# Microsoft Clear Type in XP. The BOMB! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 26, 2002, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-clear-type-in-xp-the-bomb/110912 "2002-05-26T14:30:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Phlip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Phlip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlip)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2002, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-clear-type-in-xp-the-bomb/110912/1 "2002-05-26T14:30:38Z")
I have been running XP since Sep last year and just now stumbled on the clear type option. WOW. What a difference! It is a VERY major imporvement over standard text. Kudos to MS for including this option. If you havent seen clear type on your system go to your help and support and choose adjust your monitor to suit your vision. Its worth the time. Does anyone NOT like this new feature? ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2002, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-clear-type-in-xp-the-bomb/110912/2 "2002-05-26T15:56:18Z")
I am having trouble understanding your post. The gramar and spelling are fine. It’s just that I’ve never seen anyone praise anything Microsoft in all my life. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2002, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-clear-type-in-xp-the-bomb/110912/3 "2002-05-26T15:59:23Z")
You’re hanging out with the wrong people then. Microsoft makes a lot of great products. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2002, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-clear-type-in-xp-the-bomb/110912/4 "2002-05-26T22:11:58Z")
Isn’t Cleartype that anti-aliasing trick Steve Wozniak invented for the Apple II way back in the late '70s? I believe it’s in the public domain, even… ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2002, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-clear-type-in-xp-the-bomb/110912/5 "2002-05-26T22:55:33Z")
[Nope.](http://www.microsoft.com/typography/cleartype/what.htm?fname=%20&fsize=) You’re thinking of Truetype. Cleartype is derived from Truetype, but advanced a bit. And, having just turned it on, I can say that, indeed, it is a huge improvement. Me like. ---
**Author:** ![Keymain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9de053/32.png) [@Keymain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keymain)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2002, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-clear-type-in-xp-the-bomb/110912/6 "2002-05-26T23:53:59Z")
I don’t like it very much. I just turned it on. It’s like looking at a out of focus screen. Also there are some odd red and blue artifacts I’m noticing. I have to say that Apple’s Quartz in OSX does a much better job of anti-alising. ---
**Author:** ![Earthling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/90db22/32.png) [@Earthling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earthling)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2002, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-clear-type-in-xp-the-bomb/110912/7 "2002-05-27T00:20:45Z")
[Steve Gibson](http://grc.com/ctwho.htm) says: > [@](#): > > twenty-two years ago the famous Apple II personal computer employed and patented **exactly** this sort of solution for its high-resolution graphics display. And he also quotes Steve Wozniak: > [@](#): > > Back in 1976, my design of the Apple II’s high resolution graphics system utilized a characteristic of the NTSC color video signal (called the ‘color subcarrier’) that creates a left to right horizontal distribution of available colors. By coincidence, this is exactly analogous to the R-G-B distribution of colored sub-pixels used by modern LCD display panels. So more than twenty years ago, Apple II graphics programmers were using this ‘sub-pixel’ technology to effectively increase the horizontal resolution of their Apple II displays. ---
**Author:** ![Jman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jman/32/4416_2.png) [@Jman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jman)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2002, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-clear-type-in-xp-the-bomb/110912/8 "2002-05-27T00:34:49Z")
Wow! This is awesome! What a difference that makes! Thanks for pointing this out to me…I never knew it existed. Everything looks so damn CLEAN now. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Yo\_La\_Tengo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/41988e/32.png) [@Yo\_La\_Tengo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yo_La_Tengo)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2002, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-clear-type-in-xp-the-bomb/110912/9 "2002-05-27T01:07:32Z")
Whoa, it’s weird. It’s…bigger. I don’t know if I like bigger. I’ll bring it up among the counsel (my parents and brother) and see if they want to keep it. ---
**Author:** ![Cleophus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a88e57/32.png) [@Cleophus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cleophus)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2002, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-clear-type-in-xp-the-bomb/110912/10 "2002-05-27T01:31:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Keymain \* > \*\*I don’t like it very much. I just turned it on. It’s like looking at a out of focus screen. Also there are some odd red and blue artifacts I’m noticing. I have to say that Apple’s Quartz in OSX does a much better job of anti-alising. \*\* Do you have a CRT or LCD monitor? IIRC, Cleartype only works on LCD monitors. ---
**Author:** ![Cleophus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a88e57/32.png) [@Cleophus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cleophus)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2002, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-clear-type-in-xp-the-bomb/110912/11 "2002-05-27T01:37:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Keymain \* > \*\*I don’t like it very much. I just turned it on. It’s like looking at a out of focus screen. Also there are some odd red and blue artifacts I’m noticing. I have to say that Apple’s Quartz in OSX does a much better job of anti-alising. \*\* Do you have a CRT or LCD monitor? IIRC, Cleartype only works on LCD monitors. ---
**Author:** ![Keymain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9de053/32.png) [@Keymain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keymain)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2002, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-clear-type-in-xp-the-bomb/110912/12 "2002-05-27T02:09:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Cleophus \* > \*\* > > Do you have a CRT or LCD monitor? IIRC, Cleartype only works on LCD monitors. \*\* Ahh, this seems to be the source of my problem.:o I was wondering what everybody was going on about. I started to get a headache after looking at it for a few minutes on my CRT. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2002, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-clear-type-in-xp-the-bomb/110912/13 "2002-05-27T04:06:34Z")
I have a very high resolution 21" CRT, and I use Cleartype. Looks wonderful; in fact, better than laptops I’ve seen it on. ---
**Author:** ![Alereon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecd19e/32.png) [@Alereon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alereon)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2002, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-clear-type-in-xp-the-bomb/110912/14 "2002-05-27T04:38:22Z")
Cleartype is designed for LCD displays. On a CRT, standard antialiasing doesn’t cause any smearing or other problems. However, with some getting used to, I prefer the picture that ClearType produces. ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2002, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-clear-type-in-xp-the-bomb/110912/15 "2002-05-27T04:40:45Z")
I, too, am on a CRT (19" flatscreen at 1600x1200 resolution), and Cleartype is gorgeous. I want to make love to it. But that’s probably because whenever I’m on a computer, I’m almost always looking at some form of text… ---
**Author:** ![Briny\_Deep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/briny_deep/32/17188_2.png) [@Briny\_Deep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Briny_Deep)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2002, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-clear-type-in-xp-the-bomb/110912/16 "2002-05-27T05:06:48Z")
Damn, I want it, I want it! I want it so bad I can taste it. Unfortunately I’m a lowly Me user right now, too cheap and/or poor to upgrade. I even have a flat panel monitor! This is unfair. ---
**Author:** ![Phlip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Phlip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlip)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2002, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-clear-type-in-xp-the-bomb/110912/17 "2002-05-27T06:21:27Z")
I’m glad to know that I am not the only one who let this awsome feature go unused for so long. I will agree that the text has a somewhat fuzzy look to it on the CRT monitor, but at high res it looks great to me. Much better than standard. I have not seen it on a flat panel monitor yet. Is it a large improvement? Still worth it on the CRT to me though. Very pretty. ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2002, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-clear-type-in-xp-the-bomb/110912/18 "2002-05-27T07:14:45Z")
Well, I just tried fiddling around with different resolutions, and I didn’t notice any blurriness at all until I turned things down to 800x600… which is an ungodly pathetic resolution, and I have sympathy for anyone who must still use it. But I did notice some minor font glitches when playing some games, like in Counterstrike… the fonts had an almost imperceptible greenish tint. However, it’s hardly annoying, and it’s not like I play Counterstrike for the excellent reading material, anyway.