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Comment by Jaruzel | Hacker News Reader

Yet again, this is a website that has clearly only been tested on a hiDPI screen.

At 100% scaling on Windows, the serif font used doesn't kern or render properly; crossbars in letters such as 't' and 'f' are overweight compared to other strokes, and makes the font look uneven.

Designers all seem to think we use 4k screens at 200% scaling, for that ultra smooth look, when in reality, that's far from the case[1].

Edit: Example of what I'm seeing: http://www.jaruzel.com/files/fonts.png

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[1] https://gs.statcounter.com/screen-resolution-stats/desktop/w...

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I am on 3440x1440 at 100% scaling and gwern's site reads plenty fine to me, and has for years.

I use Firefox on X11 with an ordinary non-HiDPI Dell monitor, and Said doesn't use a HiDPI monitor. (As far as being designers, I am not but Said is.)

So what we're basically saying, and seeing is that Chrome on Windows, is the real culprit here?

Edit: Just checked Firefox on Windows, same result...

So it's Windows, yay.

Sorry. Not sure what I can reasonably do to help there if Windows font rendering is just bad. Is it even something that Frank upstream could do anything about? (He's been responsive to our past bugs.) FWIW, I've heard that Windows font rendering can be good, so there may be settings you aren't using or something.

Looks fantastic on a real operating system at 1920x1080. Gwern is many things, a few of them positive, but he's not a designer. He's just a guy with an internet connection. The site works, though. Just install a better operating system, ideally with X11, that can do proper typography.

> Just install a better operating system, ideally with X11, that can do proper typography.

Ahhh if only life were so simple. While I'm at it, can you provide me with an alternate skill-set and career path that doesn't need me to use Windows for my employment?

"I have to use a plastic spork for work. Therefore, I cannot use a metal utensil at home. Therefore, you shouldn't be able to make food that doesn't mesh well with my plastic spork."

.NET works with Linux, anyway.

> he's not a designer. He's just a guy with an internet connection.

His website is wonderfully designed, so I am having a hard time understanding your point…

Something can be designed well without being made by a designer. Jaruzel accused him of being a designer as a "reason" for why the site's functionality was, allegedly (and wrongly), not working on low-DPI devices.

In reality, he's just a guy who made something cool and non-commercial on the internet.

X11 does not do proper typography at all and in fact its text support is not used these days. You might be thingking of freetype / harfbuzz / pango.

Exactly! X11 gives you options, and doesn't force anything on your programs, allowing program designers to use fitting tools for the job.

But what’s the cause? Bugs in Windows’ font rendering? Or a lack of hinting in the custom font?

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