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

    • Microsoft should never have purchased anything after RARE.
    • Call of Duty: Vanguard, EA Sports FC 26, and more come to Xbox Game Pass by Pulasthi Ariyasinghe Microsoft is in the process of making some big changes to Xbox Game Studios right now, which might include studio shutdowns, but Game Pass drops aren't pausing for that. The second wave of June was just announced, unveiling another Call of Duty addition, the latest soccer game from EA, an indie road trip hit from last year, and more. While Microsoft said it won't put Call of Duty titles on Game Pass on the day of launch anymore, older titles keep landing, with the latest one being 2021's Call of Duty: Vanguard. Here are all the games that were announced today for Xbox Game Pass, their platforms, and arrival dates: Junkster (Cloud, XBOX Series X|S, Handheld, and PC) – June 16 Call of Duty: Vanguard (Cloud, Console, and PC) – June 17 EA Sports FC 26 (Cloud, Console, and PC) – June 18 Abyssus (Cloud, Xbox Series X|S, and PC) – June 25 RV There Yet? (Cloud, Xbox Series X|S, and PC) – June 30 Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4 (Cloud, Console, and PC) – July 2 Winds of Arcana: Ruination (Cloud, Console, Handheld, and PC) – July 6 From the bunch, Junkster is the sole day-one drop into Game Pass libraries of this selection. As new games arrive, eight will be leaving the Game Pass programs on June 30. Here's the full list of leaving titles: Mecha Break (Cloud, Console, and PC) Payday 2 (Console) Rise of Tomb Raider (Cloud, Console, and PC) Tomb Raider (Cloud, Console, and PC) Slay the Spire (Cloud, Console, and PC) Ultimate Chicken Horse (Cloud, Console, and PC) Volcano Princess (Cloud, Console, and PC) Unpacking (Cloud, Console, and PC) With June drops finished, Microsoft should have a new Game Pass announcement in about two weeks to reveal the first wave of games coming to subscribers in July. Already confirmed games for the month include the Halo: Campaign Evolved remake, Corsair Cove, SpeedRunners 2: King of Speed, and Mistfall Hunter.
  • 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
      522
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      207
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      112
    4. 4
      Steven P.
      89
    5. 5
      Nick H.
      71
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!