Re: Bug#190672: 3 vs 9

[Michael Fedrowitz <michaelf debian org>]

tags 190672 + upstream
forwarded 190672 fonts gnome org
thanks

On Thu, Apr 24, 2003 at 10:07:11PM -0400, Joey Hess wrote:

 Hi,

> I see this in gnome-terminal and xchat, both configured to use vera sans
> mono at 8 points. My display is a LCD (rgb ordering AFAIK) on a Fujitsu
> Lifebook P4000. Vera looks great on this display, even at that small
> size. Problem is that with this configuration, a 3 looks not unlike a 9,
> at any distance over 1 foot from the display. I think it's because the
> top (and bottom) ends of the 3 trail off into little antialiased ends,
> and the top one ducks down perilously close to the middle of the 3, so
> the eye (at least, my eye, corrected for 20/20 vision with some
> hardware), sometimes joins the two, yeilding a 9. It looks not unlike an
> 8 too if I squint at it a little differently. I have no problem at 9
> points and up.
> 
> And yeah, this is pretty deadly if you're programming or telling someone
> a version number. :-( I like how the old X fixed font does it, with the
> top of the 3 being a straight line meeting another at a 45 degree angle.
> But just cutting the thing 1 pixel shorter would probably fix the
> ambiguity too.

While the top of the 3 indeed comes quite close to the middle, I don't
seem to have any trouble (on my CRT) distinguishing it from a 9, even at
very small sizes, but then maybe I simply have sharp eyes. ;)

Anyway, could you please add all the interesting details, like:

- versions of fontconfig, xft2, and (most importantly) freetype,

- relevant configuration (anti-aliasing, hinting, also whether we're
  talking about black on white or white on black).

-Michael