OT: color of bold fonts in LCD monitor

  • Thread starter Thread starter Roman
  • Start date Start date
R

Roman

I decided to post my question to this NG because I have no idea where to
ask.
I now have a new wide screen Samsung LCD monitor.
It is indeed great monitor. One subtle problem is the color of fonts.
Bolded fonts appear slightly purplish but non-bold fonts, all look dark (or
black).
I wonder why. Is that a kind of inherent problem with LCD monitor or should
I change a setting?
Please advise me. Raymond
 
Roman said:
I decided to post my question to this NG because I have no idea where to
ask.
I now have a new wide screen Samsung LCD monitor.
It is indeed great monitor. One subtle problem is the color of fonts.
Bolded fonts appear slightly purplish but non-bold fonts, all look dark (or
black).
I wonder why. Is that a kind of inherent problem with LCD monitor or should
I change a setting?
Please advise me. Raymond
Click to expand...

On the monitor, adjust the contrast and brightness controls to find
the most pleasing result.
 
If you haven't done so recently, you may want to go to the video card
manufacturer's web site and download the latest drivers for the video card
you have. I had a Sony computer that would not take the proper resolution
of my new widescreen monitor until I downloaded and installed the latest
driver. Once done, I had no problems.

LCD monitors have a native resolution (look in the instructions for the
size) and make sure the video adapter is set to that resolution. Anything
other than that resolution may result in what is occurring to your monitor.
 
As far as setting is concerned, I religiously followed the instruction.
I am currently running at the native resolution: 1440 x 900 px.
So far, everything looks great (Word, ie6, Windows Explorer, etc).
But I see a little purplish on bold fonts in Outlook Express. Non-bold
texts are just fine. Names of newsgroups in bold look purplish including
Inbox (when there are unread messages).
I tried to adjust brightness and contrast but I could not get rid of
purplish bold texts in OE. Currently my settings for brightness and
contrast are 80 and 85, respectively.
I thought that this was a minor annoyance. I can live with that.
What is your settings for brightness and contrast? Roman
 
I decided to post my question to this NG because I have no idea where to
ask.
I now have a new wide screen Samsung LCD monitor.
It is indeed great monitor. One subtle problem is the color of fonts.
Bolded fonts appear slightly purplish but non-bold fonts, all look dark (or
black).
I wonder why. Is that a kind of inherent problem with LCD monitor or should
I change a setting?
Please advise me. Raymond
Click to expand...

Roman, it's normal. Especially if "clear type" is enabled. Smoothing font
edges is done by "blurring" the edges with color. That blurred colors are
supposed to trick the eye into seeing a smooth edge. Some monitors show
more of the smoothing colors than others. More info about how clear type
works here:
http://www.microsoft.com/typography/ClearTypeInfo.mspx

While you're there, you may want to try the clear type tuner. Adjusting the
intensity of clear type can go a long way in minimizing the color banding.
Note that there are two versions of the color tuner.

The online tuner:
http://www.microsoft.com/typography/cleartype/tuner/Step1.aspx

And one, the Clear Type Tuner power toy, that you can install on your
system. After this is installed, look for a new icon in Control Panel.
Double click to launch and use the tuner:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx

Other suggestions:
Some replies have mentioned adjusting brightness or contrast. That might
help.

Many LCD monitors use a 60 refresh rate but newer ones may offer additional
options. Check your manual and if it shows other recommended refresh rates
can be used, give them a try.

Updated INF files for monitors and updated display drivers are another
angle to try. They may fine tune just enough that the noticeable color will
blend better with the rest of the screen font.

Disabling clear type is another option but be prepared for fonts to look
"washed out" if you go this route.

After tweaking and enabling clear type once again (it really is a plus on
LCD monitors and am guessing you will turn it back on), you may end up
where you started as this situation may simply be a characteristic of your
monitor model.
 
Back
Top