Better fonts for easier readability on custom ROM? - Fire Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

I have currently CM12.1 rom installed on the Fire thanks to ggow and everyone else who made is possible and loving it. The default font seems ok because of the low res display. Has anybody any font suggestions for better font readability (like better hinting or something). I know the display is kind of weird on this one, it appears that it squezzes the display in vertical mode and expands it on the landscape mode.

Only seen people mention changing the dpi to get it to look better, hadn't thought about simply changing fonts.

luizat2011 said:
I have currently CM12.1 rom installed on the Fire thanks to ggow and everyone else who made is possible and loving it. The default font seems ok because of the low res display. Has anybody any font suggestions for better font readability (like better hinting or something). I know the display is kind of weird on this one, it appears that it squezzes the display in vertical mode and expands it on the landscape mode.
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I tried Segoe UI Semilight (Don't hate on me just because it is Microsoft related, Segoe is my favorite font ever.), but it was very skewed and not clear at all. I have to agree with you that the default font is the best for it in all honesty.

i'd stick to chaging the dpi setting, it will look less as a tablet and more like a phone but the overall experience es better. and let's be honest, with 1024x600 it's better this way. i currently have mine set to 200dpi

Related

Banding on images/backgrounds with gradients?

So, maybe its just me, but i notice that my nook, on any rom, does not seem to do well when displaying images that have subtle gradients. i have attached an image that i wanted to use for my background - it looks great on screen, but like crap on the nook. Anyone else notice this? I love the screen in general, but looking at that image makes it feel like i am using an 8-bit screen...
Divine_Madcat said:
So, maybe its just me, but i notice that my nook, on any rom, does not seem to do well when displaying images that have subtle gradients. i have attached an image that i wanted to use for my background - it looks great on screen, but like crap on the nook. Anyone else notice this? I love the screen in general, but looking at that image makes it feel like i am using an 8-bit screen...
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I've found it can display images fine, but that when setting it as the wallpaper it messes up the gradient and also tends to make the image blurry, as though its changing the resolution (despite the image being 1200x1024 or whatever its suppose to be(possibly 1024x1200)
Color Banding with live wallpapers enabled
Hijacking this thread.
Is anyone else noticing color banding on NC with live wallpapers enabled?
For example, take a look at your desktop with the two settings:
1. Livewallpaper + analog clock widget
2. Regular wallpaper + analog clock widget
The clock displays horrible banding in test case #1. I tested this on 7.0.3. stable and several nightlies since. I've see a few posts on this in the other device forums but most of them seem to be issues with the supported bit depth of the actual screen itself or wallpapers in general so I wasn't sure if they were applicable.
Is this an Android issue or an issue with the rom? Something else?
MattJ951 said:
I've found it can display images fine, but that when setting it as the wallpaper it messes up...
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I recommend Wallpaper Set and Save, free in the Market, to fix that problem.
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.android.wallpapersetandsave
It's a funny old app, made for Cupcake I think and hasn't been changed since then. The UI is small and kind of odd looking. Changing the default settings won't stick on my Nook Color. It really wants your wallpaper to be in SDCard/wallpapers. So it barely works, but it does make wallpaper look better.
Thanks for the suggestion. I've tried that app before but it looked like it was only for regular wallpapers (where I'm not really seeing the banding)? That or I'm dense and overlooking something.
Also where are the stock wallpapers normally stored on cm7 install?
Sent from my HTC Vision using Tapatalk
You know, there were a lot of people who noticed banding on the HD2 roms, and it did seem to vary between various roms. I never really noticed it (perhaps I used the good roms), so didn't follow it much, and couldn't say if there was a fix. But, there should be many threads on it in the HD2 android section.
