Regression: editor text is blurry on Linux with 125% text scaling

[soren121]

Using Arch Linux with Gnome/Gtk+ 3.18.

In versions 0.9.2 and below, VS Code ignored the text scaling factor in Gnome 3 and rendered its UI text at 100% scale instead of 125% as I had set. (The text scaling factor can be set with gnome-tweak-tool.) To compensate, I set the editor text size to 17, which worked fine.

As of 0.10.1, VS Code now seems to respect the text scaling factor. However, the editor text is noticeably blurry. Changing the editor text size or font does not help. The UI text, on the other hand, seems to be rendered correctly.

I've uploaded comparisons here: http://imgur.com/a/nPLUP
I recommend you view them at 1:1 scale to see the differences clearly.

[bpasero]

This is a known issue with the Electron update we did. We plan to fix this in the next update when Electron has advanced.

[soren121]

Great! Thanks for the response, I'm looking forward to the next update.

[zhengbli]

I have this as well. With windows 10 at 125%, fonts start off looking clear, then become blurry after several scrolling.

[Matthias247]

That's interesting. After installing the new version on Windows 10 with a 4k 28" screen set to 175% scaling, I had the impression that the text rendering got better than with the 0.9.1 release (which was still slightly more blurry than rendering in native apps like normal Visual Studio or Sublime).

[stkb]

To those experiencing font blurriness, this is an issue I have with all chromium-based apps on Windows 8.1 (and will likely never be fixed). A workaround is to add the --force-device-scale-factor=1 argument when launching vscode. The whole editor will then be very small, so you'll need to adjust the "editor.fontSize" user setting (I have it on 18) to make your code more readable.

I haven't found a way to adjust the size of UI-elements as well; vscode doesn't seem to have custom app theming or css like Atom, but for me the interface is still readable, though for a very high-dpi screen it might not be.

[soren121]

For reference, this bug tracks electron/electron#3349.

[bpasero]

To be clear: The bug I mentioned seems Linux only. If you see blurryness on Mac or Windows, it must be something else and likely unrelated to the Electron update we did. It would help if those people could try with our previous version 0.9.x to see if it makes any difference.

[soren121]

@bpasero There are reports on that Electron bug that Windows users are having a similar problem, although the devs are not sure why since the Chromium fix for this was Linux-only. I would not be so quick to blame your team ;)

-----Original Message-----
From: "Benjamin Pasero" notifications@github.com
Sent: ‎11/‎20/‎2015 3:13 PM
To: "Microsoft/vscode" vscode@noreply.github.com
Cc: "Nicholas Narsing" soren121@sorenstudios.com
Subject: Re: [vscode] Regression: editor text is blurry on Linux with 125%text scaling (#122)

To be clear: The bug I mentioned seems Linux only. If you see blurryness on Mac or Windows, it must be something else and likely unrelated to the Electron update we did. It would help if those people could try with our previous version 0.9.x to see if it makes any difference.
—
Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub.

[bpasero]

Is anyone seeing this on windows too then for VS Code?

[kanreisa]

I have similar problem on Windows.
fonts are blurry.

[soren121]

Electron 0.34.4 and 0.35.1 are out, and both include the fix for Linux.
I rebuilt VS Code with 0.34.4 on Arch Linux and the text rendering is crystal clear again.

[bpasero]

We will update to Electron 0.34.5 which includes a fix for this.

[matevzg]

There is a workaround for high DPI blurriness in 0.10.3. Do a max zoom-in (ctrl+=) and max zoom out (ctrl+-).

[pdefreitas]

I have the very same problem on Windows 10 with 125%.

[Ciantic]

With Windows 10, Google Chrome can dynamically change the DPI when dragging it to desktop with different scaling factor.

VSCode (stable branch) goes all blurry however.

[omani]

I had an issue with blurry text, too. for example when launching the function list (ALT + .).

solved it by launching code with the "--disable-gpu" option.

Distributor ID:	Ubuntu
Description:	Ubuntu 14.04.5 LTS
Release:	14.04
Codename:	trusty