Font rendering

[msw.photo]

Hi all,

I always have the problem that I can only read text very poorly, especially the image information under the thumbnails. The letter outlines are not clear, the letters are often not clearly recognizable.
In all other programs or websites I use, the same font sizes are easily legible.

Zooming (increasing/decreasing) the thumbnails and the text (control at the bottom right) looks as if you were dragging a pixel graphic larger or smaller in MS Paint and not using a vector-based font.

macOS 14.5, 1920 x 1080 px
The font size under the thumbnails is program standard.

Are there any concrete plans to improve this?


Kind regards

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

[Hert]

Here's what I see on a 4K monitor with 2x scaling (in fact I use 1.5x scaling in the OS and so this image looks 1.5x as sharp on my monitor compared to how you see it here)

Thumb.png (162.53 KiB) Viewed 5002 times

This looks pretty sharp to me. However, on a low-res 1920x1080 HD monitor this may look worse

[msw.photo]

Hi Hert,

that's how it looks for me.

Bildschirmfoto 2024-08-14 um 16.31.11.png (85.3 KiB) Viewed 4823 times

Letter combinations such as ji li or rn vs. m cannot be distinguished.


When I adjust the font size, it still looks pixelated and the descenders are cut off.

Bildschirmfoto 2024-08-14 um 16.45.23.png (90.14 KiB) Viewed 4823 times

[Hert]

The second screenshot looks way better than the first one. But instead of upsizing these fonts, instead try to set the scaling in macOS' Display settings. That may be difficult as your monitor's native resolution is so low.

The screenshot I shared before was on Windows on a 4K monitor with 1.5x scaling. Below is a screenshot from a MacBook, which has a 2560x1600 resolution, which comes down to a 2K monitor.

thumbfont.png (320.38 KiB) Viewed 4756 times

[msw.photo]

That can't be a serious proposal for a solution. I use dozens of apps and websites and because of one app I have to change my system settings or buy a new monitor? And we're talking about 1080p here, not VGA resolution.

[Hert]

You lose sharpness in the custom thumb lines because PSU caches this info. The higher the monitor resolution, the better the quality.

Apart from the topic itself and again putting mu user hat on...

EGA was very sharp when I first got my hands on such a monitor, late 80s.
VGA was stunning in the early 90s.
And 1080HD was blowing me away late 2000s.

The 2K, 4K, 5K and 8K monitors that are mainstream today are again a next level. Such monitors make scaling possible, meaning that you will typically have the same screen real-estate as with a HD monitor but a multitude sharper. For instance, on a 4K monitor everything (not only custom thumb lines) will look 4 times sharper than on a HD monitor.
Being used to using 2K and 4K monitors, even the standard fonts in your screenshots look low-res and pixelated to me (though indeed much better than the custom thumb lines).

And we're talking about 1080p here, not VGA resolution.

1080HD is great when compared to VGA, just like 4K is great when compared to HD.
I indeed do recommend using a high resolution monitor these days, especially since they are so affordable now (imho).
But of course that's no requirement and just my personal preference.

[msw.photo]

Bildschirmfoto 2024-08-15 um 12.02.15.png (21.58 KiB) Viewed 4704 times

Bildschirmfoto 2024-08-15 um 12.01.24.png (44.72 KiB) Viewed 4704 times

The current Late 2000s offers for monitors. Just saying.

[msw.photo]

In addition to that: your glorified next level 2K is 2048 x 1080 (vs 1980 x 1080 which I use).... You're right, 68 px more width is a b s o l u t e l y gamechanging!!!

[msw.photo]

And what does cached information have to do with sharpness? Is the information in the cache blurred? It's text...

[msw.photo]

This constant ‘yes, but’ is so childish. Take some of the feedback on board, but don't always try to portray the shortcomings and problems as if we users are just too stupid.

[msw.photo]

If I want to hear reproaches instead of solutions, I can go back to school.

[msw.photo]

Bildschirmfoto 2024-08-15 um 12.16.56.png (210.22 KiB) Viewed 4696 times

[Hert]

If I want to hear reproaches

This is a user-to-user forum (see the forum rules) and I typically try to post here, being a user of Photo Supreme myself, trying to help others getting the most out of the application as-is.

I very much understand that it is difficult to see me as a user here.

If you experience bugs, have suggestions for improvements, or have feature requests then always contact support.

[Hert]

This constant ‘yes, but’ is so childish.

I don't think I wrote "yes but" anywhere.

And what does cached information have to do with sharpness? Is the information in the cache blurred? It's text...

(as an exception, this time as a dev). Caches are not always simple text. To allow smooth scrolling one doesn't want to repaint a set of strings over and over again with every single pixel offset change during an (animated) scroll.

[Hert]

In addition to that: your glorified next level 2K is 2048 x 1080 (vs 1980 x 1080 which I use).... You're right, 68 px more width is a b s o l u t e l y gamechanging!!!

A 2K monitor (not to be confused wit a 2K cinema display) is typically 2560x1440. That is 3,686,400 pixels. A FullHD (1920x1080) is 2,073,600 pixels. 2K is certainly a big step forward.

Apple MacBooks typically come with a 2K display, except for the 16" versions which, I believe, come with a nearly 4K display.