White Glow and Thin Letters on New Build

[Algus44]

Hey everyone. I've completed my new build with a 1060 Nvidia GPU and Windows 10 Home.

I've been messing around for a few days no with no luck to my current problem:

I upgraded from a very old computer (Vista) and I play on a 40' LED TV through HDMI. On that computer and display everything was crisp and clear.

Now, on this new build of mine, I find that any text with a small font size that's on a white or gray background will appear very thin and usually have a white shadow or blurry effect behind it.

It makes it really frustrating when trying to read message boards or code. It's also sometimes hard to read the little tabs on property windows, and even the details inside. So, I've finally come here asking for help.

I've tried nearly everything I can think of from adjusting the TV settings, as well as the settings in the Nvidia Control Panel.

I've done the Clear Type Text test dozens of times, using the most bold of fonts to no avail.

I force updated the Creator's Update today, reading that it might help, but I can't tell any difference.

These are the notable things that I can think of that could be affecting this:

Resolution: 1920 x 1080 with 150% DPI.
GPU: Nvidia 1060
Display: 40' LED TV

I've tried switching the resolution back to when I was on Vista (1366 x 768 100% DPI) and it fixes the white shadow problem, but makes everything blurry.

Drivers are up to date, and I've tried everything I can think of except buying new display cords.

If anyone has any feedback on what I can try, I'd really appreciate any assistance, thanks!

 

[1LiquidPC]

I'd turn scaling off/default back to 100% DPI. I have a GTX 970 in my HTPC on a 42" LED TV at 1080P using HDMI. Windows defaults to 100% DPI. No issues for me with this setting with clarity, though its a bedroom PC and TV is closer.

 

[Solandri]

You've likely got two different things going on. Thankfully both have the same solution.

When a TV gets an HDMI signal, it assumes it's video (like from a Blu-ray player or a cable box), not input from a computer. Video is overscanned. The 1920x1080 pixels in the image is enlarged so it's slightly bigger than the screen, the edges are trimmed off, and the cropped section is resampled to fit the 1920x1080 pixels on the screen. Overscanning is not very noticeable in video (and in fact can make some video appear smoother). But it's terrible for computer text and makes it blurry. I won't get into why TVs overscan - you can read about it here.

https://www.cnet.com/news/overscan-youre-not-seeing-the-whole-picture-on-your-tv/

The thin white shadow is called unsharp masking. Your brain has certain cells in its visual cortex which get very excited when it detects edges. Any time there's a bright line beside a dark line, these cells yell "edge!" at the rest of your brain. The more they do this, the sharper your brain thinks an image is.

Print and video people ran across this phenomenon, and came up with a process called unsharp masking specifically to excite these cells in your brain. It exaggerates edges by making the dark side darker, and the light side lighter. Even though this actually degrades image quality, it tricks people into thinking the print or video image is sharper.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unsharp_masking

The ruse falls apart when you're looking at very fine details like computer text. The white "shadow" is actually the unsharp-masked brighter region to counterpoint the black text.

As with overscan, the TV does this automatically when it detects a video image (unless you've turned the sharpness on the TV all the way to zero). So the trick to getting it to display properly is to tell the TV that, no, this isn't video, this is a computer image. Unfortunately, every TV manufacturer seems to have a different name for it. Look through the TV's picture or input settings for something called Direct or PC or 1:1 or something similar. That will tell the TV that it's receiving a computer image, and will disable overscan and sharpness.

In some cases, your video card may also be causing overscan. I'm not quite sure why - I think it's a vestige from Nvidia's attempt to make their video cards more TV-friendly way back in the day. But nevertheless the capability is present on some video cards, and can get you into trouble if it's somehow enabled. To disable it:

Right-click desktop -> Nvidia Control Panel -> under Display, adjust desktop size and position
On Scaling tab -> No scaling
On Size tab - uncheck Enable desktop resizing

You should only use the Nvidia settings if your TV does not have a 1:1 mode to disable overscan.

 

[Algus44]

Hey, Solandri. I really appreciate your detailed reply!

I went into the Control Panel and the scaling mode was set to "Aspect Ratio" so I switched it too "No Scaling" but I saw no difference between the 3 options after choosing each one and hitting Apply. So I don't think it's that.

I checked on the "Size Tab", and the "Enable Desktop Resizing" was already unchecked. I checked it off just to test and it made no difference. I did hit the Overscan option, and I can see how it zooms in the screen and causes everything to become jagged, but that one isn't my problem unfortunately.

I took some screenshots of the Control Panel and the Recycle bin menu to show what I mean about the white shadow, but then when I look at the screenshot, I can't see the white blur so I'm not really sure what's going on with that.

When I take a picture with my phone, I can see the white blurry shadow, but it doesn't look as bad when looking at it up close as opposed to 6~8 feet away.

Any thoughts?

[EDIT]

So I double checked and these are my 2 options right now unless I have a fix:

1920 x 1080 @ 150 DPI: Causes white shadows with dark text on light background & thin letters. Some things become very hard to read like when reading the "Properties" menu.

1366 x 768 @ 100% DPI (No Scaling): Causes all text to become blurry, but everything is readable no matter the situation. Very hard on the eyes.

Nice options 🙁

 

[1LiquidPC]

• 
  

Same TV as old setup as well? What does 1080P 100% look like vs. the others?

 

[Algus44]

Yeah, still using the same TV. If I plug in my old computer using the same HDMI everything is crisp and perfect.

If I do 1920 x 1080 @ 100DPI everything is too small to read at my distance and the white shadows are still there.

 

[Algus44]

Is there anyone else who can think of anything? Any input is appreciated

 

[1LiquidPC]

Only other thought is Windows 10 itself changed something with text vs. Vista.

 

[Algus44]

Yeah, so guess I'm stuck with 2 poisons.

I'm going to go with my 2nd option of 1366 x 768, even if it isn't recommended. At least I'll be at 100% DPI. It may make things blurry in general, but the way 1920 looks with that white blur is just too much for me.

Thanks for your feedback guys.