I've also noticed pretty severe banding in gradients for both jpeg and png images.
Divine_Madcat said:
So, maybe its just me, but i notice that my nook, on any rom, does not seem to do well when displaying images that have subtle gradients. i have attached an image that i wanted to use for my background - it looks great on screen, but like crap on the nook. Anyone else notice this? I love the screen in general, but looking at that image makes it feel like i am using an 8-bit screen...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As said, use something besides Gallery and it'll look fine. I use Wall Switcher and have some 20 jpg's in a directory and it switches 'em every 15 minutes, but there are lots of options.
It's not the NC, the ROM... it's the app you're using to set the background.
Just to clarify, the entire desktop starts exhibiting banding (icons, Widgets) and not just the desktop background. Almost as if the os is switching color depth. Can you guys reproduce this on your cm7 installs? Maybe I need to post screens or something.
This ONLY happens when I select a livewallpaper. Regular wallpapers dont affect the widgets and desktop icons like this. If its a matter or how im setting the live wallpaper, How do you set a live wallpaper using gallery or any other apps? What directory are they stored? Thanks.
Sent from my Nook Color
7 replies and not one person mentions that the nook's screen is only 16 bit... of course there will be gradients, its a small issue and when I noticed it with a space themed background went ''meh'', and used a different one.
Kokanee483 said:
7 replies and not one person mentions that the nook's screen is only 16 bit... of course there will be gradients, its a small issue and when I noticed it with a space themed background went ''meh'', and used a different one.
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Ah. Well that would make more sense. I always thought the display was 24-bit because people are always comparing it to the Ipad screen. The clock does look distractingly bad though haha...maybe I'm just anal.
Just added some screenshots using the Grass Live Wallpaper versus one of the stock CM7 ones. For posterity.
Go to the app store and download "Large Image Viewer" it will solve all your problems. The nook color screen is an IPS display, the same as the ipad and much better than other andriod tablets. Large Image Viewer is a very fast hi res viewer and no, I am in no way affiated with them.
Tom
tommewborn said:
Go to the app store and download "Large Image Viewer" it will solve all your problems. The nook color screen is an IPS display, the same as the ipad and much better than other andriod tablets. Large Image Viewer is a very fast hi res viewer and no, I am in no way affiated with them.
Tom
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Errr...thanks but how is that related to this thread? haha
Dalingrin's OC kernels are 16-bit, stock is 24-bit. It's about that simple.
I campaigned for a way to switch live, and at one point he considered just such a kernel mod but I don't think it ever went anywhere.
Rodney
rhester72 said:
Dalingrin's OC kernels are 16-bit, stock is 24-bit. It's about that simple.
I campaigned for a way to switch live, and at one point he considered just such a kernel mod but I don't think it ever went anywhere.
Rodney
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Finally some info related to my question. Going back to the stock kernel fixed the banding issue with live wallpapers. Thank you! If anyone else is interested...details are in the OC Kernel thread (search banding, color bit depth, etc.). Wish this was explicitly stated in the OC kernel OP.
Live Wallpaper Banding
Divine_Madcat said:
So, maybe its just me, but i notice that my nook, on any rom, does not seem to do well when displaying images that have subtle gradients. i have attached an image that i wanted to use for my background - it looks great on screen, but like crap on the nook. Anyone else notice this? I love the screen in general, but looking at that image makes it feel like i am using an 8-bit screen...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm noticing the same thing. The screen seems to handle gradients in regular wallpapers fine, but gradients in Live Wallpapers look horrible. Like someone stated it's like it's changing bit-depth. I'm on a stock, totally virgin Nook Color. Does anyone know how to work around this? I'm building Live Wallpapers and what looks fine on other devices looks terrible on the Color.

