a resource for investigating how people read on screens :::
university
of texas > school of information
::: microsoft typography research
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We are investigating the
user response to Microsoft's ClearType™ font enhacement technology.
ClearType is a setting that is manipulated through the operating system of devices
using
Liquid Crystal Display screens. ClearType works by altering the vertical color
stripe within a pixel,
allowing for changes in how the text looks at fractional levels. These changes
are intended to enhance
the resolution of the screen text and improve readability.
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Images from microsoft.com/typography |
 |
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Regular
text (without ClearType)
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ClearType
text
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Spring 2006 Update The results from Study 3 will be presented at CHI 2006 (Montreal, April 22-27). Here's the unofficial version of the CHI 2006 paper (after April 27, 2006 please cite and use the copy available from ACM's Digital Library): Since Study 3, we've collected and analyzed data on how users transition back-and-forth between ClearType and regular text. Further results on our ClearType work will be published later this year in a comprehensive article. |
Latest Reports:
In Study 1 we looked at
whether individuals have a preference for choosing ClearType text when
given a choice of
three different font styles--some of which had ClearType, and others that were
just regular text. We found that people selected text with ClearType 80% of
the time.
In Study 2, we investigated
user behavior as participants completed standard everyday office tasks
(with either ClearType on or off) such as editing a Word document, scanning
an Excel spreadsheet,
and reading an on line article. When ClearType was present, participants read
from a computer screen
approximately 30 seconds faster.
In Study 3 we followed up on the results of Study 2 by examining separately the scanning and reading tasks.
In this report, we find continued support that on average, users perform tasks faster with ClearType.
Turning ClearType On:
If you have Windows XP, you can turn ClearType on by:
Research Team:
Former Team Members:
