What is Causing This

[BobH]

I've noticed lately that all double-u's (W, w) appear without full value when I display messages here at the Lounge and on a couple of others. I do NOT see it when I'm typing; only when I'm reading other posts. At first I thought my monitor might be the problem, but because I see the letters correctly when typing, I have to believe it's something else.

I'm using Fx 24.0 on Win 7 and the subsilver 2 board style.

Here's a sample
First, from typed text:

w2.jpg

Then from displayed text:

ws.jpg

Any ideas?

[HansV]

The reason that the W appears be fuzzy is that it is displayed using ClearType. This is a technology to make text look better (less 'pixelated') on an LCD monitor. It generally produces very good results, but it works better with some characters than with others.

The reason that it doesn't look fuzzy when you compose a post is that the box in which you write or edit a post uses a different font than the finished post, with a different-looking 'w'.

[BobH]

Thank you, Hans!

I wonder how long this has been going on before I noticed it?

[HansV]

ClearType was introduced in Windows XP, but it was turned off there by default. In Windows Vista and later, it is on by default.

[BobH]

I tried disabling ClearType but didn't like the effect it had on my displays.

[HansV]

Most people (me included) like the effect of ClearType. It's not perfect, but text does look better.