LCD Density

Has anyone had success with the LDC Density app? My friend used it on his galaxy s it was pretty cool
I tried it and my phone just froze. Had to do a battery pull to fix it.
Yes, im rooted.
this has been answered multiple times in a few thread.
maybe if you tried searching you'd have an answer.
Froze on my rooted TB with Adrynalyne's Rom. Curious to see if anyone has this working.
Didn't work for me either. Just manually edited /system/build.prop to change it around. Messes with the look of the Sense Clock Widget, and certain skins for the SenseUI.
Chris Hansen said:
Didn't work for me either. Just manually edited /system/build.prop to change it around. Messes with the look of the Sense Clock Widget, and certain skins for the SenseUI.
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where in the build.prop do you edit the file?
nm found the line. it was obvious enough
FWIW 190 has been a good number for me. I was at 200 for awhile, set it at 190 today and it runs pretty well.
So I take it you aren't running Sense then? Because anything lower than 240 messed up the flip clock and some of the themes bar at the bottom.
I am sure I am not alone when I say this but does anybody know why the fonts on the screen are so massive? Was this phone originally intended for people with failing vision?
Why, with such a lot of real estate, doesn't htc squeeze in more info into the screen so that we lessen scrolling? Beats the hell out of me.... Its irritating to say the least. The net effect is that I have a bigger phone than the inc but I have exactly the same amount of info on the screen. I really do not see the point...
Rant over - now how do we lower font size and line spacing without messing everything up. Any easy fixes? In the uber z rom for the inc, gmichaelow made a zip that changed font sizes and line spacing to much lower levels without messing anything up. So its possible. LCD density is definitely not the answer.
khanam said:
I am sure I am not alone when I say this but does anybody know why the fonts on the screen are so massive? Was this phone originally intended for people with failing vision?
Why, with such a lot of real estate, doesn't htc squeeze in more info into the screen so that we lessen scrolling? Beats the hell out of me.... Its irritating to say the least. The net effect is that I have a bigger phone than the inc but I have exactly the same amount of info on the screen. I really do not see the point...
Rant over - now how do we lower font size and line spacing without messing everything up. Any easy fixes? In the uber z rom for the inc, gmichaelow made a zip that changed font sizes and line spacing to much lower levels without messing anything up. So its possible. LCD density is definitely not the answer.
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I thought the exact same thing, my Droid has a higher resolution than the Thunderbolt (480x854 for OG Droid vs. 480x800 for Thunderbolt). Everything was blown up like crazy. I don't understand why they wouldn't have gone higher for a crisper look to rival the sleek look of the iPhone. There should be font packs out there, but I'm not sure where yet. Lowering my density to 190 definitely looks a lot better for everything but the notification bar icons. I'm going to look into smaller fonts as well, but for now, I'm happy with the lowered density, as it also makes things on screen look more crisp.
I've heard people talk about this in the past, but never fully understood what it did? Any explanation of what this actually does is appreciated. Thanks in advance
Just look at my picture compared to the stock setup. Mine is much crisper and smaller. It's like upping the resolution basically.
Chris Hansen said:
I thought the exact same thing, my Droid has a higher resolution than the Thunderbolt (480x854 for OG Droid vs. 480x800 for Thunderbolt). Everything was blown up like crazy. I don't understand why they wouldn't have gone higher for a crisper look to rival the sleek look of the iPhone. There should be font packs out there, but I'm not sure where yet. Lowering my density to 190 definitely looks a lot better for everything but the notification bar icons. I'm going to look into smaller fonts as well, but for now, I'm happy with the lowered density, as it also makes things on screen look more crisp.
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Click to collapse
Thanks. Will try this. Hopefully it does not mess any widgets.
Sent from my thunderbolt
Lcd density just hangs on my phone. I'm running storm. Anybody else manage to get it working on that rom?
Sent from my thunderbolt
Does anyone have themes out for specific lowered densities? I have found that when I lower the density, the bottom dock (Where the phone, app tray and personalize button are) looks disconnected and not very nice. Only thing holding me back.
Is there a way to keep with the stock launcher and theme it so it fits or would I be forced to switch to another launcher to alleviate that problem?
going to give this a try and see how it goees
i tried 225, 220, 210 and would rather just leave it at stock 240 than have blurry status bar icons...that drives me nuts and makes the phone look like ****..the rest of the screen looked perfect at 225 for me tho..
I run at 190. I used to run at 140 on my dinc. I hate big resolutions. I don't use the sense launcher so I don't have aproblem with it getting messed up
Sent from my ADR6400L using XDA Premium App
Even manually editing the build prop (CHMOD 777) I'm unable to get the changes to take effect. Any advice?
Gimpeh said:
Even manually editing the build prop (CHMOD 777) I'm unable to get the changes to take effect. Any advice?
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Click to collapse
Use root explorer, find build.prop, open it in a text editor, change the line that says LCD density. Save and exit, reboot. Done.
FatTony666 said:
Use root explorer, find build.prop, open it in a text editor, change the line that says LCD density. Save and exit, reboot. Done.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah thats what I meant by manually changing the build prop.

[Q] Lock Screen Wallpaper

Hi to all.
I cant find a solution to my problem and maybe someone can help me.
I have found some wallpapers for our Note in the right resolution (800x1280) to use these in my lockscreen.
The problem is that when i choose a wallpaper with lot of black color and choose it as lockscreen wallpaper i can see some horizontal lines on it.
If i choose the same image as phone wallpaper everything is ok.
Where is the problem?
Thank you all.
I have the exact same issue. Horizontal lines on lock screen, but looks fine everywhere else. I don't have the solution, but maybe I can help you out a bit.
I did some searching, it turns out that there's some sort of software bug that doesn't allow black images to be truly black but rather very dark grey. The thread is somewhere in this forum.
Also the native lock screen resolution is actually smaller than the screen resolution because of the notification bar. Per this forum: http://androidforums.com/htc-hero/37268-lockscreen-resolution-compression-issues-false-info.html
Also when you set an image to be the lock screen, it seems the picture is re-scalled and saved again (in another directory), which means compressed again.
Android phones usually don't display images in 24 or 32 bit color but rather 16 bit color, which means color banding. More on that information somewhere in this thread also.
My suggestion is:
1. Find out the native lock screen resolution. I'm also searching for the figure.
2. Edit your photo, change it to that resolution, and make sure the black areas of that image are truly digitally black (000000), and save it as an uncompressed image.
Maybe the horizontal lines are because the image is being re-scalled, re compressed, and the image being displayed at 16 bit color with a "true black but" is resulting in horizontal lines.
The solution is this. I'm using it and black is perfect.
LordManhattan said:
The solution is this. I'm using it and black is perfect.
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Click to collapse
Not bad idea at all...I have used widgetlocker in my previous phones but somehow i had some little problems like small lugs or battery draining.
I dont know if in the latest version is fixed.
But ill try cause i love black lockscreen in our huge super screen...
edit:Not working properly for me cause i have lower destiny...
Ah, what a shame! But WL does work, so if you ever go back to the stock density i highly recommend you using it.
Magick locker is free so you can test that, get a theme and customize wallpaper, set any black image and its fine. so its samsung lockscreen software bug
One simple solution, use wallpaper wizardrii!!
It solved all my wallpaper problems!
Wicked app & highly recommended. Link - https://market.android.com/details?id=com.twistedapps.wallpaperwizardrii&hl=en
Functions of wallpaper wizardrii:
Wallpaper Wizardrii, "Changing the way you set wallpaper" ™.
Twisted Apps just bought an Asus Transformer to make WW work for tablets. We have a beta so if you want to try it e-mail.
Set your own images, Portrait, Landscape, and Crop; all with No Scroll or Scroll. Check out set Exact or Crop Exact! Set images from WW, file browser, or Android's Gallery (Share as). Check Home App compatibility with No Scroll option (only).

