Has Anyone Had the ClearType Tuner Work for Multiple Monitors?

[NoelC]

I can run the ClearType tuner and choose settings for them all, no problem.  Then Windows just proceeds to use the primary monitor settings for them all.  I'm not sure where the limitation or failure is.

 

Since I've turned two monitors up sideways to serve as "ears" on both sides of the main larger monitor, it makes sense to turn off all the color components of the ClearType rendering just for the side monitors, but on it remains.

 

I photographed and screen grabbed the image off of my primary monitor, which has vertical RGB stripes, and did the same for my right monitor, which has horizontal RGB stripes because it's turned 90 degrees.  This is what I got:

 

 

Surprisingly, even though the right photo above looks a bit nasty, in practice the problem is virtually unnoticeable.  I wouldn't have realized the ClearType settings weren't effective on the side monitors if I hadn't just been curious and gone through this detailed a check.

 

Note that Internet Explorer does NOT use color in its font rendering under any conditions - I wonder if this is because they realize that handling font rendering on rotated displays isn't implemented properly...

 

-Noel

[aphelion]

Font matters. Try using an OpenType font with PostScript outlines and you won't see any color fringing. They render as ClearType Outline rather than Natural (Default). There's a whole complicated matrix. I leave ClearType enabled but banish all color by going through the tool, and using Helvetica Neue instead of Segoe UI/Tahoma/etc.

 

There is also a registry key that the tuner modifies, that's supposed to be the end-all-be-all of whether your monitor supports subpixel antialiasing. Search for a value of "PixelStructure" and 0 means it's flat and to render using grayscale. But it still gets ignored if the font is Seogue UI.

[NoelC]

VERY interesting.  Thank you.

 

I will try and see what changing the font can do.  Who would think that Microsoft's own font wouldn't exercise the system capabilities to their fullest, especially when IE turns off all the color on them.

 

-Noel

[NoelC]

Well, I've done a bit of experimentation...

 

The OpenType font I had on hand to try was Adobe Myriad Pro.  Not good for a UI font, but good enough for some testing.

 

Unfortunately, your suggestion really isn't a viable workaround.

 

1.  NO color is used in rendering the font on any monitor, regardless of the ClearType Tuner setting.  The use of color is actually good on my center monitor, which is normally oriented and has vertical RGB stripes.

 

2.  Choosing the UI font does not affect all the fonts in the system.  For example, it does nothing good for the font Notepad uses by default.  Notepad in particular is not important; it's the concept.  The ClearType Tuner needs to affect all the fonts that are rendered with color, in dialogs/windows put up by any application.

 

While it may be too late for Windows 8.1, a new version of Windows is being developed.  That's where an actual fix needs to be.

 

For me, now, this is only a minor issue because the fonts rendered with inappropriate color on my side monitors are readable even if they're a bit sub-optimal, and I probably use my side monitors more often than anything else for displaying reference info from the web and IE doesn't use color in rendering.

 

This is a subtle issue - one that a lot of folks don't even know exists.  But that doesn't mean it shouldn't be done right.

 

-Noel

Edited November 28, 2014 by NoelC

[aphelion]

A complete fix is possible, though. You're getting lost in the weeds.

 

Check out some of the screenshots I've been posting. No color fringing anywhere--taskbar, notepad, explorer, etc. The way it's done is by a combination of:

 

1. ClearType Tuner set to PixelStructure 0

2. CU WindowMetrics all set to use OTF with PS outlines (Myriad Pro comes in many forms)

3. LM FontSubstitutes that previously pointed to sans serif changed to point to the same OTF

4. Resource strings in the Windows Theme changed from Segoe UI to the same OTF (.msstyles String Tables and shellstyle.dll HTML)

5. Edge case: Photoshop needs "drop shadows" disabled in its UI fonts to remove color fringing

 

I am not modifying any registry settings manually or disabling ClearType--grayscale seems like it loses all tracking.
 

Another way to go about it is MacType but that's a sledgehammer I suspect you don't want to use.

[NoelC]

Thanks, but I'm not getting lost.  I saw enough of the destination to know it's not really where I want to go.

 

I actually DO want the color used in the ClearType rendering for my center monitor only.  That's foremost.  On that (high quality Dell U3014) monitor, characters rendered in pure grayscale appear to me to be more color-fringed than those using color.

 

The Myriad Pro I tested with was an OTF and DID in fact eliminate the color - everywhere.  Of the two possibilities - no color used on any monitor or color on every monitor - I prefer the extra color on the side monitors rather than no color used in rendering fonts on the center monitor.

