[Bf-committers] text Hinting patch

GSR gsr.b3d at infernal-iceberg.com
Mon Nov 1 02:55:53 CET 2010


Hi,
cw at blenderbuch.de (2010-10-29 at 1109.27 +0200):
> > Do you mean that you like fonts like in the image? It is still hinted
> > but without antialias. I ask because people seem to mix all the terms
> Yes I like that look.

Then you like mono options (and all other things default).

> As I understand hinting it is used to enhance the rendering of vector 
> fonts to the pixel-grid. However it is always used together with 
> sub-pixel rendering and because we can't have half pixels grey pixels 
> are used, the effect is a "build in" antialiasing.

I think there is a big general confusion in terms, lets see if we all
are in the same page:

- hinting: extra info provided by font designer about how to "deform"
the glyphs to give better results (or sometimes different... just look
at the autohinters or the poorly hinted fonts, plus the fact that
hinting info could target an exact rendering style, giving really bad
results with others).

- antialiasing: fake higher resolution in a low resolution
representation. Normally this results in grey pixels or multicolor
pixels. Some people have a bad response to AA fonts, starting with "it
looks blury" moving to "it looks like poorly inked print" or "there
are rainbow halos" and reaching "I get headaches" level. No idea which
software cares about gamma and the colours involved, even if it is
important for AA.

- subpixel rendering: one way of antialiasing, using the pixels as 1/3
of what they are (ie, the separate R, G & B channels). Those are the
rainbow halos some see. It must target the monitor type exactly or it
will look bad.

Blender code request no hints and supports no subpixels. It also asks
that (manually tuned?) bitmaps are discarded.

> And yes, not using hinting messes the kerning a bit, I don't care for 
> short menu texts.

The image was generated with hinting, if that is what you refer
to... but I think the font is Vera derived, which IIRC is targeted at
AAed rendering. I forgot which hinting policy it targets, I know it
sucks for sharp mode (I avoid that family and use others that can look
sharp). Which leads us to the fact that the font in use is also part
of the result (or the problem ;] ). I am experimenting with other
fonts to see if it is worth to replace the font (both for AAed or not
use).

> And we have so many user configurations, that we can afford another one ;-)

I committed it as disabled, feel free to make the "sharp = 0;" a non
"recompile configuration". :]

GSR
 


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