Re: [9fans] dejavu sans

[erik quanstrom <quanstro@quanstro.net>]

> I believe I do, and I'm pretty sure the difference lies in gamma or
> color correction which is provided by most graphics chipsets but is
> inaccessible with VESA. It is also likely to be inaccessible with
> native drivers if they are open source, it was a fluff feature when
> CRTs were common and seems to still be treated that way.
> 
> You may have noticed that images appear paler on those displays where
> Vera looks blurry. This is because of the lack of gamma correction.
> Black may still be black and white white, but without gamma correction
> a 50% grey may appear far brighter than it should be, especially on a
> LCD. (On a CRT it's more likely to be darker, in my experience.) Vera
> then looks blurry because the pixels that are supposed to be mid-grey
> become far brighter, far more visible than they are meant to be.
> 
> The particularly interesting thing about this is it suggests a
> workaround. The font is implemented as a 4-bit greyscale image. Instead
> of treating the font as a true greyscale it could instead be treated as
> a palettized image and the palette adjusted to suit the screen,
> darkening the greys on the displays for which it is necessary.

excellent explainer.

i typically use full rgb fonts.  i don't see why one couldn't α
draw through an appropriate shade to change the font image itself.

- erik