Flash does something strange to IE's rendering ability

Makes large fonts go fuzzy

[Patrick Taylor]

For some time I've been noticing that when viewing certain web pages in IE6, large-sized text (eg headings) goes fuzzy, with a sort of ugly transparency to the letters. After a lot of experimentation I finally traced this problem to the presence of Flash (.swf) in the page. This applies not just to my sites but all sites.

When I open IE6 everything is fine and large text is crisp as it should be, but as soon as I visit a page containing Flash the fuzzy effect kicks in. Closing the browser seems to reset it, until the next time Flash is encountered.

Firefox and Opera do not show this effect. I'd be interested to hear if this is a known issue and what, if anything, can be done about it.

I'm using a normal LCD flat screen monitor.

[Patrick Taylor]

I find it surprising no-one has picked up on this. I have removed the .swf files from all my sites that use large text, because in IE this text is virtually ruined.

I'd be happy to sticky a with and without Flash example - identical pages except one has Flash and the other doesn't. The problem I've raised is clearly visible... to me anyway.

[rocknbil]

Probably because no one has heard of it and doesn't have an answer . . . I use Flash here and there and have never seen it.

Since you're seeing it on **all** sites with Flash I would suspect that it's something on your system. How many fonts do you have loaded? Memory? Video driver? Since you don't see the same abberation with FF or Opera, something is wonky with Windows or IE, which are hopelessly entwined. Any help on the Macromedia site in this respect?

[Patrick Taylor]

Thanks... but my system is fine, I'm sure. I see the same on other systems too, where there is a flatscreen LCD monitor, or on a laptop, and even when viewing the Adobe website (which has a Flash header).

I've also experimented with deploying the .swf in various ways and it's always the same. I'm not imagining this, but just in case, that's why I suggested someone might take a look at my two test pages.

Otherwise my conclusion at present is not to use Flash if I want large or bold text to render properly in IE (which I do).

[encyclo]

Are you using ClearType in Windows XP? You should perhaps reconfigure ClearType to get the best results from your monitor, which may help with your font problem (which personally I've never seen before). You can use the online ActiveX widget on the Microsoft site:

[microsoft.com...]

[Patrick Taylor]

That's an interesting link, thanks.

But ClearType makes everything look smudged, and I don't suppose many users turn it on (and in any case this doesn't cure the problem). I'm really talking about default installs of Windows, and the thing I'm describing occurs not just on my PC but on several others I've looked at as well.

Maybe other people just don't notice what I'm describing, but it's very noticable to me.

[edited by: encyclo at 2:35 pm (utc) on June 7, 2006]