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  • From: "Bearcat M. Sandor" <Sorcerer AT TheDragonsEdge.com>
  • To: Jeremy Kolb <jkolb AT brandeis.edu>
  • Cc: SM-Discuss <SM-Discuss AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [SM-Discuss] new freetype2, interesting change
  • Date: 19 Nov 2002 17:43:36 -0700

Jeremy,


How can we tell if we have the bytecode interpreter enabled? How is it
normally done?

Bearcat

On Tue, 2002-11-19 at 17:31, Jeremy Kolb wrote:
> i thought i would pass this along, this is from the freetype2 2.1.3 faq
> thingy at http://www.freetype.org/freetype2/2.1.3-explained.htm but i
> thought i'd pass this on...
>
> Short answer: No for most people !!
>
> We now highly recommend you to *not enable the TrueType bytecode
> interpreter* when installing FreeType. That's because we believe
> that the FreeType auto-hinter now produces results that
> out-perform native TrueType hinting when it comes to rendering AA
> text.
>
> However, you might still need it in certain cases, as the one
> described here:
>
> o
>
> *you're using TrueType fonts to render monochrome text.*
> a very small number of popular TrueType fonts have very
> high-quality hints that allow them to generate extremely
> good-looking monochrome text at small character sizes.
> FreeType is not capable to match their quality with
> auto-hinting.
>
> o
>
> *you're using complex Asian TrueType fonts*
> the current auto-hinter has been optimized for non-asian
> fonts and may, in certain cases, produce unpleasant results
> with CJK ideographs.
>
> Note also that a small number of asian fonts cannot be
> rendered properly without a bytecode interpreter. That's
> because they make "clever" use of certain features of the
> bytecode interpreter to "build" correct glyph outlines at
> runtime. FreeType cannot render these fonts correctly with
> auto-hinting, and will produce instead text that looks like
> garbage.
>
> Again, we invite you to experiment with a fully anti-aliased
> desktop with FreeType 2.1.3 and no bytecode interpreter. Only if
> this doesn't suit your needs should you consider downgrading.
>
>
> Jeremy
>







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