 

Lastly, for all the tweaking I do, I stop short of hacking in an entire replacement theme.  Just the theme atlas I use via Aero Glass with Windows 8.1's default theme, along with some alternate metrics settings, makes things just right for me.  These things allow me to enjoy using my Windows 8.1 desktop more than I thought I would.

 

Don't get me wrong, I VERY much appreciate your trying to help, and thanks for all the details you're sharing.  I understand the magnitude of the issue a little better now.  I think the only solution for me that will make me like the font rendering better would be for Microsoft to make the configuration application actually work as it's supposed to.

 

-Noel

[aphelion]

Sorry, that came off harsh. If you don't want to forego the color altogether, then those TTF fonts optimized for ClearType are going to end up looking bad on any screens that are not either RGB or BGR (the limitation of PixelStructure besides grayscale.) The tuner does allow you to change the degree of color intensity which is reflected in the EnhancedContrastLevel registry value (I don't recall whether that's respected with the Segoe-esque fonts or not, but I suspect not.)

 

The reason I'm recommending removing color altogether is that this is the direction Microsoft has already chosen as the future of ClearType through DirectWrite. It's different than using grayscale rendering or disabling font smoothing altogether. Instead it resembles the rendering of OS X a lot more, widely considered a superior font rendering platform, without losing much of the subpixel antialiasing that the colors were creating. In truth, there really aren't subpixels in the first place. It's a distinction between the cones and rods in the back of the cornea that can distinguish between luminescence and hue. The brightness/luminosity will always be caught first and the hue provides additional details, and in that sense it sorta-kinda creates this illusion of subpixels, but that's not really a thing. It does exist in the panels, but ClearType does not take advantage of the hardware in the way it claims it does-- that is, using those 3 separate colors in varying levels of brightness to provide greater resolution. It just isn't possible through software. It simulates it, but it's not the same thing.

 

The DirectWrite method does have the benefit of supporting every rotation (not just RGB or BGR) so while it's being adopted on one hand for tablets/handhelds, there's more to it than just a loss of color. It's very finely tuned to provide the same resolution you're used to with ClearType now, without attempting to simulate subpixel antialiasing and creating all sorts of distortions in the process of using color to do that. It's a bit of an upgrade to ClearType more than anything else, since it ultimately is more widely supported and looks much, much better than either grayscale or aliased rendering.

 

If you want to experiment with the different types of rendering there are 2 great tools, one is a Firefox plugin called ClearType Tuner or similar, and the other is the MacType Wizard which lets you set granular control over color to an extent far beyond anything available in Windows native font rendering. It applies system wide in Windows if you choose to use it, but it's also a good informational tool to see what's happening with the various ways. Basically it's the ClearType tuner with a thousand more options, and they choices you make are actually respected system-wide. There is a toll on resource use, primarily keeping the glyphs in memory but that shouldn't be an issue with your setup.

[aphelion]

Also, nothing we say or do can change the fact that Microsoft won't change a thing. Microsoft is the terrain here and that does not change. We all are navigating the same course, and I struggle to find sense in focusing on what bumps the road has. 

[NoelC]

That's a neat way to say it - "terrain". 

 

When I'm no longer given the choice to do any color-assisted font rendering at all, I suppose my center monitor will look a hair worse and my side monitors will look a hair better, overall.  There was once a time I thought things might get better.  Those were the days of hope.

 

I have to say the font rendering is not too bad in Internet Explorer.  It looks about 95% as good as that with the color assist, properly oriented.

 

The alarming thing is that we're given fewer and fewer choices, so where some of us take different roads or use different shock absorbers, etc. today, the future software will likely not offer those alternatives, not even through registry changes, if current trends are followed.

 

I wonder where the point will be for me where the speed bump is just a little too high to go over, the value of the new software is just a little lacking, and I choose to stop upgrading....  I just reached that point with Avast a week ago - the value proposition turned enough negative that the decision became easy - and though it felt weird I just dropped them entirely and moved on.

 

-Noel

[aphelion]

I think it's applicable. The term is used in most of philosphy as way of defining rationality. Probably off topic though, and yes, you are free to jump off the island any time, but no island's terrain is going to be perfect (or is it?) 

[NoelC]

Microsoft need only release another dog an I think 3rd parties will come out of the woodwork.  ReactOS could grow up, or VMS could be resurrected, or someone could make a Linux with WINE that's really attractive or...

 

I don't think it would be Apple for me, though I have a good and brilliant friend who swears by OS X.

 

-Noel