ClearType causing black text to print with bits of color.

[Steve]

Has anyone noticed this? I have Windows XP Pro with
ClearType turned on, using an NEC LCD1712 flat panel monitor. I have
a recent driver installed for an HP Deskjet 990Cse. The driver is set
to allow color printing.

After browsing to a page with black and white text in Internet
Explorer, I then proceed to print this page. For anyone that's looked
closely at their screen using ClearType, they will notice small color
pixels illuminated on the edges of text. But are these small color
pixels supposed to appear on the PRINTED page?! Before with ClearType off
, color printed as color and black text as black. Now I get my printer trying to
reproduce exactly what's on the screen with ClearType! Is this
normal?

I printed the Google home page from IE on normal inkjet paper in draft
(300 dpi) mode. A sample was then scanned at 600 dpi and saved as a
jpeg. Though it is hard to see, if you look
closely you will notice small amounts of color on the edges of the
black text. (it's much more obvious when looking at the printed page).

Here's the link. Go first to folder, "WebPublic".
http://f1.pg.briefcase.yahoo.com/sfs/

Does anyone know if this is "by design", or if I am just having problems
for some reason?

Thank you!

 

[frodo]

Yes, that's normal.

Go to this site, using IE 6 (only; requires an activeX control):

http://www.microsoft.com/typography/ClearTypeInfo.mspx

read about it, then click the "Clear Type Tuner Updated" red link and try
out the tuner to fine-tune your cleartype settings.

Note the RGB or BGR choice; most (99%) panels are RGB, but there are a few
that are BGR, you might get better results with BGR.

There is also a util caller ClearTweak that lets you do pretty much the
same thing, only it runs locally w/o having to be connected; Google for
it.