Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!att!osu-cis!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!mailrus!ames!husc6!cfa!wyatt
From: wyatt@cfa.harvard.EDU (Bill Wyatt)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next
Subject: Fuzzy Fonts (was Re: WYSIWYG & DPI)
Summary: fuzzy fonts are great
Keywords: WYSI*A*WYG
Message-ID: <1257@cfa.cfa.harvard.EDU>
Date: 27 Oct 88 03:57:53 GMT
References: <6937@orstcs.CS.ORST.EDU> <12908@oberon.USC.EDU> <74769@sun.uucp>
Organization: Harvard-Smithsonian Ctr. for Astrophysics
Lines: 35

In article <74769@sun.uucp>, landman%hanami@Sun.COM (Howard A. Landman) writes:
> >In article <74013@sun.uucp> landman@sun.UUCP (Howard A. Landman) writes:
> >>Here's a hard lower bound.  Studies have shown that 2-bit grayscale
> >>gives you better "perceived" screen resolution than spending the same
> >>bits on extra 1-bit resolution.
[...]
> The Media Lab has in its history a fine example of wrong exploiting - an
> excellent, simple idea, instantly applicable, available free to anyone,
> that has sat on the shelf in plain view of the world since 1971.
> 
> Called Fuzzy Fonts, it is a cheap way to have much higher resolution print
> on computer and TV screens.  Negroponte: "It's not subtle.  When you see
> it, you gasp."  He's right.  Characters on the screen look just beautiful,
[... lots of interesting experimental results deleted ...]

Hear! hear! I can attest to the beauty of fuzzy fonts. In 1980 or 1981
I went to see some spiffy interactive software demonstrated at the MIT
AI lab. The software was great, but we all wanted to know HOW THEY GOT
THOSE WONDERFUL FONTS! (They called them anti-aliased fonts, not
`fuzzy'; guess the term is more recent.) They were so clear that they
truly seemed to float just off the surface of the monitor. 

One point not mentioned in the above articles is that one of the
reasons fuzzy fonts work is that they actually *increase* sharpness AS
PRESENTED BY A CRT. This is because, in typical, aliased, fonts, the
abrupt transition from 0 to 1 induces ringing in the electronics,
showing as bluring at the pixel edge. By allowing a gradual step to
full intensity in the right places, fuzzy fonts generate a much
clearer perceived edge. -- 

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