Display - fonts changed with no reason


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I've got a weird issue suddenly. The fonts in my Windows changed whilst I was watching a movie through Videolan. As you can see from the attached screenshot, the fonts now look more bold, jagged, unclear and rugged. I don't know how to accurately describe it.

 

post-176187-0-43739600-1418856929.png

 

I also don't know what I did to change this. I have my graphics card connected to an Onkyo Receiver via DVI -> VGA. It's been like this for 2 years with no issues. When I switch the Onkyo to PC mode my TV shows up as a second screen on my PC. I can then open a movie file with Videolan (VLC), move the player to the other screen and maximize it.

 

I was doing that right now. When I finished watching the episode and went back to my PC, the font in my Windows 8.1 was suddenly like this.

 

I meanwhile updated the Nvidia drivers to the latest 344.60, rebooted multiple times.

 

4 hours earlier I had installed an updated to the Aerosoft Airbus A318. I also tried now to do a system restore to an earlier point, but it was unsuccessfull.

Also tried applying other Themes, but that also made no difference.

 

Would anyone have any idea what could cause this? And how I can revert this back to the proper font?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Yes, it looks like that to me all over my PC, anything that has fonts. Windows Explorer, My Computer, Chrome, Start Menu, etc..

 

I'll try to have a look at the screenshot tomorrow from my work, see if I can spot the same. Hope it is not a monitor issue. I just noticed I haven't updated my signature, but my monitor is the Asus ROG Swift PG278Q. I have it at 144Hz.

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Check the screen is using the right colour profile, I noticed after upgrading my Nvidia drivers a few weeks back that it thought my monitor was new and created a custom (incorrect) colour profile for it.

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I'll give it another go tomorrow, maybe I'm too tired. I tried taking a picture with my mobile and through the lens everything looks fine, but looking at the screen it hurts my eyes.

I have the color profile for the monitor set, as well as the settings on the monitor itself, as recommended by TFTCentral.

 

Thanks for all the help so far!!

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does switching to another font make any difference. in windows 8 you need to download displayset since MS disabled the font-face selection tool.

 

I've provided a download link due to it being hard to find the original http://agnxnetworks.net/8/displayset.zip

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Well, I'm at work and the screenshot I uploaded looks just fine to me. I don't understand it...

Could it be that this is a problem with the monitor? That on the PC level everything is fine and displayed correctly (hence the normal looking screenshots) but the monitor itself is doing something? I have an older Dell in the basement, I'll try and get it again and see what that one looks like.

 

When I"m back home I'll also try the DPI settings and changing the font, thanks a lot for those tips!!

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I tried fiddling with the DPI and font settings but noticed no difference.

 

Also tried to take a picture with my mobile, maybe you can see it now. The fonts in general look bad, but I think it can be noticed on the "a" and "e" 's. Can you spot it?

 

Have a look at the text in the menus

post-176187-0-70616300-1418930765.jpg

 

Or the right-click menus

post-17075-0-10396800-1418931529.jpg

Edited by zhangm
Cropped 2nd screenshot contents.
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I think FXAA may have been triggered globally. You could try doing a "clean" install with Nvidia's drivers if fiddling with the settings profiles doesn't help.

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Well, I'm at work and the screenshot I uploaded looks just fine to me. I don't understand it...

Could it be that this is a problem with the monitor? That on the PC level everything is fine and displayed correctly (hence the normal looking screenshots) but the monitor itself is doing something? I have an older Dell in the basement, I'll try and get it again and see what that one looks like.

 

When I"m back home I'll also try the DPI settings and changing the font, thanks a lot for those tips!!

 

Hmm, if screenshots are also displaying the issue, then it has nothing to do with font rendering. I snapped one of your posts and a menu - does the text in these images also appear distorted?

 

It could be worth swapping in another screen if possible to test whether your display's own settings have somehow been changed.

post-17075-0-50952300-1418933858.png

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To me it looks weird, I'm not sure how to explain it, and everywhere. Like the black of the letters is stronger in some places, the letters e and a have a white space in them, but on my screen they don't. It reminds me of the ClearType problem that some people had back in the days when IE7 was introduced. When I take a screenshot and I look at it on my tablet or at work, I do not see any of these distortions.

 

I already tried completely removing the display drivers and re-adding them (even tried the DDU Uninstaller mentioned at guru3d.com).

Strangely enough the monitor now doesn't show up with its name in some settings, leading me to believe that maybe there is something wrong with the monitor, as everything on the PC seems to be checking out. That would also explain that the screenshots I take look fine to you and to me when I'm at work.

I googled as well for this effect with the Asus Swift as a variable and curiously enough found at least one forum where many people were complaining about the same thing. (http://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?50168-Problem-with-my-new-ASUS-ROG-Swift-PG278Q-Blurry-text-and-bad-quality-overall/page10) I'll try and have a read  through it tomorrow. I didn't have time to get my old Dell from the cellar, hopefully I'll have time tomorrow.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Just wanted to give a quick update. I heard back from ASUS and this really is a problem with the monitor. Apparently quite a few people are experiencing the same issue.

I was they would replace my monitor at home (great service), alter Iw as told they don't have any in stock. After a couple of weeks I chased  them up, they now said they still don't have any in stock and don't know when they will receive more. They offered to refund me the price of the monitor and would pick it up at my place.

 

So, I guess I will be looking for a new monitor, but I won't be buying the same again. I would want to go with one that has an IPS panel, 27'' and at least 2560x1440 resolution, or one of those ultra wide. Lets see what I can find.

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