Microsoft’s ClearType Tuner has been updated, and it doesn’t seem nearly as fuzzy as it was on my LCD screen. I’ve been using it for a week now and it does make text more readable. Maybe it’s just that my eyes are weird but you might want to give it another try if you’re using an LCD screen and don’t have ClearType enabled.
Just for everyone’s reference, since this seems to come up every time it is discussed-- ClearType is for LCDs only; it assumes an exact physical mapping of RGB screen elements that doesn’t really exist on a CRT.
Furthermore, it’s not a Microsoft invention.
Sub-pixel graphics (also known as pixel splitting) dates back at least twenty-two years when it was employed as standard practice on the early Apple II home computer. Since then it has been the subject of intensive research by companies such as IBM, Xerox PARC, and Honeywell. Thus, even though this technology is very cool, it’s actually not very new.
employed as standard practice on the early Apple II home computer
As an Apple II user, I can tell you that this was not by choice-- it was a crude hack to get colors, not an emergent technique to increase apparent resolution. So he’s bending the truth quite a bit there.
And further-furthermore, some of us think it makes text look better (than default, although not as good as on an LCD) on CRTs as well.
From the MS ClearType FAQ: If you are using a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) monitors. With this type of display ClearType rendered text will not appear as sharp as text displayed on a digital flat panel color LCD display. Many users like the way ClearType renders text on CRTs so feel free to give it a try.
Some like the effect on a CRT, so give it a try, even though it may piss Wumpus off to know that people are “misusing” ClearType.
[size=1]Or especially since it may piss Wumpus off…[/size]
Hey, you want to go blind before you’re 50, be my guest.
Of course in Denny’s case, he’s probably so close to 50 already that it doesn’t matter. :D
FYI: ClearType was actually co-invented by Jacques Chirac and Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks, and they split a dollar in royalties for everyone who downloads it. So do the right thing and don’t use your laptop until the war is over.
I have a CRT monitor, 19 inch, runs at a 1024x768 desktop. By default text is pretty big. Cleartype seems like anti-aliasing for text. I use it, and it looks pretty good.