ClearType Tuner : If You Are Using Windows XP and an LCD monitor

The above pic is a comparison between text as it is seen on most computers, and text as it could be seen on those same computers.

ClearType is a technology by which microsoft has made it possible to view texts more clearly in LCD monitors. But by default it is turned off in all computers. So, most people do not get the best out of their LCD monitors (which I understood when I went to my cousin’s home last week and found it extremely hard to read a thing)

It gets more interesting when you know that it is very simple to turn it on if you have cleartype in your system,

  1. Right Click on your desktop
  2. Select Properties. Now the Display properties window opens up. Yeah, the one you use to change screen saver, wallpaper, etc.
  3. Go to Appearance tab. This is where we don’t go
  4. Click Effects… button
  5. Tick “Use the following method to smooth edges of screen fonts:” and select ClearType from the drop down menu.

(And if you don’t have that option, don’t worry. You can download it and install from microsoft itself. ClearType Tuner PowerToy setup.exe (2 MB 5 min @ 28.8 Kbps))

Happy reading