Windows 10 Context Menus not the Same - 2 Computers

stevehal said:

I differ in this opinion that it is not the fault of the OS. I never use scaled fonts other than default 96dpi (or now in Windows 10 it is 100%). As you say you mention blurry fonts with Cleartype turned off. And this is correct! Some fonts look terrible with Cleartype off. However, I am one of those folks that cannot use Cleartype. It bothers my eyes. There are others this happens too, in fairly large numbers actually. So, I need to do several things to make my all day in front of the computer more comfortable. This means remove Segoe UI and switch it out with Arial via a few registry tweaks. It also means turning off Cleartype. With this I get most of the font look I am comfortable with. But in the latest 1511 build of Windows 10, Microsoft did change some things and left Cleartype turned on in several areas. The tech from Microsoft acknowledged this via the link I posted above that Cleartype settings are ignored in the areas I was talking about (there are actually other areas of Windows 10 where Cleartype is kept ON and the user does not have a choice). If you look at the pic below, the popup menu on the left is what Windows now has, and you see how I like it on the right with the post and the browser popup. I do turn Cleartype on at times as part of the software development process, but 99% of the time I need to keep it off.

Important: Make sure you click the image to see it unscaled.

Did you try updating the video drivers? If blurry context menus are not the result of a dpi higher than 96 or cleartype turned off, the only other cause could be the video drivers [that I know of].

I did click the image but it doesn't show blurry context menus on my end. However, I think there may be some miscommunication about "blurry", so I need you to clarify which one of the following you're referring to:

• Are the context menus blurry, as in slightly out of focus? This indicates a higher dpi than 96 or drivers needing to be updated.
• Or do the context menus look like chicken scratches or like a bad OCR scan when scanning a document with text/using a PDF program to recognize OCR?

If it's the latter, it's due to cleartype being turned off. I had never heard of individuals being sensitive to cleartype before, do you know why it occurs with you or other individuals? (I'm assuming it may be similar to how a very minute subset of individuals are not able to watch 3D movies due to not being able to neurologically process stereoscopic 3D images in film).

If you have a video card [not integrated graphics via the CPU], I would recommend playing with the the quality settings in the video card settings program, as that may be able to offset what's occurring due to cleartype being turned off. You may have already done so previously, but have you tried adjusting the output of cleartype? There should be 1 set of 2 boxes and 2 sets of 6 boxes that pop up asking you to select which looks best to you. Depending on the boxes selected, the look of the text will vary greatly, which may be able to help you if you haven't tried that before.

• When you say cleartype bothers your eyes, is it causing eyestrain? If so, adjusting the size of text in the control panel should alleviate that (not increasing dpi, but the actual size of the text). This is generally recommended when using a monitor with a high resolution capability, as you'll end up with what I refer to as the TV monitor effect: connecting a 1080p laptop to a TV results in being unable to read text because it shows up so small if left at the default resolution on the laptop.

Hi,

I have 2 different machines, one with the latest drivers for an Nvidia 960 card.

So to clarify, I do see some fonts look like chicken scratches. These are fonts that do not render well without cleartype. In that case, the font is not blurry, but as you say, just not rendered well because it is designed to use cleartype. You see this a lot on some web pages.

Blurry may not be the term, and I can still likely use the PC, and would even get used to it, but it is a step backwards is usability for me. Here is a decent thread that came about when Microsoft added cleartype to Internet Explorer back with Windows 7.

Internet Explorer 9 Clear Type Disable?

And another thread on the topic...

cleartype hurts my eyes please make an exact windows XP - Microsoft Community

So it is not blurry I guess, but more like the edges of fonts are not clear, but muddied. Even when the monitor is calibrated with an optical calibration tool it is the same. On my mobile device, font smoothing is fine because of the very tight pixel density. I do not think desktop monitors will have the same density as your cell phone. So that is why this is an issue. It will primarily affect desktop users only.

Hi Steve,
You may want to visit this page if this is the problem you're facing. I have the same issue after windows update. I must tell you that this is not a permanent solution to the problem. It's up to Microsoft to remove this build.


[Tip] Get Rid of Dark Context Menu in Windows 10 Taskbar - AskVG
Attachment 49468

Anyone have any thoughts on this? I am one of those that cannot stand cleartype, especially on desktop monitors.

Thanks,

Steve[/QUOTE]