ugly, jagged fonts in Firefox (Chrome way better)

[michaelbeijer]

I just installed Firefox because I really like all the addons, but am noticing that way too many of the sites I visit look TERRIBLE in Firefox compared to in Chrome.

For example, have a look at this site in both Firefox (36.0.4) and Chrome (41.0.2272.101 m):

http://www.techradar.com/news/software/ ... ast-468317

I tried to show the difference in this screenshot:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/680 ... ter%29.png

What am I doing wrong?

[LoudNoise]

Click on the second link to view the large image.

[michaelbeijer]

@LoudNoise: Thanks. I was wondering whether that in-line image might not be too big.

By the way, I just downloaded and installed Aurora, but it has the same exact problem: the page looks terrible.

[DanRaisch]

Try disabling hardware acceleration under menu path Tools->Options->Advanced->General. Close and restart Firefox after making that settings change.

[michaelbeijer]

Thanks DanRaisch,

Tried that, but it still looks exactly the same. How does the page (http://www.techradar.com/news/software/ ... ast-468317) look in your Firefox?

[JayhawksRock]

Are you in the UK... Try the US version of the page > http://www.techradar.com/us/news/softwa ... ast-468317
FWIW, they both look fine for me using Firefox default fonts and font size and no Zoom

[michaelbeijer]

Hi JayhawksRock,

Yes, I'm in the UK, but I compared the US and UK versions of the page and they are identical. Text is jagged on both pages. I compared the US page in both Firefox and Chrome:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/680 ... ght%29.png

Can someone have a look at the page in Chrome too, to verify if they see it like I see it?

I should add that my screenshot is taken at zoom 125%, which I added manually using the addon "Zoom Page" (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefo ... zoom-page/). I got used to a default zoom of 125% in Chrome, but noticed that Firefox doesn't have 125% as a default option. I justed did the same comparison at 100% zoom, and the jagged edges are still visible, albeit less so due to the smaller text size.

[JayhawksRock]

Page is fine for me zoomed or not, sharp colors, fonts are clear/sharp... and Chrome seems the same to me even though their rendering methods may be different. Of course I dont have the graphics system you have on this Old WinXP.... Thats all I've got... I'm out Good Luck.
[edit]
The page uses this font in the page source....
@font-face {
font-family: "Open Sans";
font-style: normal;
font-weight: 600;
Google > http://www.google.com/fonts/specimen/Open+Sans ...no clue what your system may substitue if it is not downloaded by the website

[malliz]

The question is does the OP have "allow pages to chose their own fonts" enabled?

[JayhawksRock]

Damn.. I implied that I was but never asked the question
Thats what us rookies do I guess

[michaelbeijer]

Just checked and "allow pages to choose their own fonts" is enabled.

[michaelbeijer]

If I compare http://www.google.com/fonts/specimen/Open+Sans in Firefox and Chrome, it looks better in Chrome. Jagged edges in Firefox.

[michaelbeijer]

Probably relevant: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1002008

[malliz]

I doubt it the date on that thread is almost a year old

[patrickjdempsey]

Thanks DanRaisch,

Tried that, but it still looks exactly the same.

Hmm. If it looks the same with HWA disabled, then hardware fonts must already be disabled. Try this:

Type about:config into the urlbar, press Enter and click through the warning. Search for this:

gfx.font_rendering.directwrite.enabled

Double-click it to set it to true.