fix text rednering in firefox 4 beta 4?


Recommended Posts

As many of you may have noticed, firefox 4 does something goofy with text rendering and cleartype. I honestly don't understand it. It makes bold letters bold like they are on osx, but normal letters sometimes hard to read and look like crap.

I actually just uninstalled firefox 4 beta 4 and went back to firefox 3.6 just because of this problem. But i really liked firefox 4 overall much better than i do 3.6 so would like to go back, but the text rendering issues has caused me many problems with some sites that have tiny font and what now, which appear fine in 3.6, chrome, and Ie.

Does anyone know of a way to repair this? I want to keep cleartype enabled, but i want it to appear normal in firefox.

thanks

Enable directwrite.

Go to about:config and search for 'gfx.font_rendering.directwrite.enabled' and set it to true.

It fixes a lot of the color fringe problems and gives a bit of a performance boost, though it makes the text slightly less appealing I guess.

I also seem to have this problem regarding text appearing to be slightly fuzzy, almost to the extent where if you took a picture of the text and it wasn't in perfect focus. I have got used to it mostly but it's not great. I also have that boolean set to true but it hasn't fixed it/reduced the problem.

i'll reinstall 4 beta again soon.

its just some text was so hard to read and looked like crap. For example "i"s were super faded.

was thinking cleartype in windows was messing yup and tinkered with it for a bit, but noticed it wasnt changing anything in firefox. then tested the sites in Ie and things looked fine. Then realized it was 4. Everything looks fine in 3.6

I'll take a screenshot if i still have the problem after i reinstall.

1. Enter 'about:config'
   2. Click through the warning, if necessary
   3. Enter gfx.font in the 'Filter' box
   4. Double-click on 'gfx.font_rendering.directwrite.enabled' to set it to true
   5. Below this, right click and select New > Integer to add a pref setting
   6. Enter 'mozilla.widget.render-mode' for the preference name, 6 for the value
   7. Restart

Do the above and you should be fine.

i'll reinstall 4 beta again soon.

its just some text was so hard to read and looked like crap. For example "i"s were super faded.

was thinking cleartype in windows was messing yup and tinkered with it for a bit, but noticed it wasnt changing anything in firefox. then tested the sites in Ie and things looked fine. Then realized it was 4. Everything looks fine in 3.6

I'll take a screenshot if i still have the problem after i reinstall.

I really like your dark blue print on my black background... how do you like mine?

1. Enter 'about:config'
 2. Click through the warning, if necessary
 3. Enter gfx.font in the 'Filter' box
 4. Double-click on 'gfx.font_rendering.directwrite.enabled' to set it to true
 5. Below this, right click and select New > Integer to add a pref setting
 6. Enter 'mozilla.widget.render-mode' for the preference name, 6 for the value
 7. Restart

Do the above and you should be fine.

I remember looking myself and i enabled the font rendering thing, which didnt resolve anything. Didn't even notice a difference after enabling it. But never messed with the render mode thing.

will try soon. thanks

  • 3 months later...

I noticed the same problem with the beta 7. I think, it's because I've tweaked the clear-type settings under win7 (you can adjust aspect of font), and firefox 4 is ignoring these settings.

The font look definitely worse in firefox 4 , I hope this will be soon fixed.

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Posts

    • I agree. I also think Phil stayed too long. They should definitely fire whoever thought all a console platform needed was Call of Duty, Elder Scrolls, and Fallout to survive. Asha and crew are still saying they need more Elder Scrolls and Fallout games. They simply don't get it.
    • Macbook Air is an appealing option, as are plethora of Windows devices with various different CPU's
    • Mozilla highlights Firefox Nova 2026 redesign and more upcoming features with new roadmap by Sayan Sen Last month Mozilla confirmed that Firefox was set to get a major redesign this year. Dubbed "Project Nova", it can already be tested and will roll out to all users later this year.The idea is to keep the browser competitive in a rapidly evolving internet landscape. As such the revamp focuses on improving privacy, usability, performance, accessibility, and customization. Key privacy features including the built-in VPN, private browsing mode, and Enhanced Tracking Protection, will be more visible and easier to manage, while users will have the option to disable AI features entirely through a dedicated kill switch. Additionally, the redesign promises faster page loading, the return of Compact mode, expanded personalization options, and stronger accessibility support. You can find the full details in the dedicated piece linked above. In a new blog post today the company once again reiterated on Nova and also emphasized other new and upcoming features like the settings revamp that is intended to make it easier for users to understand browser settings. In order to make it simpler for users to keep up with such features Mozilla today is launching Firefox roadmap. Hence enthusiasts and interested users will be able to check out what's cooking and also share feedback about the upcoming additions. Alongside the roadmap announcement, Mozilla also highlighted what's new in Firefox 152. One of the biggest additions is the arrival of Tab Groups on Android. The feature, which has already been helping desktop users organize large numbers of tabs, is now beginning to roll out on mobile. Users will be able to group related tabs together, assign names and colors to them, and return to them later. Mozilla says support for iOS will arrive later this year. Firefox 152 also introduces the aforementioned redesigned Settings experience. The company says the changes are meant to make controls easier to find and help users discover features they may not have previously known about. Existing preferences are not changing, though they are now better organized. Another notable addition is the new Blocked Tracker Widget, which provides a visual overview of Firefox's privacy protections by showing how many trackers have been blocked over time and the types of tracking activity the browser has stopped. Looking ahead, Mozilla revealed several upcoming roadmap features. They include customizable keyboard shortcuts, as well as enhanced PDF editing tools that will allow documents to be split, merged, and reorganized directly within Firefox. The company is also working on bringing Multi-Account Containers into the native Firefox experience thus removing the need for a separate extension. Meanwhile Firefox's built-in VPN is set to expand to mobile devices. Mozilla is also developing AI-powered features like Quick Answers, which can provide concise responses to voice queries, and Smart Window, its optional AI browsing experience that is now available without a waitlist. Finally, a new Power Saving Mode is in the works and will help reduce the impact of resource-heavy tabs on mobile devices in order to extend battery life. The video below summarizes the upcoming changes in an easy to understand format: You can find the announcement blog post here on Mozilla's official website.
    • Dead on arrival at that price. Like they missed the mark by multiple hundreds of dollars - this should actually undercut the Macbook Air at $899 if they want any sort of sales / further adoption of WoA
  • Recent Achievements

    • One Year In
      Console General earned a badge
      One Year In
    • One Year In
      Twozo Technologies earned a badge
      One Year In
    • One Month Later
      Twozo Technologies earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • Week One Done
      Twozo Technologies earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • Veteran
      branfont went up a rank
      Veteran
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      511
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      198
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      109
    4. 4
      Steven P.
      89
    5. 5
      Nick H.
      71
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!