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Author Topic: Mac OS X Fonts? Horribly Jagged  (Read 5491 times)

vmartell

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Mac OS X Fonts? Horribly Jagged
« on: January 08, 2016, 12:05:10 am »

Hello - Currently evaluating JRiver on Mac OS X

1) Sound-wise -  seems wonderful
2) However GUI wise - bothers me a lot - I may be able to live with the fact that does not look like a Mac App  BUT
3) Fonts look very jagged on my display - not retina, just a 1920x1200 display - not very new but compared to JRiver the fonts on everything (iTunes, etc) else look beautiful

This is almost a deal breaker - I wanna like JRiver - feature wise is very competitive with the insanely priced Roon Labs, but those fonts just drive me crazy - nothing seemed to fix it - changing font, font size, skin or interface size did nothing

Has anyone solved this? Is there a way? Or is at least a fix promised? Or better yet a native Cocoa version?

Thnx!

v
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JimH

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Re: Mac OS X Fonts? Horribly Jagged
« Reply #1 on: January 08, 2016, 12:33:37 am »

Welcome to the forum.  You can change the fonts in MC's options.

Try Retina mode in View -> Size.
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blgentry

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Re: Mac OS X Fonts? Horribly Jagged
« Reply #2 on: January 08, 2016, 08:57:08 am »

This is almost a deal breaker - I wanna like JRiver - feature wise is very competitive with the insanely priced Roon Labs, but those fonts just drive me crazy - nothing seemed to fix it - changing font, font size, skin or interface size did nothing

I'm assuming that changing fonts in the dialog *does* change fonts, but it's still jaggy?  I'm using a 15" MBP and I never noticed the jaggies until you said something.  I think I see some jagginess in the curves of fonts.  But they are mostly small enough (on my display) that they don't stand out.  I'm guessing you're using at least a 21", if not a 27" display?  That would probably make them stand out a lot more.

Quote
Has anyone solved this? Is there a way? Or is at least a fix promised? Or better yet a native Cocoa version?

This is the first I've ever heard of this, so I'm not sure if the developers are aware.  As for a Cocoa version that's exceedingly unlikely.  JRiver has their own library for graphics.  This is what lets them develop for Windows, Mac, and Linux simultaneously.  I don't think they will be transitioning to a native OS X toolkit any time soon.  But I'm not a developer, so that's just my opinion.

Brian.

v
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vmartell

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Re: Mac OS X Fonts? Horribly Jagged
« Reply #3 on: January 08, 2016, 03:29:59 pm »

Welcome to the forum.  You can change the fonts in MC's options.

Try Retina mode in View -> Size.

Thanks for the reply - that helped a little bit; it is still very rough compared to other apps, but it did seem to make a bit of a difference - will continue evaluating, see how it changes with daily use.

Agains, thanks for your time and prompt reply

v
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vmartell

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Re: Mac OS X Fonts? Horribly Jagged
« Reply #4 on: January 08, 2016, 03:39:24 pm »

I'm assuming that changing fonts in the dialog *does* change fonts, but it's still jaggy?  I'm using a 15" MBP and I never noticed the jaggies until you said something.  I think I see some jagginess in the curves of fonts.  But they are mostly small enough (on my display) that they don't stand out.  I'm guessing you're using at least a 21", if not a 27" display?  That would probably make them stand out a lot more.

This is the first I've ever heard of this, so I'm not sure if the developers are aware.  As for a Cocoa version that's exceedingly unlikely.  JRiver has their own library for graphics.  This is what lets them develop for Windows, Mac, and Linux simultaneously.  I don't think they will be transitioning to a native OS X toolkit any time soon.  But I'm not a developer, so that's just my opinion.

Brian.

v


1) Fonts do change... I actually took the time to try all the "english" fonts at different sizes... still jagged

2) Indeed - 27 inch monitor running at 1920X1200

3) Yeah - it does look like there is single code base for all those platforms, developed against a common toolkit - looks a bit like Java to me, but I may be wrong.... If that is the approach, yeah, a native version would be difficult.

Thanks for your help!

v
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glynor

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Re: Mac OS X Fonts? Horribly Jagged
« Reply #5 on: January 08, 2016, 06:07:05 pm »

3) Yeah - it does look like there is single code base for all those platforms, developed against a common toolkit - looks a bit like Java to me, but I may be wrong.... If that is the approach, yeah, a native version would be difficult.

It is not Java, nor anything like that. MC is native and is written entirely in C++ (like much of OSX itself is). It is not written against the AppKit frameworks, however. JRiver built their own cross-platform framework entirely in C++ (which is no small feat, I'll add).

For the record, 1920x1200 is a very low density for a 27" display. You're probably seeing differences in how anti-aliasing works through AppKit vs. JRiver's display framework. They could possibly do a better job, but...

At that pixel density, all fonts have blatant jaggies. You can hide them by blurring them (with AA) but that makes them fuzzy.
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vmartell

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Re: Mac OS X Fonts? Horribly Jagged
« Reply #6 on: January 08, 2016, 07:19:28 pm »

It is not Java, nor anything like that. MC is native and is written entirely in C++ (like much of OSX itself is). It is not written against the AppKit frameworks, however. JRiver built their own cross-platform framework entirely in C++ (which is no small feat, I'll add).

For the record, 1920x1200 is a very low density for a 27" display. You're probably seeing differences in how anti-aliasing works through AppKit vs. JRiver's display framework. They could possibly do a better job, but...

At that pixel density, all fonts have blatant jaggies. You can hide them by blurring them (with AA) but that makes them fuzzy.

1) Ah! Thnx for the info - interesting - it does have a little bit of a Java feel - then again java itself is also a C/C++ cross platform framework and platform...  but indeed not a small feat!

2) my bad - 21 inch at 1920x1200, not 27! - while not 4K or Retina resolution, my whole point is that is very noticeable against other apps in the same computer and monitor  - and that difference is making my brain and OCD go crazy, hence the question to try and fix that and make it look the same as other apps in the same computer and monitor. Pls be assured I am not comparing against retina or similar displays - I just wish JRiver would look the same as the other apps *again, in the same computer and monitor*... all those other apps confirm that it could look better...

3) That said (and to finish on very positive note) otherwise very impressed with JRiver - sound quality  is great - handles my hires file effortlessly... and is a single app. No issues supporting my Schiit Audio system. And it handles video to boot! Like I said, very impressed.

Thanks again!

v

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Awesome Donkey

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Re: Mac OS X Fonts? Horribly Jagged
« Reply #7 on: January 08, 2016, 07:36:26 pm »

On my 27" 1440p screen, fonts are a bit jaggy, so I've had to go through all available fonts and sizes to find an acceptable font that isn't as jaggy.

How would you apply AA to the fonts in MC?
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