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
    2013-06-03T09:56:42+00:00

    OK, the .png pictures below are 400px wide and are displayed correctly on my computer with a zoom setting of 100% in IE10. A different zoom setting to read this forum makes the Chrome picture appear blurry too in IE10. These pictures are screenshots of Chrome and IE10 with a zoom setting of 125% in both browsers.

    The text in IE10 doesn't look awful but it's not easy on my eyes at all when having to read text whereas I'm at ease when reading in Chrome which means I very much prefer the aliased text in Chrome on my 15.6" screen (and on the 10" one of my tablet PC).

    IE10:

    Chrome:

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  2. Deleted

    This answer has been deleted due to a violation of our Code of Conduct. The answer was manually reported or identified through automated detection before action was taken. Please refer to our Code of Conduct for more information.

    Comments have been turned off. Learn more

  3. Anonymous
    2013-06-03T09:43:34+00:00

    I haven't had any blurred icons on the desktop in Windows 8.  Everything in File Explorer (Windows Explorer) is also clear.

    The grey-scale anti-aliasing problem is usually most noticeable with text in IE10.

    Your particular problem is beginning to look like it could be hardware related. 

    You will need to eliminate hardware problems as a possible cause.

    Does your PC have a separate graphics card?

    If it does, you could try re-seating it (if you are comfortable doing so).

    I would also try a different monitor cable if you have one.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  4. Anonymous
    2013-06-03T09:35:38+00:00

    This is not what it looks like on my computer otherwise, of course, I wouldn't be using Chrome to have sharper fonts.

    I've done what you described but it didn't work either which means the Chrome picture wasn't displayed correctly. I'll give another try later.

    EDIT: OK, I've solved this and posted the pictures in this forum in another post.

    The pictures can't be wider than 540px to be displayed correctly.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  5. Anonymous
    2013-06-03T04:19:58+00:00

    I give up, despite viewing original, and changing IE Zoom to 100% from my setting of 125%, and even downloading the .bmp and viewing them in a Photo Editor:  Chrome looks worse to me.  Maybe it is just one of those things?  I don't doubt for an instance there is a major problem with blurry fonts in Windows 8.

    What happens if you post the Chrome .bmp directly into this thread?

     How do I: Post a screen shot on this forum?

    http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/feedback/forum/feedback_other-na/how-to-insert-images-in-ms-answers/94a5cb36-a21f-4a6a-b266-611cf6c910c8

    How do I insert a photo into a reply to a post

    http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/feedback/forum/user/how-do-i-insert-a-photo-into-a-reply-to-a-post/17a15382-c587-44bb-9594-c0673c8402af

    The instructions for posting an image in this site are correct and do work, they are however a bit confusing.  The trick is to get the uploaded image fully opened in  your browser by selecting "view original" when right-clicked on the uploaded image , and then to right-click on it (the original now opened image) and select copy, and then paste it into your post here.  Still confusing I know.

    This is my rendering (what I see) for the Chrome .bmp.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments