Text not crisp after applying Mojave

[drewaz]

I know others have noticed this on a non retina display but I'm really having trouble dealing with the fuzzy text on a retina iMac.

I tried turning off Dark mode and it didn't seem to make a difference.

Does anyone have a work around?

 

[DeltaMac]

Try running this terminal command:

defaults write -g CGFontRenderingFontSmoothingDisabled -bool NO

You should see a change in text as a result of that command. Be sure to restart before deciding if it improves your fuzzy text.
If that does not make your text sharper, you can revert that command by running it again, replacing NO with YES.

 

[drewaz]

Try running this terminal command:

defaults write -g CGFontRenderingFontSmoothingDisabled -bool NO

You should see a change in text as a result of that command. Be sure to restart before deciding if it improves your fuzzy text.
If that does not make your text sharper, you can revert that command by running it again, replacing NO with YES.

thanks man but I am a total non techie and have never ventured into terminal.

I see now though that there is a check box for "use font smoothing when available" ... should this make any difference? Mine is checked by default.

 

[DeltaMac]

You can try turning that font-smoothing setting off.

But, the terminal command directly affects how text is displayed, by changing how the pixels are actually displayed in a font (anti-aliasing), and can make text characters sharper.

There's more details on this page.

 

[getrealbro]

The freeware application Tinkertool provides lots of system level adjustments without needing to use the terminal.



GetRealBro

 

[drewaz]

The freeware application Tinkertool provides lots of system level adjustments without needing to use the terminal.
View attachment 801081
View attachment 801082

GetRealBro

Thanks .... will give it a try

 

[Spazturtle]

thanks man but I am a total non techie and have never ventured into terminal.

I see now though that there is a check box for "use font smoothing when available" ... should this make any difference? Mine is checked by default.

You just copy and paste it into the terminal and press enter, it really isn't hard.

 

[F1Mac]

No matter what you do, and yes I have run that terminal command that supposedly brings back subpixel AA, and I have played with the various font smoothing settings, here what you get in Logic Pro X preferences window for example:

In High Sierra (and before) this was never an issue and text was perfectly readable. Not anymore.

...I mean seriously? I like Mojave and I don't want to downgrade, but this is pretty lame. I can't believe no one at Apple noticed that during the last year when Mojave was in development.

 

[SoCalReviews]

No matter what you do, and yes I have run that terminal command that supposedly brings back subpixel AA, and I have played with the various font smoothing settings, here what you get in Logic Pro X preferences window for example:

View attachment 802429

In High Sierra (and before) this was never an issue and text was perfectly readable. Not anymore.

View attachment 802433

...I mean seriously? I like Mojave and I don't want to downgrade, but this is pretty lame. I can't believe no one at Apple noticed that during the last year when Mojave was in development.

Agreed. This is REALLY lame. Apple should apply a fix for those who use non-retina screens... especially considering this falls under the category of an important "Accessibility" issue that could inhibit Mac owners with vision problems from being able to properly read certain text and therefore limit use of their Macs with Mojave OS installed.

 

[drewaz]

it's also bad on retina screens

 

[x34]

is there a fix for this?

it looks bad on retina screens as well

 

[puma1552]

Try turning LCD font smoothing OFF. I've had it on for the past ten years - until Mojave. Now fonts are thinner/crisper/sharper - noticably so - with it off, oddly enough. Turning that off reminds me of iOS 7 fonts.

As for non-retina displays, yeah it looks like garbage with font smoothing either on or off, unfortunately. So much so that I finally have my ACD listed on Craigslist. I mean it's still usable, sure, but it was already at a disadvantage compared to a retina screen displaying the same 1920 x 1200 resolution, and then the Mojave font crap just tanks it from there.

 

[x34]

Try turning LCD font smoothing OFF. I've had it on for the past ten years - until Mojave. Now fonts are thinner/crisper/sharper - noticably so - with it off, oddly enough. Turning that off reminds me of iOS 7 fonts.

thanks, that does in fact look better with font smoothing off!

 

[Gregg2]

Better... but "crisp" or still soggy?

 

[x34]

Better... but "crisp" or still soggy?

it's rather crisp, more like on ios devices. i also changed the system font to san francisco.

it's still different than on high sierra but well... sometimes the fonts are too small for my taste so i changed the minimum font size in safari from 9 to 12

 

[0009827]

No matter what you do, and yes I have run that terminal command that supposedly brings back subpixel AA, and I have played with the various font smoothing settings, here what you get in Logic Pro X preferences window for example:

View attachment 802429

In High Sierra (and before) this was never an issue and text was perfectly readable. Not anymore.

View attachment 802433

...I mean seriously? I like Mojave and I don't want to downgrade, but this is pretty lame. I can't believe no one at Apple noticed that during the last year when Mojave was in development.

It *logic* does not look like that on my non retina screens. Only change I did was run terminal command. “Problem” solved.