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blurry font on yosemite

so i've upgraded to yosemite.

overall i like it, simplified and more like iOS

however the first thing that hit me is how blurry all the text is everywhere!

it's pretty awful, i'm sure it wasn't that bad with mavericks

the menu bar at the top of the screen is worse of all, i really don't understand what is going on here.it's bad and i hope it will be addressed in an update

i think you can see from this screen shot how the web text is fairly clear whilst the menu bar is blurry

iMac, OS X Yosemite (10.10)

Posted on Oct 17, 2014 7:37 AM

206 replies

lenunu

Level 1

0 points

Oct 18, 2014 6:18 AM in response to Philippe Mion

Guys, I had the same issue, just got to Preference>General Settings> uncheck "Font Smoothing for LCD" and restart the computer.

Oct 18, 2014 2:35 PM in response to lenunu

Setting AppleFontSmoothing to 1 or unchecking font smoothing for lcd does not improve font rendering for me.

sadproz

Level 1

6 points

Oct 18, 2014 5:25 PM in response to yann31415

Did you restart the computer after unchecking "Use LCD font smoothing when available" ?

That did it for me. It's been hours and I haven't seen it come back.

Oct 18, 2014 7:28 PM in response to Philippe Mion

There is a bug. I logged it during the GM candidates, but Apple seem to have released it anyway.

After a reboot it is fine, but if you go to the Dashboard, or Mission Control, a few times, and back to the Desktop, the fonts become blurred.

The fix is to reboot.

Pretty bad bug you would think. Hopefully fixed in a patch very very soon!

wrxtasy

Level 1

25 points

Oct 18, 2014 9:05 PM in response to Jamie Curmi

Thanks to everyone for their suggestions, so far these have worked for me:

1. Reducing Transparency

2. Turning off LCD Font Smoothing

and another one which really helped for me..

3. System Preferences > Accessibility > Increase Contrast

For all those suffering Safari users - I highly suggest you download this extension as well - ZoomBySite:

http://www.cerimorgan.com/products/zoombysite/

https://extensions.apple.com/details/?id=com.cerimorgan.zoombysite-FALSCNZCPM

It's infuriating that Apple still has not fixed this basic ability to remember my Zoom status when I visit webpages, OS X used to stand for readability and useability.

Sadly Apple designers now concentrate on the WOW factor and have neglected the basic needs of the mainstream user.

Oct 18, 2014 9:18 PM in response to Philippe Mion

I have a 2010AirMB and RetinaMBP.

The font and controls look great on the RetinaMBP, but terrible on the non-retina AirMB.

The dramatic reduction in quality for non-retina devices is completely unnecessary and not appreciated!

Eluisg

Level 1

15 points

Oct 18, 2014 11:58 PM in response to iPotential

The same for me! I have a MB Air 2013 and this morning I downgraded back to Mavericks because my eyes were really tired after working 2 hours with Yosemite. It is a shame... I would like to work with Yosemite but I do not want to get blind in 1 month...

Edit: I tried the solutions above and for me it is still being extremely uncomfortable.

Oct 19, 2014 3:54 AM in response to Jamie Curmi

Exactly. This has nothing to do with preferences for antialiasing or whatever, it is simply a bug.

When restarted, the fonts look good, even when LCD font smoothing is enabled. After some minutes or hours of use, suddenly the fonts become smeary. And not even the fonts, but also the icons in the menu bar. I hope this wil be fixed soon. Luckily, most fonts inside applications still appear normal.

Oct 19, 2014 4:41 AM in response to Oliver Matuschin

For me the fonts remains the same after hours. So no bug here.

In the other hand I have very good results with "Use LCD font smoothing" on (yes on), "Increase Contrast" on and "Display contrast level" at 0,5 (in accessibility).

Rendered on an iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2012)

Oct 20, 2014 6:47 AM in response to Philippe Mion

well, as the OP, I can see the issue was generally shared.

What I can say now, a few days later, is that the issue appears to have resolved itself without my having done anything about it!

I have repaired the permissions today, remembering that it is good practice after a major OS update and the menu bar appears to be as 'relatively' clear and sharp as usual, no more blurriness about, so all is well.

Eluisg

Level 1

15 points

Oct 20, 2014 6:59 AM in response to Philippe Mion

Philippe Mion, by repairing the permissions do you mean the option "repair permissions" in disc utility? Thanks!

I downgraded to Mavericks after 3 hours with Yosemite but if this problem is actually solved maybe I will upgrade again 🙂

Oct 20, 2014 7:37 AM in response to Eluisg

Yes, it is the repair permissions from disk utility.

an apple specialist in an apple store once told me it's always a good practice to perform this little task after a major OS upgrade.

whether this is all it takes to address the blurry issue, I don't know, but for me, there's no more blurriness anyway.

All the best!

sadproz

Level 1

6 points

Oct 20, 2014 7:49 AM in response to Philippe Mion

I fresh-installed Yosemite—meaning I wiped the HD first, then installed Yosemite—so I can't imagine repairing permissions helps since that would be an issue of installing one OS over the other, sans wiping the HD.

Oct 20, 2014 7:56 AM in response to Philippe Mion

Repairing permissions has not been necessary for almost a decade. 🙂 I promise, it has nothing to do with this issue, which is either a bug or related to the LCD font smoothing option.

http://daringfireball.net/2006/04/repair_permissions_voodoo

Oct 20, 2014 3:15 PM in response to Jamie Curmi

Jamie Curmi wrote:

The fix is to reboot.

A reboot is not required. You can log off your account and log in to your account again.

blurry font on yosemite