bugThe FreeType Project - Bugs: bug #51051, interpreter version 40 and hinted...

 
 

bug #51051: interpreter version 40 and hinted fonts without antialiasing

Submitted by:  Björn Karge <reader>
Submitted on:  Wed 17 May 2017 04:23:44 PM UTC  
 
Severity: 3 - NormalItem Group: Incorrect behaviour
Status: FixedPrivacy: Public
Assigned to: Werner LEMBERG <wl>Open/Closed: Closed
Planned Release: 2.8.1

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Sat 20 May 2017 09:32:05 AM UTC, comment #7:

Awesome, that was lightening fast... It now looks as beautiful as it used to :-)

Many Thanks!

Björn Karge <reader>
Sat 20 May 2017 05:30:52 AM UTC, comment #6:

Fixed now in git. Please test!

Werner LEMBERG <wl>
Project AdministratorIn charge of this item.
Fri 19 May 2017 05:18:15 AM UTC, comment #5:

I just upgraded to freetype-2.8 and the behaviour is the same.

Björn Karge <reader>
Thu 18 May 2017 02:42:34 PM UTC, comment #4:

My bad -- I guess I probably grossly abused terminology and I should have added the image in the first place.

The screen shot was made on a Gentoo system, where freetype-2.7.1-r2 was compiled with the infinality cleartype_hinting use flags which translates to TT_CONFIG_OPTION_SUBPIXEL_HINTING = 3.

Here is the build script: https://gitweb.gentoo.org/repo/gentoo.git/tree/media-libs/freetype/freetype-2.7.1-r2.ebuild

The package maintainers also applied a number of small patches.
https://gitweb.gentoo.org/repo/gentoo.git/tree/media-libs/freetype/files

Björn Karge <reader>
Thu 18 May 2017 10:56:05 AM UTC, comment #3:

Now I understand. Thanks for being persistent :-)

Indeed, B/W rendering must not change if you switch from v35 to v40.

Werner LEMBERG <wl>
Project AdministratorIn charge of this item.
Thu 18 May 2017 06:31:55 AM UTC, comment #2:

It should be irrelevant if a workaround exists, in particular if it is referring to an old version of the software. The title of the bug states clearly "INTERPRETER VERSION 40".

Considering that fonts should be legible at 9pt (https://developer.apple.com/fonts/TrueType-Reference-Manual/RM03/Chap3.html#intended_use), can you please state unambiguously (i.e., yes/no) whether you consider the output of INTERPRETER 40 (as shown in the right column of attached image) as CORRECT with respect to the scope of the FreeType project?

(file #40731)

Björn Karge <reader>
Wed 17 May 2017 06:20:34 PM UTC, comment #1:

The ship with v35 as the default has sailed, sorry. Windows no longer uses v35 since more than 10 years. And recent versions of the Windows core fonts have been updated to get good rendering results with ClearType. But I digress, since you don't want that.

Note that recent versions of both Chrome and Firefox do support the FREETYPE_PROPERTIES environment variable.

Do Wine and IDEA really ignore FREETYPE_PROPERTIES?

If everything fails, simply compile FreeType by yourself and pre-load it by setting the following environment variable.

LD_PRELOAD=/path/to/your/selfcompiled/libfreetype.so

There are not many applications that statically link with FreeType, so chances are high that you get your desired results.

Werner LEMBERG <wl>
Project AdministratorIn charge of this item.
Wed 17 May 2017 04:23:44 PM UTC, original submission:

I know this is probably not the first submission on the issue, but I would like to add a point, namely the loss of accessibility.

Since the introduction of the new interpreter version 40, many major applications (Chrome, Wine, IDEA) produce unreadable output for NON-ANTIALIASED, battle proven fonts optimized for low resolution, non-antialiased, crystal-clear and crisp display (Arial, Andale Mono, Lucida Sans Typewriter to only name a few), and I can't tweak their behaviours as they do not seem to promote/respect the FREETYPE_PROPERTIES environment variables, and as FreeType in its default configuration now chooses to ignore carefully optimized hints.

This hurts my eyes badly, and literally, and impedes my daily work, as I do have difficulties dealing with the smooth edges of antialiased fonts. I seem hardwired to 9pt fonts without antialiasing. Please don't refer to other fonts or subpixel antialiasing. I can't digest that. And rendering performance has never been an issue for me. But accessibility is.

This is not a joke.

Björn Karge <reader>

 

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Attach File(s):
   
   
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Attached Files
file #40731:  FreeType-38vs40.png added by reader (54KiB - image/png - Comparing Non-Antialiased results of interpreter 38 with interpreter 40)

 

Depends on the following items: None found

Items that depend on this one: None found

 

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    Follow 10 latest changes.

    Date Changed By Updated Field Previous Value => Replaced By
    Sat 20 May 2017 05:30:52 AM UTCwlStatusConfirmed=>Fixed
      Open/ClosedOpen=>Closed
      Planned ReleaseNone=>2.8.1
    Thu 18 May 2017 10:56:38 AM UTCwlOpen/ClosedClosed=>Open
    Thu 18 May 2017 10:56:05 AM UTCwlStatusWont Fix=>Confirmed
      Carbon-Copy-=>Added madigens
    Thu 18 May 2017 06:31:55 AM UTCreaderAttached File-=>Added FreeType-38vs40.png, #40731
    Wed 17 May 2017 06:20:34 PM UTCwlStatusNone=>Wont Fix
      Assigned toNone=>wl
      Open/ClosedOpen=>Closed

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