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Comment by abainbridge | Hacker News Reader

I prefer bitmap fonts for coding / terminal. My monitor is 100 DPI and I like to cram as much on screen as possible. Here's a comparison of a bitmap font vs Nordwand https://gist.github.com/abainbridge/a4b2647ea91e661a7576417b...

I know I'm a bit weird, but the internet is full of weird people. It seems strange to me that nobody is interested in bitmap fonts these days.

What I really want is a hand anti-aliased bitmap font which prioritizes sharpness.

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You should look at Pragmata Pro⁽¹⁾.

Hand-hinted by Fabrizio: ”More than 9000 characters optimized from 9pt to 48pt to guarantee the best possible readability.”

It is the ultimate “programmer’s font” and well worth the money for something you stare at every day and the next best thing to a bitmap font in today’s “Retina resolution” world.

Accept no imitations.

⁽¹⁾ https://fsd.it/shop/fonts/pragmatapro/

1000%. Paid upfront years ago, installed it everywhere I look at code, and the world’s a better place.

You can preview working with it with Blink.app for iOS; I’m unaffiliated but satisfied. Comes with PragmataPro preinstalled.

+1 for another happy customer. I still wish there was a wider version with all the same bells and whistles, though!

I always felt crazy for preferring bitmap fonts. The sharpness is unparalleled even against a 4k screen.

I really like using Cozette - it has great glyph support and a hi-dpi version

https://github.com/the-moonwitch/Cozette

I just wish more editors had support for true bitmap fonts! Turning off anti-aliasing on a bitmap->vector converted font is OK but not quite the same.

Hadn't seen Cozette before. Its lovely. Ta.

Interesting. I had never heard of them or a difference. Why is a vector font worse ? Can't vectors scale up and down without loss?

I don’t prefer bitmap fonts (anymore) because I find subpixel antialiasing beneficial. But I’m with you regarding low-DPI monitors, and the lack of pixel-grid hinting in modern fonts is a pity.

It’s similar to vector icons versus hand-drawn bitmap color icons.

Nobody is interested in bitmap fonts?

* https://jdebp.uk/Softwares/nosh/guide/terminal-resources.htm...

Below phone-level PPI values, font AA still just looks blurry to me. As I like 'em large though, there are not too many bitmap options (terminus, for example, looks quite brittle at large sizes). I seem to have settled on lode 1.5 from here on a ~110 PPI display: https://github.com/B2HDPI/B2HDPI

With you on preferring bitmap fonts.

As I got higher DPI monitors, I found it less hassle to use outline fonts, but I still find them preferable - given the option.

Which bitmap font is this?

One I made. Available here: https://github.com/abainbridge/deadfrog-lib/blob/master/src/...

Has 7 sizes ranging from 6x10 pixels to 16x30. The larger ones are a bit rubbish. Only covers Latin-1.

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