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bobrocke · May 26, 2002, 07:46 PM

I'm running OS X 10.1.4 on a 500 Mhz G3 Firewire Powerbook (Pismo). The anti-aliasing of fonts is poor and looks very smeared and blurry. I don't see anything like that on my PowerMac G4 CRT monitor or on current G4 PowerBooks.

Am I missing a setting somewhere?

[ 05-26-2002, 07:46 PM: Message edited by: bobrocke ]

cElls · May 26, 2002, 07:54 PM

Just making sure... Your screen is set to 1024x768, right?

The text on my Pismo's LCD looks the same as the CRT on my Cube (both running 10.1.4).

ARENA · May 26, 2002, 08:46 PM

Text has always looked great in my Pismo. The antialiasing is the same as in my TiBook screen, so i assume you have some problem with yours.

michaelb · May 26, 2002, 09:24 PM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by bobrocke:
I'm running OS X 10.1.4 on a 500 Mhz G3 Firewire Powerbook (Pismo). The anti-aliasing of fonts is poor and looks very smeared and blurry. I don't see anything like that on my PowerMac G4 CRT monitor or on current G4 PowerBooks.

Am I missing a setting somewhere?<hr /></blockquote>"Millions" color mode makes the anti-aliasing look better.

But I think you may have the same issue as me: some Pismos had (to be blunt) crap screens relative to others. Lower brightness and an off-white color cast.

Take a look at a 12" iBook for an example of a good screen.

Lower brightness screens are most noticeable in Mac OS X because it makes so much use of lighting dependent graphics.

I've been disappointed enough in my Pismo's screen that I've sworn never to buy an Apple laptop sight unseen again.

tonyibook · May 27, 2002, 05:48 AM

I currently own a Pismo and an iMac G4, and I have switched the anti-aliasing off on both machines. About once a month I try to use the machines with anti-aliasing on, but I just cannot get used to it.

Shortly after going over to OS X my wife actually asked me to go back to OS 9 because she couldn't get used to the "blurred" text.

I found the colour profiles for my Pismo were way out, and using a utility called SuperCal improved the picture no end. Look on versiontracker for the latest version.

bobrocke · May 27, 2002, 06:57 AM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by cElls:
Just making sure... Your screen is set to 1024x768, right?

The text on my Pismo's LCD looks the same as the CRT on my Cube (both running 10.1.4).<hr /></blockquote>Yes, Its 1024x768 and millions of colors.

[ 05-27-2002, 06:59 AM: Message edited by: bobrocke ]

bobrocke · May 27, 2002, 07:02 AM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by ARENA:
Text has always looked great in my Pismo. The antialiasing is the same as in my TiBook screen, so i assume you have some problem with yours.<hr /></blockquote>Everything looks fine in OS 9, so its something about my OS X setup, but I don't know what:

1024x768 - millions
I've run Apple's calibration wizard to make a custom profile

What's left to check?

How can I be sure the "right" video drivers are in use?

RBattin · May 27, 2002, 04:28 PM

Try setting the System Preference/General under "Turn off text smoothing for font sizes" to 8 points and smaller. Quit and relaunch IE to see the effect. Works for my Pismo.

bobrocke · May 27, 2002, 05:03 PM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by RBattin:
Try setting the System Preference/General under "Turn off text smoothing for font sizes" to 8 points and smaller. Quit and relaunch IE to see the effect. Works for my Pismo.<hr /></blockquote>Mine is set for 9 points. But the problem is with larger fonts anyway. Even the system font in menus is poorly rendered.

tonyibook · May 27, 2002, 05:09 PM

Have you tried turning the anti-aliasing off completely using TinkerTool, the shareware control panel?

bobrocke · May 27, 2002, 07:38 PM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by tonyibook:
Have you tried turning the anti-aliasing off completely using TinkerTool, the shareware control panel?<hr /></blockquote>Yes. But what I really want is to figure out why fonts don't display smoothly as they do on other PowerBooks or my PowerMac's CRT.

tonyibook · May 28, 2002, 03:39 AM

If you try calibrating the display accurately using something like SuperCal then it makes a massive difference, at least it did on my display.