Is it time for subpixel antialiasing (aka “cleartype”) to die?

RGB pixel subhinting is a hack that was invented for 72dpi LCD displays. But we are increasingly seeing high-DPI displays in use, where simple antialiasing is superior. In fact, modern phones rarely use this technology any more.

Some also argue that text with greyscale antialiasing is more readable on modern displays than text with subpixel rendering.

What do you think?

@tech

  • Frost「:therian:｜霜の狼｜人面獣心」🐺❄️@masto.brightfur.netB
    2·
    1 year ago

    @TerrorBite @tech We have a CRT, which I’m not sure subpixel rendering even works well on at all (I think it uses subpixels, but they’re not aligned with display signal output pixels). We also have a bog-standard 22" 1080p LCD, we’ll need to find a cable for that and see what subpixel antialiasing looks like on that.

    I did notice that when we were in the OS installer on our laptop (to back up the OS), the text looked weirdly sharp compared to normal; I bet that was subpixel antialiasing in action. So maybe it is still useful.

    But I personally think the disadvantages in dealing with screenshots outweigh the advantages of maybe slightly sharper text. Grayscale antialiasing looks fine.