Hello,


I’m relatively new to ConTeXt (version 2024.05.31, LMTX, standalone) and 
really enjoy learning it so far, but I have one little problem with the 
appearance of horizontal bars in math mode.

It seems the way ConTeXt displayed horizontal extensible bars in math 
mode some time ago (as used in \frac, \sqrt, \overbar, ...) was similar 
to the way LaTeX (PDFLaTeX and LuaLaTeX) and Plain TeX handled this, but 
it has changed since then. Instead of one bar there are now multiple 
characters attached to each other.

This makes it look more consistent with the font, but unfortunately it 
doesn’t display well in any PDF viewer I’ve tried (on Linux, so I’ve not 
tried Adobe Acrobat Reader). The bars look dotted, I guess it’s due to 
anti-aliasing (the dots disappear when anti-aliasing is disabled, but 
then of course everything looks pixelated). Two screenshots are attached 
(different zoom levels in PDF viewer) so that you know what I’m talking 
about.

Source:
\setuppapersize[S3]
\starttext
\startformula \sqrt{a^2 + b^2} = \frac{1000 \cdot c}{1000} \stopformula
\stoptext

Is there a way to switch to the old bars for documents viewed mainly on 
screens, or is there any other way to improve their appearance? I 
couldn’t find any documentation on this, so I would be very thankful if 
somebody here could help out.


Best,
Ralph