Forum Discussion

etb's avatar
etb
Active Contributor
5 years ago

ClearType Text Disabled? - Blocky/Unclear Text

Question: 

It seems like LogMeIn somehow disables ClearType text in the Windows host.  Is there a way to get it to stop doing that?

 

Background and Testing:

I have always noticed that text viewed through a LogMeIn remote session have seemed less clear/smooth than directly viewing the host's physical monitor.  Historically I chalked this up to compression.  Now that we have all of our users working remotely, I have been getting complaints. 

 

Through a bunch of testing, I found that most things are pretty clear when the network connection is good, the color quality is set to HD, and the host and remote computer resolutions are matched.  An array of single-pixel-wide lines come through clearly without noticeable distortion.  But portions of characters that may be less than a full pixel in size comes through as blocky and/or lacking clarity.

 

I tried all variations of settings that are available (network, color, resolution), and nothing improved this issue.  I tried with the display accelerator enabled and disabled, but it didn't change.  I could not find that LogMeIn offers an option like "font smoothing" or similar like some other products do.

 

I somewhat randomly checked the Windows ClearType Text settings on the host computer, and found that ClearType was disabled.  But it is enabled by default, and I know for sure that I did not disable it.  So it seems that LogMeIn automatically disabled it.  Is there a setting/method that will cause this to stop?

Problem
Question
  • etb's avatar
    etb
    Active Contributor
    5 years ago

    Additional data in case it is helpful:  enabling ClearType Text on the host computer does not persist.  Even if I maintain the active LMI session and only log out of the Windows user account and log back in, ClearType Text is disabled again.  I have not found any method or combination of settings that can correct this.

     

    So I'm still needing a way for it to be that the ClearType Text setting won't be overwritten and disabled as a result of using LMI.

  • Anon3141's avatar
    Anon3141
    New Contributor
    5 years ago

    I experienced the same problem as you. 

     

    Today, I suddenly realised that ClearType Text is linked with the Performance Preferences of Logmein. The setting "Disable wallpaper and user interface effects on host computer" is on by default. If you use Logmein Central, you can switch this setting globally by turning off "Automatically disable wallpaper" under the Remote Control category

     

    If you untick this preference, ClearType Text works and is not "disabled" each time you login. But, of course, the remote experience is a bit slower, with wallpaper and window transition effects.

     

    There does not seem a way to have ClearType Text to be ON on it own. Maybe, that is a feature request for Logmein developers.

     

     

     

    • SterlingAZ's avatar
      SterlingAZ
      New Contributor
      5 years ago
      Anon3141 wrote:

      I experienced the same problem as you. 

       

      Today, I suddenly realised that ClearType Text is linked with the Performance Preferences of Logmein. The setting "Disable wallpaper and user interface effects on host computer" is on by default. If you use Logmein Central, you can switch this setting globally by turning off "Automatically disable wallpaper" under the Remote Control category

       

      If you untick this preference, ClearType Text works and is not "disabled" each time you login. But, of course, the remote experience is a bit slower, with wallpaper and window transition effects.

       

      There does not seem a way to have ClearType Text to be ON on it own. Maybe, that is a feature request for Logmein developers.

       

       

       

      This is a bug in my opinion. ClearType should be toggled back on after a session ends

    • etb's avatar
      etb
      Active Contributor
      5 years ago

      Sorry it took me so long to get back to this.  I did see Anon3141's post, and I can confirm that ClearType is not disabled for computers where "Disable wallpaper and user interface effects on host computer" is not enabled.  Thanks, Anon3141.

       

      I agree that ClearType really should be able to be left on even if wallpaper and user interface effects are off.  I'm guessing that ClearType probably uses a nominal amount more processing and bandwidth.  No one really "needs" a fancy wallpaper or to see window contents while dragging, etc, and those items probably do use an appreciable amount more processing/bandwidth.  But if a user has to really strain to read text (without ClearType), that becomes a bad solution.

       

      LogMeIn Staff - Will you make changes to allow ClearType to stay on even if "Disable wallpaper and user interface effects on host computer" is selected?