SEEING IS BELIEVING
MILD WARNING: This post is a bit geeky and contains a gripe with a very small "g". If you're not geeky AND use a Windows PC, I'd encourage you to read at least this first section.
It was sparked reading Walter Mossberg's mailbox in today's Wall Street Journal, titled "For Murky Monitors, there's ClearType". Here is the specific piece:
Q: I recall an article where you described how to make text appear sharper on the monitor by using some commands in Windows XP. Can you please repeat that tip?
A: Sure, because it drew a huge response when I first offered it last year. In Windows XP, you can dramatically improve the sharpness of text by simply turning on a hidden feature called "ClearType." Just right-click on the desktop and select "Properties." Then, select the tab called "Appearance" and press the "Effects ..." button. In the screen that appears, check the box reading "Use the following method to smooth edges of screen fonts," and select "ClearType" in the drop-down list. Next, click on "OK" and the press "Apply."
ClearType works especially well at sharpening text on LCD monitors, but it also can help in some cases on old-fashioned CRT screens. However, it is available only in Windows XP, not in older versions of Windows such as Windows 98, Windows ME or Windows 2000.
I clicked on the link in his answer, and indeed, he had the same question and the same reply last year.
Now I've been a fan of Microsoft's ClearType technology for a long time, and automatically turn it on whenever I get a new PC. In fact, it's become such second nature, that whenever I'm visiting family and/or friends, I suggest turning it on. Invariably, in most cases, my host is not aware of this technology at all, and is amazed at how "clearer" their screen looks after it's turned on, whether it's a LCD or CRT display.
But Walter's experience raised a key question in my mind:
Why is ClearType not turned on as a default in every copy of Windows?
I mean the technology is clearly very useful. In fact, Microsoft's had it since 1998, when no less than Bill Gates introduced it with some fanfare at Comdex, at the time the tech industry's biggest tech show. They've even got patents and a licensing program around the technology, as you see here:
"Patents in the ClearType Program
Microsoft holds various U.S. patents that are included in the ClearType licensing program, including:
- Subpixel rendering: 6,188,385; 6,219,025; 6,239,783; 6,307,566
- Complex color filtering: 6,225,973; 6,243,070; 6,393,145
- Subpixel font hinting and layout: 6,421,054; 6,282,327
- ClearType tuning: 6,624,828
In addition to these issued patents, the patent licensing package includes rights to SPR innovations for which Microsoft has filed a claim for a patent that the U.S. Patent Office has not yet granted. This licensing program also provides licensees rights to Microsoft SPR patents registered outside the United States."
I even looked in the frequently asked questions section on Microsoft's ClearType site to see if there was a reason not to have it on my default. The only thing I can think of is that ClearType sometimes makes text blurry on a CRT display, but that has been improved since 1998. Since LCD panels have mostly taken over CRT displays over the last few years, this may be less of an issue than seven years ago when the technology was introduced.
It may just be corporate inertia and mild oversight, given that the company has a fair number of things going on at any given time.
Not a big deal overall, but given that most computer users are increasingly getting more information every day via their computer screens, display quality and resolution becomes an increasingly important issue as time goes on.
Given that Microsoft already has some strong technology assets here, they may want to think about making it available by default, and not have to get it from a computer guru's mailbox column every year.
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