XP: Change and Tweak ClearType Fonts
Posted by AlexTheBeast in Windows
Cleartype is XP’s sweet little feature that improves rendering of fonts.
Some fonts are difficult to read on LCD screens. XP’s answer to this was to give the user the ability to re-rerender these fonts to make them easier on the eyes. Without a doubt users with notebooks and other LCD screens will love this feature. I have it enabled on my CRT systems as well because it seems to decrease my eye strain.
This setting is typically off by default.
From your system you can turn it on and off. Microsoft actually has a web page that allows you to fine tune your settings as well.
The Microsoft Tuner Page will allow you to turn cleartype on or change your settings:
You can also turn it on here:
- 1. Right-click on a blank area of your desktop
2. Select Properties from the context menu
3. Select the Appearance tab
4. Press the Effects button
5. Select the check box before Use the following method to smooth edges of screen fonts
6. Select ClearType from the drop down box.
7. Click OK until the boxes are closed out
To turn it off, just select a different method for smoothing the edges of screen fonts or uncheck the box.
The Conversation
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August 27, 2010 at 5:28 am, Pkhabib said:
To me, anti-aliased ClearType actually looks even worse on laptop/LCD screens; much like when you set them to anything outside of the single optimal resolution that the display supports. Everything looks blurry and harder to read, but looks much better with ClearType turned off. Not that it really does anything for CRTs; it’s not quite as bad as it is on an LCD, but things look better when left off.
Maybe I’m just picky (I can tell the difference between a CRT set at 60hz refresh rate vs higher rates such as 75 or 85 hz) but every LCD or CRT I’ve seen with ClearType enabled just looks horrible.
The only improvement I’ve seen with ClearType was in Acrobat on an LCD, where the font was apparently anti-aliased already.