Gray characters on LCD monitor

[wilfranz]

Hello friends,

Has anyone out there seen a problem like this? I am using a Princeton 17" LCD monitor, VL173, which has had this problem since it was new.

At lower font sizes (usually 9 point and below) black text letters gray out and become dim. Some of the details are:

1. When the view angle is sharply lowered (e.g. looking up at the screen from the floor) the problem is not apparent; letters are black as normal.

2. It is variable from font to font even within the same size. E.g. 9 pt Arial may be bad, but changing to 9 pt. Times fixes it.

3. It is most noticeable in certain applications, and less so or even absent in others. E.g. worst in Corel's WordPerfect, occasional in FoxPro database applications, no problem in MS Word, slight in Word Pad.

4. Even within the same application it may be variable. E.g. In a DataBase application with a pageframe of multiple pages the problem is present on one page out of four (same type face and size). The other pages are normal.

5. It is worse at lower type sizes. E.g. 10 pt rarely. 8 pt occasionally. 6 pt count on it.

Auto tuning the screen has not helped.

Any ideas?

TIA

Bill vV

 

[cdogg]

It seems that you have just discovered LCD's main drawback - unable to produce true blacks.

Some do better than others. You can try to adjust the contrast, but other than that, it's inevitably a limitation of the monitor itself. That's why many experts continue to claim that CRT's dominate in overall quality, especially when it comes to text and motion.

The smaller the font, the fuzzier text will appear and the more apparent the grayness will look.

~cdogg
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884

 

[wilfranz]

Thanks for your reply, cdogg.

Your reply is what I feared, i.e. an intrinsic problem. But the fact that my monitor is able to show the gray letters as "true black" when viewed from an abnormally low angle caused me to look further.

I stumbled across the following Q&A...

Q: MText editor displays thin, gray characters.
A: This is a operating system setting. Go to Display Properties/Appearance/Effects and uncheck the "Smooth edges of screen fonts" option.

So I did it, and my problem is solved!!! Furthermore the overall quality of text on my monitor is not noticeably different without the "edge smoothing". I don't understand the physics of it, but... whatever works.

Thanks again.

BillvV

 

[cdogg]

So you're telling me that if you look at 6pt font now, the problem is no longer there? If so, good for you...

I was going to say attach a CRT to your PC and see for yourself. Likely, it wouldn't be a problem with the same Windows setting enabled.

~cdogg
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884

 

[wilfranz]

Hello cdogg,

Thanks for your reply. Yes, I'm saying that the problem is 100.0% gone, at all sizes, in all fonts, in all applications. And yes, I know it would be no problem with a standard CRT, which is what I used for >20 yrs without trouble.

But as I see it -- and I'm very dumb about hardware -- this problem seems not to be related to the "true black" problem associated with LCDs, but has to do with the method by which edge smoothing is accomplished. E.g. one hypothesis: that at smaller font sizes the gray edge smoothing "overwhelms" the very few pixels dedicated to the black character.

Also, the same "graying" effect occurs if the color of the characters is changed to, say, red. In that case the characters appear pink and dim.

Next, I told you wrong in my last note... With edge smoothing turned off, there IS a (barely) noticeable decrement of character quality. But I will accept the tradeoff in order to have my black screen characters appear as they should.

Best regards,

BillvV

 

[cdogg]

Thanks for the update. Out of curiosity though, are you running the LCD monitor in its native resolution (1280x1024, etc.)?

~cdogg
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884

 

[micker377]

Have you looked at the Microsoft "Clear-type" yet?

 

[wilfranz]

cdogg: I'm using the monitor at a lower resolution (1024x768) than its native state. I did try the native resolution, and the problem was no better (well, maybe a tiny bit better). And worse, the teeny tiny characters at that resolution were virtually illegible for my middle-aged visual acuity.

micker377: Yes, I did try the Clear Type option under edge smoothing protocols, and it did not clear up the problem.

Thanks again, guys.

BillvV