On Mon, Jul 03, 2017 at 01:57:24PM +1200, Ben Caradoc-Davies wrote: > On 01/07/17 17:21, Sven Joachim wrote: > > This is an effect of the subpixel hinting mode which is enabled since > > freetype 2.7. Setting FREETYPE_PROPERTIES=truetype:interpreter-version=35 > > in the environment should help, at least it did for me. > > Thanks very much, Sven. I did not appreciate that the so-called subpixel > changes are an entirely new interpreter that is now used by default even > when subpixel hinting is turned off.
I agree with that! It was quite a surprise to see my carefully crafted terminal font become all blurry and fuzzy. I spent quite a bit of time meddling around with the `fontconfig-config` settings matrix to figure out what was wrong, until I found this bug. I would *also* have expected this to be changeable through the debconf menus, or at least visible in the NEWS notice (which I have also read). I have made a screenshot (attached) of my different experiments in trying to revert to the original rendering. In the end, I picked the "Native autohinter, Full hinting, Automatic subpixel rendering, No bitmapped fonts" setting in fontconfig-config, with the workaround, to get the rendering I wanted. It's slightly different than the original rendering, as the box size is more compact, but I prefer it that way. The "Always subpixel" setting is the setting I seem to have had in stretch. I have yet to read the upstream article about the v40 rendering. Maybe it's just me being picky and too conservative. Maybe I'm just reacting badly to a change that is good. But to my eyes, the new font rendering is much blurrier than it should be, and I don't see what can justify this. Maybe this looks better on a 300dpi display, but unfortunately, I'm still in the previous decade here. ;) Thanks! A. -- The fundamental cause of the trouble is that in the modern world the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt. - Bertrand Russell, The Triumph of Stupidity, 1933
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