[Okular-devel] [PATCH] Fix rendering of DVI documents

[Benoit Jacob]

2009/10/2 Albert Astals Cid <aacid at kde.org>:
> A Divendres, 2 d'octubre de 2009, Elvis Stansvik va escriure:
>> 2009/10/2 Albert Astals Cid <aacid at kde.org>:
>> > A Divendres, 2 d'octubre de 2009, Benoit Jacob va escriure:
>> >> Hi List,
>> >>
>> >> I noticed that the rendering of DVI documents was broken exactly in
>> >> the same way as what I observed with PDF documents, namely, it used
>> >> auto-hinting which looks especially bad with TeX fonts.
>> >>
>> >> Attached is a 1-line patch that changes it. I need your permission to
>> >>  commit.
>> >>
>> >> Screenshots:
>> >> * original :
>> >>  http://picasaweb.google.ca/lh/photo/fry54ANy23UesNpFhbWanA?feat=directl
>> >>ink * fixed :
>> >>  http://picasaweb.google.ca/lh/photo/OjQIZ7Of6wP74k7fKUwXTw?feat=directl
>> >>ink
>> >>
>> >> Here are some comments before one objects that disabling hinting is
>> >> just a matter of taste, etc.
>> >>
>> >> First, it's obvious that the "original" screenshot linked above is
>> >> horrible and that the "fixed" is the one that looks good.
>> >>
>> >> Second, it is a consensus on the Poppler/PDF side that one should use
>> >> no hinting, and then, there's no reason why DVI should be any
>> >> different. To summarize the situation on the PDF side:
>> >> * poppler/cairo (hence Evince) 's code completely disables hinting
>> >> * poppler/splash (hence Okular) 's code _meant_ to completely disable
>> >> hinting (actually only auto-hinting, but in the context of DVI that's
>> >> really the same because almost all DVI files use Type 1 fonts, and
>> >> bytecode only exists in TrueType fonts). It was a clear bug in the
>> >> code, where it was clear that the code didn't do what it intended,
>> >> that resulted in hinted fonts being used.
>> >>
>> >> Third, the old KDVI used to not do any hinting, I'm completely sure of
>> >> that because I've spent hundreds of hours looking at documents in it.
>> >> I remember distinctly the (imho beautiful) slightly fuzzy look of the
>> >> TeX fonts in it, that is characteristic of non-hinted text, although
>> >> at that time I didn't know about hinting. That said, I used "svn
>> >> annotate" to see who enabled hinting in the C++ code, and it turns out
>> >> to be Stefan Kebekus himself in an old revision (240000-something). I
>> >> am puzzled about that, but I still maintain that KDVI didn't use
>> >> hinting on all the Linux systems that I tried. My best guess is that
>> >> Stefan Kebekus _thought_ that he had enabled hinting but for some
>> >> reason it wasn't used. I haven't investigated further as this is quite
>> >> intricate, and of course I only have Okular's code at hand, I haven't
>> >> looked at the actual KDVI code.
>> >>
>> >> OK to commit?
>> >
>> > No, actually what it is clear that *you* don't like hinting, and you have
>> > a certain amount of followers, the problem is that typically people that
>> > is happy with a setting is not much active defending it because they are
>> > happy in their sofas.
>> >
>> > My suggestion is adding a configuration option that lets the user choose
>> > between "No Hinting", "Hinting" and "Hinting as set in KDE settings". For
>> > KDE 4.3.x we can add it, it set in "Hinting" and the only configuration
>> > option will be thought non GUI as we can't add translatable texts. For
>> > KDE 4.4.x we can default to "No Hinting" if others here (basically Pino,
>> > Brad, Tokoe) agree.
>>
>> I'm not one of those three, but I'll just chime in anyway and say that
>> I agree with Benoit that, at least in the example he gave, it's very
>> obvious that the non-hinted version looks much better. I'm not trying
>> to troll here, but come on, in some places the hinted one is hardly
>> readable, the characters are all jumpy; e.g. the 'T' in the very first
>> word. I don't know if this is a bug in the hinting or just the way
>> it's supposed to look.
>>
>> Anyway, this doesn't make me a "follower" of Benoit; I'm just calling
>> it like I see it ;)
>
> That's one PDF in one hundred, and i've already felt too many times people
> hating me becuase I changed something I considered mintor but was critical for
> them, so for me it's a setting all the way.
>
> Albert
>
>>
>> Cheers,
>> Elvis
>>
>> > Comments?
>> >
>> > Albert
>> >
>> >> Benoit
>> >
>> > _______________________________________________
>> > Okular-devel mailing list
>> > Okular-devel at kde.org
>> > https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/okular-devel
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Okular-devel mailing list
>> Okular-devel at kde.org
>> https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/okular-devel
>>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Okular-devel mailing list
> Okular-devel at kde.org
> https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/okular-devel
>