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Sakino · May 2, 2005, 11:32 PM

It seems as if my default font for tiger is screwed up? I dont know how to explain it, but i took a picture. The boldness of the text doesn't look clean. This goes for when i click on an icon, or visit websites. It has a fuzzy appearance to it.
Here is a picture
https://mywebspace.wisc.edu/jdrupert...ontproblem.jpg

Is there any reported problem with this. The same goes for the macnn messageboard on the bar that says User CP/FAQ/Members List/Calendar/ETC. It just doesn't look right.

Sakino · May 3, 2005, 01:46 AM

Ohh and btw I did change my settings under SystemPref/Appearance/Font smoothing style/medium/8

JKT · May 3, 2005, 10:56 AM

It looks absolutely fine to me, but it could be that the degree of smoothing has changed for you which is making it look different to what it was before. Open Sys Prefs>Appearance and play with the Font Smoothing Style. Note, you will have to quit and relaunch an app to see a new selection take effect (and logout back in to see it for all apps).

Filburt · May 3, 2005, 04:47 PM

My setup looked terrible out of the box as well. After making sure font smoothing is set to automatic, calibrate your display (System Preferences | Displays). Just to be safe, reboot or logout/login (resets all running applications to new schemes). Fonts should look quite a bit better.

Sakino · May 3, 2005, 09:55 PM

I still have this text problem, they seem to be bulky and fuzzy. This is after I changed the settings and restarted :/

MGLXP · May 3, 2005, 11:32 PM

Try changing the Font Smoothing Style (in System Preferences->Appearance) to Standard - best for CRT, and then restart your computer. Let me know if this helps.

Sakino · May 4, 2005, 04:51 PM

Nope I did that, i tested all the smoothing styles. I am on a 15inch al pb, it just seems to be kind of fuzzy!
Here is a new image:
https://mywebspace.wisc.edu/jdrupert/web/font2.jpg

See how fuzzy the text is with the menu bar(for the macnn forum) with the User CP/FAQ/Members List/Calendar/ETC. Also see the MACNN news in the back window and how close the text is.

Burke · May 4, 2005, 05:07 PM

Quite noticeable to me as well.

OS X "overbolds" certain fonts, especially Verdana and Franklin Gothic Medium, to where they seem to have no defined edges and become "blobby." No setting or tweak has been able to improve it, so I just chalked it up as something I have no control over and accepted it.

That being said, I find XP's font smoothing superior for certain fonts (like Verdana), and OS X's for others. Just gotta learn to live with it.

Sakino · May 4, 2005, 05:18 PM

Ughh I didn't notice it before. Maybe it wasn't as bad with 10.3, but 10.4 is really BAD!

ul1984 · May 4, 2005, 06:16 PM

Originally Posted by Sakino

Nope I did that, i tested all the smoothing styles. I am on a 15inch al pb, it just seems to be kind of fuzzy!
Here is a new image:
https://mywebspace.wisc.edu/jdrupert/web/font2.jpg

See how fuzzy the text is with the menu bar(for the macnn forum) with the User CP/FAQ/Members List/Calendar/ETC. Also see the MACNN news in the back window and how close the text is.

that still surely looks like LCD subpixel font smoothing to me.

this is how MacNN looks like for me using "Standard - best for CRT" screen1.png

(i usually use minimum font size of 12 in Safari, because fonts doesnt look very nice below size 12, too few pixels to render a font properly, but disabled it for this screenshot)

Sakino · May 4, 2005, 07:18 PM

Updated: https://mywebspace.wisc.edu/jdrupert/web/font3.jpg

As you can see I updated it, it looks better with the smaller fonts now on the macnn news page. Although you notice the forums menu bar still looks bad. Also the text under my icons looks kind of pixely, BUT I fixed that by increasing the size of my icon text under the /view/show view options!

As you can see the appearance text menu is up, I was wondering if this is what your settings are at. I understand that most webpages have their text size set, so this might not solve the problem.

ul1984 · May 4, 2005, 09:13 PM

http://web.telia.com/~u60527006/screen2.png

and yes my settings in the Apperance tab in safari prefs, are exactly the same as yours

Filburt · May 5, 2005, 02:02 PM

According to AppleInsider report, upcoming 10.4.1 release will address the font issue. So perhaps your issue will be addressed.

jlemon · May 6, 2005, 12:04 PM

Ugh - I have a brand new 17" powerbook, and the exact same problem as Sakino. Fonts in a reversed video background (like highlighting a menubar) look bad. Bold font in reverse video (like the MacNN menu bar) really stinks. It looked nowhere this bad in 10.3.9.

The only solution I've found is to turn off text smoothing (for 12 and smalller), which in turn makes the text look jaggy. I really hope 10.4.1 fixes this.