Poor font rendering in Windows 8 (blurry text)

Thank you, and I am very pleased that you picked up on the point I made about everything being great when I first set the computer up.  In respect of what you have asked me, I need to take closer note and will get back to you in due course.  It might, however, help you to know that the blurring was immediately apparent to me just from the icons on my desktop which look slightly smudged.

All noted, thank you.  Even before the blur issue occurred I tried and tried to download an old version of Google, which I preferred to use on my old desktop, but all I kept getting was the desktop version of Google Chrome.  If you can help me with a link that will work I shall be very grateful to you.

@ Ulysees , hosch250

I don't think Windows 8.1 will fix it. The automatic desktop scaling feature sounds useful but doesn't seem to be the solution to the issue.

@ Jacob W. Klein

I've read your post, I understand Microsoft's reasons. But...  (read the following)

My post on May 6 2013:

<< I also just noticed something... When changing vertically the viewing angle of the monitor some fonts appear a lot better (depending on their color and background). For example, on my laptop (Dell) I see considerably improved fonts on IE10 or Office 2013 when looking at the screen from a high angle. The exact opposite applies for my desktop, where the fonts seem to get better when viewing the monitor from a lower angle.  >>

• I still don't understand why Microsoft hasn't replied. This is the No1 unresolved issue in "me too" votes on this forum. Isn't this concerning them?
• I think (based on my observation on the May 6 post) that grayscale antialiasing can be greatly improved and continue to be grayscale... Microsoft should just correct the tones of gray or black it uses in each pixel to make fonts appear better (adjust the contrast) OR give as an option to "tune" the grayscale antialiasing the same way we did with ClearType.
• If grayscale antialiasing is better, why is there so much inconsistency in its use? (as you describe in your post)

Question to all users: Do you see any improvement when changing your vertical viewing angle to the monitor? Aren't fonts appearing better when viewed by a lower or higher angle?

I am interested in the fact that you did have clear images for the first 4 days.

Most of us here have more of a problem with text, which for us has not been clear from day one in IE10 nor Office 2013 on Windows 8.

I was able to get Firefox to render text clearly in Windows 8 by deselecting "use hardware acceleration" in the Firefox > Options > General > General tab > Browsing section.

Is your screen now blurry in every application?

If not, which applications are blurry?

"Thank you to everyone who replied to my post.  With luck then, all of us who are affected just need a little patience until 8.1 is released, and hopefully the problem will be fixed. "

....

Guys, this issue was completely identified, in my post on May 16, 2013, reprinted below.

So far as I know, it will not be fixed with 8.1.

If it bothers you a lot, I recommend:

• Not using Windows 8 Modern UI apps.
• Using a browser other than recent versions of Internet Explorer.
• Not using Microsoft Office 2013.

For me, it is a concern, but I don't often use the Windows 8 Modern UI apps, and never really use Internet Explorer since I use Firefox. But when I use Office 2013, I just have to "deal with it".

Regards,

Jacob

Did you guys not read my post within this thread, on April 27, 2013?

You should go back and read it, to understand what's going on.

Microsoft has moved:

• away from using COLOR sub-pixel-antialiasing
• toward now using "standard" (GREYSCALE) antialiasing

because the text needs to:

• look pretty in every shade of every color
• look pretty when rendered on top of any other color
• not flicker when moving in an animation
• look correct on rotated displays

The change is noticeable to most people, in the places Microsoft have applied the new behavior:

• Windows 8 Modern UI Start Screen and Apps
• Office 2013
• The latest versions of Internet Explorer (both Modern version and Desktop version)

I've been accustomed to the color sub-pixel-antialiasing for years now, and my eyes prefer it. So it's been difficult for me to deal with seeing text of all sizes in greyscale antialiasing.  For instance, open up the News app. If the text doesn't look right (maybe fuzzy, or just not smooth like normal), ask yourself why? Turn on Magnifier to 400% and see for yourself - it's greyscale antialiasing!

I also submit this image as proof:

http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/6264/browserfontantialiasing.png

I use Firefox, and it renders text in a way that I'm used to.

On the right, Internet Explorer looks strange and not as clear.

Start Magnifier, set to 400%, and look for yourself. The proof is in the antialiasing!

As of now, I have not heard any news about the possibility of making this a user-option.

It's likely never going to happen, and if we want to use Windows 8 or later, then we'll likely have to deal with this change.

Ironically enough, I tried to use the ClearType tuner to tell it I want all of my antialiasing to be greyscale, but I couldn't get that to work.

And if you want to really laugh at the inconsistency, open up Magnifier to 400%, and check this out:

• right-click a tray icon, like the volume icon, and notice... color antialiasing
• right-click a pinned taskbar icon, and look at the jump list... greyscale antialiasing
• right-click the far bottom left, so you get the power-user menu... color antialiasing
• Open Word 2013, and look at the template names... greyscale antialiasing
• In Word 2013, hover over a template to see the tooltip... color antialiasing
• In Word 2013, look at the suggested searches at the top... greyscale antialiasing
• In Word 2013, look at the text within that search box... color antialiasing
• Open Internet Explorer on the Desktop, and start typing a URL... color antialiasing
• In Internet Explorer, hit enter to go to that URL, and look at the URL again... greyscale antialiasing
• Even in Internet Explorer in the Modern UI, when typing the URL... color antialiasing

So, at least for me on my Desktop machine and LCD monitor, there's a TON of inconsistency.

BUT....

The content of the pages in IE, the content of the apps in the Modern UI, the content of the documents in Office 2013... have been moved toward greyscale antialiasing, and the user does not have any mechanism to choose color antialiasing. It is what it is, but at least you hopefully now KNOW why it looks/feels different.

If I'm wrong about any of this info, I apologize. But I'm trying to share the information, so that people will understand.

Regards,

Jacob Klein