Fonts don't display properly

[leigh123linux]

I noticed in fedora that the fonts look terrible with LCD screens when viewing web pages.

The default font is 96x96

However when I checked my screen size ( height & width ) and font resolution I found it
was 86x84 which will really screw your fonts up.
solution

add or change this line in xorg.conf

DisplaySize 270 203

Section "Monitor"

### Comment all HorizSync and VertSync values to use DDC:
Identifier "Monitor0"
VendorName "Monitor Vendor"
ModelName "Philips 105S(15inch/CM2300)"
DisplaySize 270 203
### Comment all HorizSync and VertSync values to use DDC:
HorizSync 30.0 - 60.0
VertRefresh 50.0 - 120.0
Option "dpms"
EndSection

Here the correct values to give 96x96 fonts for most resolutions

DisplaySize 270 203 # 1024x768 96dpi
DisplaySize 338 254 # 1280x960 96dpi
DisplaySize 338 270 # 1280x1024 96dpi
DisplaySize 370 277 # 1400x1050 96dpi
DisplaySize 442 277 # 1680x1050 96dpi
DisplaySize 423 370 # 1600x1400 96dpi

To get other values, use the following formula:
displaysize = <pixelsize>/96*25.4

To change this type in terminal

su
gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf

Then edit .

Don't worry if these sizes don't correspond to monitor size. These figures are correct and wont effect the real screen size.

To check screen size.

xdpyinfo | grep dimensions

To check font resolution.

xdpyinfo | grep resolution

If the resolution is not 96x96 dots per inch slightly adjust the DisplaySize values until correct.

Configure Gnome to run at 96 dpi in desktop > Preferences > Font > Details

[sideways]

I find font settings pretty tricky in Fedora with LCDs, I'm using Gnome desktop, 1280x1024 L1710B monitor:

System->Preferences->Fonts

Best Shapes
Details->
Resolution 96 dots per inch
Subpixel Smoothing
Hinting->Slight

I'm not sure I have the best settings

What does everyone else have?

I'll have to try the xorg changes you suggest sometime.


edit: btw, I have the windows true-type fonts installed

[leigh123linux]

I have windows true type as well and had 96x96 set in the fonts section, but when I issued this command ( xdpyinfo | grep resolution ) it returned 86x84 .
After editing xorg.conf and restarting X the difference was amazing , Before I changed it I thought I needed new glasses.

[sideways]

geez, when I do 'xdpyinfo | grep resolution ' it says 95x96

Now, I'm feeling my display is a tiny bit fuzzy, but I don't know if it's worth playing with the settings.

I don't know much about xdpyinfo though, so thanks for the pointers

(I'm gonna be real paranoid about that 95 x resolution)

[leigh123linux]

In xorg.conf change or add this line to the monitor section

DisplaySize 338 270

restart X then do the same command again

xdpyinfo | grep resolution

This change cant stop X starting.

[leigh123linux]

Just checking another install this is what I got when it reported in font setup 96x96

[leigh@localhost ~]$ xdpyinfo | grep dimensions
dimensions: 1024x768 pixels (302x232 millimeters)
[leigh@localhost ~]$ xdpyinfo | grep resolution
resolution: 86x84 dots per inch
[leigh@localhost ~]$

after changing settings to ( DisplaySize 270 203 )

It now gives me this , and much clearer fonts

[leigh@localhost ~]$ xdpyinfo | grep resolution
resolution: 96x96 dots per inch
[leigh@localhost ~]$ xdpyinfo | grep dimensions
dimensions: 1024x768 pixels (271x203 millimeters)
[leigh@localhost ~]$

[sideways]

Hey, that's not bad!

I adjusted the DisplaySize as suggested and now xdpyinfo reports 96x96.

So I went back to (Gnome) System->Preferences->Fonts

and selected the LCD options (Subpixel Smoothing, Full Hinting) but I found I needed to select VRGB rather than RGB for the subpixel order.

Have to say, the display does look pretty sharp now.

You've solved a longstanding problem here

[sideways]

actually, I had to go back to Best Shapes and Slight Hinting to get the best rendering, but still looks a tad sharper than before.

[Iron_Mike]

Leigh,

Thanks for this! On my laptop the resolution initially showed 75x75 on a 1680x1050, 16:10 aspect laptop. After fudging around with the DisplaySize settings it now shows 96x96 resolution. It definitively looks better. This is on a 15.4 widescreen 1680x1050 native resolution and the settings turned out to be (DisplaySize 442 277). Feel free to include them in your settings above. Thanks Again.....

Forget to mention that I'm using the Deja Vu fonts also...

[leigh123linux]

I am glad this has helped.

[john]

Hi,
sorry for my bad English!

It works great for fedora 6,but will it works also for other distro's?
I'm currently on the way with a dualboot 'FC6 and OpenSuSe10.2'...can i used the same method for suse to?
...what do you think?

[leigh123linux]

Hi,
sorry for my bad English!

It works great for fedora 6,but will it works also for other distro's?
I'm currently on the way with a dualboot 'FC6 and OpenSuSe10.2'...can i used the same under suse...what you think?

So far this has worked for Debian and Fedora , but I can not see any reason way it shouldn't work with any Distro.

[john]

Thx...I'm gonna give it a try !

[leigh123linux]

I have finished tweaking my fonts, I selected Tohoma for my default TrueType and I am happy with the results.

screenshot of 15" monitor set at 1024x768@75hz

[sideways]

I'm using the default fonts (what do you mean by default True-Type font?) heres a screen shot (resolution is 1280x1024)
[IMG]Screenshot.png[/IMG]