If you have an LCD monitor and Windows XP, remember to use ClearType...

[DingDingDao]

Wow, that really works well. Thanks OP :beer:

 

[maddogchen]

i'll try it soon.

 

[bleuless]

on my 2001fp, looks bad. its sorta like comparing a regular picture to a paintbrushed (air brushed i meant) one... except you would want text to be clear instead of blurred.

 

[straubs]

Originally posted by: LightningStrikes

Originally posted by: utdeep
You guys can be real jerks sometimes.
I turned it on on my computer for my 2001FP Dell and it is incredible.

This was a hot deal for me, so stick your opinions where they belong. Not every hot deal is for every single person.

This may be a "hot deal" for you, but not for this forum.....

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...catid=40&threadid=984199&enterthread=y

What is a Hot Deal? Here are a few examples:

• * A discount coupon on a vendor's site.

• * Info about a good "price match + rebate" situation.

• * Links to store ads and reposts of store ads, especially if they contain a really great deal. You might include a "heads up" about the specific deal in the thread title and/or your post.

• * Any nice premium deals, as long as those taking advantage are in the intended group. If a company wants to survey Senior Network Administrators, or if they offer a discount to retail sales employees, and you are in the tenth grade, you probably do not qualify. It is a good idea to point out such limitations in your post.

Just because something is helpful doesn't make it a hot deal. This is a "Hot Deals" forum, not "Hot Software Tips".
For Windows tips, I personally would prefer to look elsewhere.

Everything has its place to avoid anarchy.

For instance, I added dry gas to my snow blower to fix stalling problem caused by water in the tank.

Should I post new topic here in "Hot Deals" to tell everyone about my "great new discovery"? Think not.

Maybe I'll start my own "Hot Snowblower Deals" forum. Nah, guess I'll pass.

Just my two cents.... (and hopefully a lock).

-LS

Preach on, brotha. This is a hot tip to some people. It is hardly a "deal", in any sense of that word. No matter how helpful this is to some people, it is STILL not a "deal".

If you let enough posts like this go, you might as well open the flood gates...



At least it's not as bad as those LOOK OUT! THERE'S A NEW VIRUS! threads.

 

[Abzstrak]

Originally posted by: Garlic
Not always....

Cleartype truly sucks on most laptops. Text becomes completely washed out and blurred when cleartype is on. I hate cleartype. Makes text blurry and washed out.

I have perfect vision and I have owned 5 laptops and 3 LCD monitors. Cleartype sucks. I cant tell you how many times I surprise people by turning cleartype off.

Everytime someone I know gets a new laptop they complain the screen looks bad. I tell them to turn cleartype OFF and they are simply amazed how much more focoused and sharp everything is.

Turning cleartype on = BIG mistake....

Lol, sounds like your using the default settings, you should adjust it a bit, sharpens it up and keeps the sub AA goin strong.

 

[Deuce300]

OK, cleartype = antialiasing for your desktop/application text. Plain and simple. Like I said, some may not like it...some might.

Personally I think it benefits the eyes on a Planar 17" LCD since using an ATI 7500 and GF Ti4600 both using DVI output. Sure it does blur the text a bit but it beats the thin text otherwise that is hard to read at higher resolutions....and I have good eye sight. Take it for what its worth, who cares. Its a free adjustment via MS. Give me a break.

 

[Nocturnal]

Unless you use DVI then I wouldn't want to use ClearType. Using it on a VGA LCD is horror to my eyes.

 

[Nocturnal]

That's tool for ClearType rocks.

 

[powerMarkymark]

Greatly improved my text.

 

[imported_toot]

Any laptop and LCD I've used looks better with it on. But I guess there is always personal preference.

Note, I haven't seen anyone mention that you don't need to download any tools to simply enable or disable this. You can get to it from Display Properties, Appearance, Effects.. the 2nd option down.

 

[Canterwood]

Personally I hate Clear Type. I found it made things blurry to my eyes and strained them.

I run 1280 x 1024 on my LCD without Clear Type and I can read text perfectly.

 

[BlackPear1]

Originally posted by: straubs

If you let enough posts like this go, you might as well open the flood gates...

Hey, it's the "domino theory" returning for an encore after serving us so well in the Vietnam War era. Actually I find wannabee mods much more disruptive than an occasional off-topic post or misplaced thread. The real mods are doing a fine job dealing with real problems, thank you.

On the topic at hand. after using cleartweak to help find optimal settings (thanks to john333 for his link above) I'm noticing a slight improvement to text quality on my desktop display on some (but not all) pages and a small improvement on all pages on my notebook display. I wonder if there is any change in processing power needed to render text with ClearType?

 

[john333]

Originally posted by: toot
Note, I haven't seen anyone mention that you don't need to download any tools to simply enable or disable this. You can get to it from Display Properties, Appearance, Effects.. the 2nd option down.

The point of the MS tool, and cleartweak that I mention above, is that you can adjust various settings, and so possibly dramatically improve how it works- the default doesn't work too well in many cases.

 

[john333]

Originally posted by: Canterwood
Personally I hate Clear Type. I found it made things blurry to my eyes and strained them.

I run 1280 x 1024 on my LCD without Clear Type and I can read text perfectly.

Good for you - as said above in many places, some people like it, some don't, and it also highly depends on your display resolution/size/contrast/brightness and also font size.

Works well for me on a 23" HP2335 at 1920x1200.

 

[john333]

Originally posted by: BlackPear1
I wonder if there is any change in processing power needed to render text with ClearType?

Probably, but not enough of an impact that i've ever noticed. Guess it depends on your CPU and maybe graphics card.