8/95fba606-5f45-43fa-bd96-413f6d9d9ad6

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/ie/forum/ie10-windows_8/after-upgrading-to-windows-8-pro-my-fonts-in/210e46c9-4d16-4de7-8b59-2a1b0a7c738a

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/ie/forum/ie10-windows_8/internet-explorer-10-windows-8-font-rendering-blur/f3b33400-bb95-450c-9587-68adbf298a2f

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_cp-winapps/blurry-text-windows-8/576183c0-e5e2-4916-8283-0a193d633018

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_8-hardware/blurry-text-problem/d07ac513-de07-49d9-8718-7fbb6d07b634

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/ie/forum/ie10-windows_8/windows-8-browsers-font-rendering-issue-blocky/86139808-9c3f-48d9-bfa8-61afebd5761c

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/ie/forum/ie10_cp-windows_cp/windows-8-preview-release-blurry-font-rendering/668f454e-012f-498f-a086-b550a96d47e1

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_8-performance/horrible-windows-8-font-rendering/cc263629-f4c8-4653-af36-435f4e6b7d38

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_other-desktop/will-windows-8-have-better-fonts-or-at-least/ad35ce7b-45a9-44b4-83d9-aae34df8dd97

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_8-performance/fonts-are-suddenly-ugly-why/ba024dcc-c143-4ede-8f04-27930527c5be

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/ie/forum/ie10_cp-windows_cp/installation-of-windows-8-cp-causes-blurred-fonts/75352b20-cb08-4312-b7f3-6c38bb5f5f0a

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_8-desktop/monitor-fonts-windows-8-fuzzy-and-no-longer-crisp/052e7a57-79a7-49c5-93dc-bffb01969cbd

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/ie/forum/ie9-windows_vista/some-fonts-are-fuzzy-and-thicker-in-ie9-in/47f1846f-7817-464b-8121-d1ca02dbb71d

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_8-performance/blurry-text-in-windows-8/ed053d17-b525-4e09-bdbc-de91114d975c

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_8-performance/windows-8-has-made-my-text-blurry/7e9977e0-335f-4e8b-b321-eb2d156f36c1

Microsoft MSDN/TECHNET

http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/winappsuidesign/thread/4ddc57e1-de74-4044-940e-76e35a3e76b9

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-ZA/w8itprogeneral/thread/034ef255-40d5-41d5-9c58-841868326832

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/br/w8itprogeneral/thread/831ee84b-95a1-437a-b051-b7d51e13ba0f

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/w8itprogeneral/thread/d9c1ce96-58aa-401f-a5f4-1c62660077ca

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/W8ITProPreRel/thread/409d4e85-1124-4e1c-9cc0-3b2acfd519dd

External forums:

http://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1120890-internet-explorer-10-fonts-fuzzy-in-windows-8/

http://www.eightforums.com/browsers-mail/5432-blurry-text-ie10-desktop.html

http://www.techsupportforum.com/forums/f56/blurry-website-fonts-in-ie10-675564.html

http://www.techplex.net/postst78315_Text-in-Internet-Explorer-10-and-Metro-UI-is-blurry.aspx

http://superuser.com/questions/506192/disable-cleartype-blurry-fonts-in-internet-explorer-10-on-windows-7

http://bugsort.com/computer-users/computer-unclear-type-in-internet-explorer-on-windows-8/?PHPSESSID=10368ff87086c902a678043f63e39762

and there are lots of more...

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

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments

518 answers

Sort by: Newest
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2015-01-30T16:16:11+00:00

    There's also Office 2016 planned for this year. Let's hope someone at Microsoft comes to their senses... It doesn't look good though - pun intended.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2015-01-30T15:52:57+00:00

    Yes, but in the latest preview the rendering algorithm was tweaked, it is bolder and fonts like Arial look more like when they are printed (less hinting?). Not sure if it is better than Windows 8.1, maybe a bit more legible. No matter what they tweak however, small font sizes at 100% will still look bad with grayscale antialiasing I think.

    The effect really depends on two factors: individual sensitivity and display DPI. My laptop has a full HD 13.3" display. At 125% on this screen the issue is not too bad and I could get used to it. But I have seen it on an average 15.4" 1366x768 laptop in a shop and the experience and legibility is horrible.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2015-01-30T15:42:53+00:00

    The problem remains in Windows 10.  It doesn't seem Microsoft has attempted any fix.  Those in the Windows Insider Program need to file a bug in the Insider Hub.  Maybe Microsoft will fix it before Windows 10 becomes final, but people need to make some noise in the Insider Hub.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  4. Anonymous
    2015-01-30T15:16:21+00:00

    I am curious to hear whether the same problem is on Windows 10, too?

    I am too afraid to install Win10 beta to test myself, becouse it have too much brick-problems with HDD and SDD drivers. Too expensive testing.  :-D

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  5. Anonymous
    2015-01-29T04:21:01+00:00

    The best way to show the problem, is via image.

    So, here's my image: OneDrive version of pic

    After you click the link, you may need to click the pic again to "zoom in" to the correct full picture size. THEN, I'd encourage you to use the "Magnifier" Windows Accessory, to zoom in to 400%, to inspect the results.

    As you can see, I typed "Personalize", using Segoe UI, at different font sizes. And I typed the letter "L", in lowercase, several times, at different font sizes.

    You can clearly see that Word 2013 acts a certain way (greyscale sub-pixel antialiasing, used by Modern UI applications, Office 2013, Internet Explorer, and more and more parts of the Windows 10 OS), while Notepad acts a certain way (RGB color sub-pixel antialiasing).

    I'm saying that the greyscale version looks very very MUDDY, and INCONSISTENT. Look at those lowercase l letters! Each one is slightly different! And when not zooming in with Magnifier, the letters look like they're muddy and falling apart!

    The RGB color sub-pixel antialiasing, while sometimes giving a tinge of too much green or a tinge of too much purple, is at LEAST consistent and crisp, on my LCD display. A lot of us are used to it.

    I hope we can, at some point, give the user the option. I'd choose the RGB any day of the week. I've had to avoid using Modern UI apps, because of this very issue.

    Regards,

    Jacob Klein

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments