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From: smith@zeus.harvard.edu (Steven Smith)
Newsgroups: comp.text.tex
Subject: Re: tex dvi Previewer for Xwindows
Message-ID: <SMITH.91Jan9111741@zeus.harvard.edu>
Date: 9 Jan 91 16:17:41 GMT
References: <139@dogmelb.dog.oz.au>
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In-reply-to: david@dogmelb.dog.oz.au's message of 4 Jan 91 05:41:24 GMT

I agree with Andreas Stolcke (Article 4886) that the inconvenience of
X fonts makes xdvi more attractive than xtex.  There is one point,
however, on which I am uncertain.

The previewer dvipage, which unfortunately runs only on SunView,
produces the crispest display I have seen.  It substitutes spatial
resolution for grey scale resolution by passing the binary text image
through a low pass filter, creating a highly readable display.  I know
that xdvi does not utilize such a filter and consequently its display
is inferior to dvipage.  Does xtex employ such a trick?  Does anyone
know if there is a DVI previewer that

1) runs on X/SUN
2) reads GF/PK files,
3) provides grey scale resolution

and maybe

4) reads VF files (allowing one to preview a document set in
   PostScript fonts)

I suggest that these three (four?) capabilities would best serve the
plurality of TeX users, but am unsure if they exist in any one
package.


Steven Smith
smith@sandalphon.harvard.edu