[Q] Increase DPI of Galaxy Note

I know most of you with think why would i want to increase the DPI of Galaxy note.. Lets just say a special person needs to use it and requires REALLY REALY LARGE fonts.. The largest possible hopefully.. is it possible to increase the DPI higher than 320? if so how?.. Most apps i found only limit to 320 DPI.. what is a safe DPI can i use higher than 320?.. Thanks alot..
if you need large font, just go to settings, accessibility, and change the font size from 'normal' to 'huge'. that should help with some apps. but i think what you want is lower dpi. fonts occupy a set number of pixels on screen. higher dpi makes the pixels smaller and hence font smaller, lower dpi makes the pixels larger, hence font larger.
Souai said:
if you need large font, just go to settings, accessibility, and change the font size from 'normal' to 'huge'. that should help with some apps. but i think what you want is lower dpi. fonts occupy a set number of pixels on screen. higher dpi makes the pixels smaller and hence font smaller, lower dpi makes the pixels larger, hence font larger.
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Its already in Huge but, the its still to small for him to read.. If i decrease the DPI, The resolution of the phone increases and the fonts become smaller.. I tried it.. So far, i got the screen to go up to 400 DPI and the fonts get larger, however if i go beyond the default 320 DPI, the settings application FC.. Anyone have an advice?
xyzsor said:
Its already in Huge but, the its still to small for him to read.. If i decrease the DPI, The resolution of the phone increases and the fonts become smaller.. I tried it.. So far, i got the screen to go up to 400 DPI and the fonts get larger, however if i go beyond the default 320 DPI, the settings application FC.. Anyone have an advice?
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Click to collapse
Not sure if and how it'll work for you, but there's a "Font changer" app on the market, which can resplace default Droids Sans font on rooted device with any .ttf font of your choosing.
What you could try - if DPI attempts fail - is finding some readable font which will be bigger on the screen. What I mean is that when I tried replacing default device font with e.g. Segoe UI or Tahoma or Calibri (copied from my Windows), some of those fonts were visibly smaller or bigger than Droid Sans - maybe there is sth that's much much bigger than the rest - Arial Black or Impact perhaps?
also - CyanogenMod builds for other devices had small app called Spare Parts, which enabled changing the deafualt font size for all apps. There is similar Spare Parts app on the market, did not try it, but maybe it also has the same ability
xyzsor said:
Its already in Huge but, the its still to small for him to read.. If i decrease the DPI, The resolution of the phone increases and the fonts become smaller.. I tried it.. So far, i got the screen to go up to 400 DPI and the fonts get larger, however if i go beyond the default 320 DPI, the settings application FC.. Anyone have an advice?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The higher the DPI the smaller the fonts will get. Best try to get some large fonts installed. If you are able to change DPI then it means you are rooted so try Absolute System Root Tools or Jrummy Root Toolbox and both have a lot of fonts ranging from small to large and they change the fonts of every text on the phone !!!
I also thought higher DPI, smaller font size. But indeed, higher DPI, bigger font size (like in PC Display)
on ICS, Changing DPI causes bootloop
Has anyone noticed that making these changes on ICS causes the phone to fail to boot? Quite annoying, as I'd like to make better use of the screen estate.
Actually if you use romtoolbox it wont fail at boot. At least with fpi bigger then 219
Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk 2

[Q] Font Size option

Hi guys, I am currently on ICS Stunner and in settings>display there is an option to change font size, which i set to small and is perfect for the note screen.
I can't find a similar option on any of the Samsung ICS roms i have tried, meaning fonts are HUGE and does no justice to the note's screen size or resolution.
Is there any way to manually change the font size without changing overall screen density?
I really want my s-pen features back and this is the only thing that's keeping me on AOSP.
Spare parts doesn't change overall font size, best thing i've found is https://play.google.com/store/apps/...51bGwsMSwxLDIxMiwib3JnLnBieGVzLmZvbnRzaXplIl0
My problem with this app is that it doesn't support custom fonts (or so the comments seem to suggest) and i think i read somewhere that this app just installs the default font at varying sizes, something which i could do myself in a few minutes without spending money on a useless app.
Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
EDIT: I have also seen this app https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.a0soft.gphone.bfont&hl=en but it seems to have odd bugs on the Note.

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