JDK-6436899 : Type1 hinting: Luxi Sans 13 pt look bad
  • Type: Enhancement
  • Component: client-libs
  • Sub-Component: 2d
  • Affected Version: 6
  • Priority: P3
  • Status: Closed
  • Resolution: Not an Issue
  • OS: generic
  • CPU: generic
  • Submitted: 2006-06-09
  • Updated: 2020-04-07
  • Resolved: 2020-04-07
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Description
Intial support for Type1 hints introduced in mustang helped to improve quality of type1 fonts in 
many cases but still there are many cases to be improved.

In particular glyphs 'bdeg' (size 13) and some others of font 
/usr/share/X11/fonts/Type1/l048013t.pfa: "Luxi Sans" "Regular" 
look bad (B&W or greyscale).

This specific font and those specific glyphs are important
because they are the worst offenders in what seems to be a standard
font on some configs 
(E.g. this font is picked as font matching desktop font 'sans' on Fedora Core 4).

Screenshot of Netbeans illustrating problems is attached.

Note that this bug is different from umbrella RFE 6331344.
It focuses on particular problems and at first glance these glyphs mostly use 
hints already supported by jdk rasterizer but contains many non-trivial curves. 
Would be great if we can better apply these hints to curves.
I added screenshot of NetBeans main menu under Linux Fedora core, where font problems are unfortunately very visible.

Comments
Not using T2k anymore
07-04-2020

These are all approved for deferral to JDK 9 so you can update the FixVersion to state JDK 9. Kind regards, Mathias
29-08-2013

These are all approved for deferral to JDK 9 so you can update the FixVersion to state JDK 9. Kind regards, Mathias
29-08-2013

These are all approved for deferral to JDK 9 so you can update the FixVersion to state JDK 9. Kind regards, Mathias
29-08-2013

Converted "8-client-defer-candidate" label to "8-defer-request" by SQE' OK.
15-08-2013

*This is anti-deferral criteria list*: - P2 -------------- Engineering's Criteria ------------------------------------- - tck-red labeled - conformance labeled - P3 regressions reported/labeled against jdk8 - findbugs, parfait, eht labeled bugs - CAP <1 year reported - netbeans <1 year reported Victor ----------------- SQE's OK --------------------------------- Yes, we are ok with that thanks, Mikhail
15-08-2013

EVALUATION As part of fix for 4356282 support for Type1 hinting was improved and Luxi (and other) fonts look somewhat better now. However, further improvements are required. In particular, bfde glyphs from 13pt Luxi still have to bold curve segments. Presumably because absence of support for hstem3/vstem3 or some other hints. Need further investigation.
21-10-2008

EVALUATION According to ###@###.###, as of the Fedora Core 6 release, the default font (the one that maps to Sans by default) is no longer Luxi (a Type1 font) but rather the Deja Vu font suite (a TrueType font derived from the Bitstream Vera family used on other Linux distros): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DejaVu_fonts So while it is still worth fixing this issue in the context of other (older) distros that still use Type1 fonts by default, it is perhaps less urgent now.
14-11-2006

WORK AROUND If using Fedora Core (4/5/6/whatever), one can install TrueType fonts, which will not exhibit this particular problem. Here are some instructions from a local FC5 user: ---- See http://www.stanton-finley.net/fedora_core_5_installation_notes.html#True how to do that. (You should logout/login after font installation.) Then you can select font in Preferences -> Font. (Installed fonts can be found at /usr/share/fonts/msttcorefonts. I use Arial and it looks ok for me.) ----
07-11-2006