Windows 7: ClearType Text

Bare Foot Kid · 01 Nov 2008

ClearType Text Tuner Integrated Into Windows 7.

A new entry with the name ClearType Text Tuner is available in the Windows 7 Control Panel. Previous operating systems provided users with an on and off switch for ClearType but no configuration options beyond that. Microsoft Powertoys provided access to a ClearType Tuner which provided access to a wizard that would walk the user through the process of optimizing the ClearType display. It seems that this wizard has now been integrated into Windows 7.

The Wizard will display several screens with 2-6 identical text displays that make use of different ClearType settings asking the user to pick the one best suited for his computer monitor. There is still no possibility to set a specific value but it should improve text display on the computer quite a bit.

Read more at the source.

Note

UPDATE:

ClearType is no longer located in the Control Panel. Instead see the tutorial below for how to open and use it.

How to Open and Use ClearType Text Tuner in Windows 7

Later

Ted

rameshiyer · 16 Jun 2011

Hi, I use a laptop with Win 7 HP (64-bit) and was finding it hard to read docs and relatively small fonts, but after reading your post I managed to enable and set the ClearType Font with mostly default settings (as suggested by the system). Am able to read docs much more easily with less eye-strain. Pity MS doesn't enable this font by default on Win 7 installations (mine came with the OS pre-installed). Heard this ClearType font is again disabled with one upgrades from IE8 to IE9. Is it true ? Had briefly upgraded to IE9 from IE8 but found it very unstable and page rendering by most sites isn't quite compatible with IE9. Have had no such issues in FF4 and Chrome 12 which I use more often. Is everyone else facing similar problems with IE9 ?

Zen00 · 16 Jun 2011

"Holy necro, Batman!"

But yeah, no issues with IE9 for me, works great with ClearType as well. Must be a you issue.

arkhi · 16 Jun 2011

ClearType is not a font, it's an algorithm designed to add anti-aliasing to texts as a counter measure for fonts apearing with jagged edges on LCD screens, making it hard to read for many.

ClearType, once enabled, stays enabled so your problem may relate to the actual font one of your programs use.

rameshiyer · 16 Jun 2011

Well, I use the standard fonts available to all - Arial or Times New Roman. Hence, those fonts are pretty ok, just that when I enabled ClearType on Win 7, generally reading docs with any font seemed different. Had earlier upgraded to IE9 but somehow fonts in it seemed bit blurred (which wasn't the case when I used IE8). Hence, have reverted to IE8 and have retained ClearType enabled, which makes reading better than without ClearType. Just wanted to know from others if IE9 has this issue, as I read about it in some othe forum. Have a laptop with 1366X768 native resolution, so it seems better to use ClearType which is designed for such screens.

arkhi · 18 Jun 2011

Try reconfiguring ClearType by typing ClearType at the start menu (Open "Adjust ClearType Text"). Alternatively, though highly discouraged for Win7 users, you can also check out Windows ClearType Tuner

rameshiyer · 18 Jun 2011

Thanks @arkhi. I know where to change the settings of ClearType in Win 7. Just wondered if IE9 had an issue with it, as I found fonts and wordings blurred when I was briefly using IE9. Have reverted to IE8 and have ClearType enabled and feel it is much better than it was in IE9 - or with ClearType disabled. No issues with CT enabled in FF4 or Chrome 12 though.

Zen00 · 18 Jun 2011

There are some graphical issues associated with using custom skins for Windows 7, if you've modified files for that, then your only bet to fix the issue (that I've found so far) is a clean install.

arkhi · 29 Jun 2011

To the guy who had problems with fonts, MS fixed it for you dude. It really was a problem and I was wrong

This is included in Windows Update so everyone should be receiving it (if they have IE9 installed).

Text displayed in some core fonts appears blurred in Internet Explorer 9 on a computer that is running Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows 7, or Windows Server 2008 R2