Fine-Tuning ClearType

One of the best features of Windows XP is the new ClearType font smoothing engine. This new font smoothing feature uses a graphic technique known as anti-aliasing, which smoothes all of the rough edges of the fonts on the screen and greatly improves the look of Windows XP for users of LCD flat panel monitors. If you are an owner of a LCD monitor, you should definitely turn on this feature, as it will make your screen look amazing. Figure 6-12 shows a comparison between when the feature is turned on and when it is turned off. The image on the bottom, which has ClearType enabled, may look a little blurry on the page, but on a LCD
the image looks very sharp.

If you do not have ClearType enabled, follow these steps to get it turned on:

1. Right-click the desktop and select Properties.

2. Click the Effects button on the Appearance tab.

3. In the second drop-down box, select ClearType under Use The Following Method To Smooth The Edges Of The Screen Fonts.

4. Click OK to save your changes.

5. Select OK once more to close Display Properties and to apply the new settings.

Now that you have ClearType turned on, it's time to fine-tune its settings. Some users complain that the new ClearType feature causes the text on their screen to look a little blurry compared to standard font smoothing. ClearType was designed to smooth the fonts on the screen replacing jagged edges. If you are one of the users that do not like how ClearType looks, with the help of a very cool online tool, you can customize how ClearType looks. Using the online tool that is developed by Microsoft, it is possible to change the darkness and thickness of the text. This will allow you to make the text that appears on your monitor look crisper.
Follow these steps to fine-tune your ClearType settings:

1. Open up Internet Explorer and browse to www.microsoft.com/typography/
cleartype/.

2. Navigate to the ClearType Web interface to fine-tune the settings located on the right side of the Web page.

3. As the ClearType Web interface is loading, you will be prompted to install the
ClearType Tuning Control. Click Yes on your screen so that this component will be
installed.

With the release of Windows XP Service Pack 2, Internet Explorer was locked down to provide better security. If the ClearType Tuning Control does not automatically download and install, then you may need to adjust your ActiveX security settings in Internet Options.

4. On the step 1 screen, click Next to move to the next step, because you already have ClearType started.

5. On step 2 of the ClearType Tuning Control, you have to select if your monitor uses a red-green-blue (RGB) color scheme or a blue-green-red (BGR) scheme. All LCD computer monitors are made up of very tiny vertical lines of alternating colors. There are two different ways that monitors lay out the lines on the screen. Some monitors alternate red, green, and blue lines (RGB) on the screen, whereas other monitors alternate blue, green, and red lines (BGR). ClearType has recently been updated to also support the BGR format, and now users that have BGR monitors can select this feature. Don't know which one to select? It's easy; just select the option that looks sharper on your screen and then click Next.

6. On step 3, you will be shown six different settings that you can choose to fine-tune ClearType. Just select the item that looks best to you and click Finish.

Your new settings will instantly go into effect. If you do not like the changes, just follow the preceding instructions and start over. If you notice that the coloration of some of the characters on your screen is a little strange, specifically the I's, then you might have the wrong screen mode selected. Follow the preceding instructions again and select the other color scheme.

If you don't own a LCD monitor, you can still try to use Clear Type. It will not create any problems but also might not help out all that much either. I recommend that you still experiment with it. You might be surprised.