Windows 10 Font - Fix

[NumberFive]

So after upgrading to Windows 10 I noticed that the font in NextPVR (DroidSans) would render in bold everywhere. I much prefer how it renders in Windows 7, which is as the skin is designed to, with bold for titles and normal weight for descriptions. Normal weight fits more on screen, and looks very elegant and readable. It also bugged me that there was a bug.

The fix is:

1) Install the DroidSans and DroidSans-Bold fonts as system fonts. To do so, right click the font files, select "Install".
2) Edit Global.xml in the skin folder, changing all instances of font="DroidSans" to font="Droid Sans". Note the space that is added.

I've attached an updated Global.xml, and example pictures.

Perhaps this could be added to the next installer?


For information: It appears that the error arises from a change in the way Windows handles font families. It is now particular in how it looks for font weights/styles. When using a non-system font, it seems to default to the first approximate match it finds in the folder. It is looking for the Droid Sans font name, and will find it no matter the font's filename. However, if the bold weight font is first in the file order, it uses that for everything. For example, if A.ttf is Bold, and B.ttf is Normal, it will render everything in bold. Swap the file names, and everything renders in Normal. It appears that DroidSans-Bold.ttf is considered to come before DroidSans.ttf. However, it doesn't appear to proceed to find the bold weight after finding the normal weight. The only solution I have found is installing as system fonts. Note then it is important that Global.xml uses the correct font name for the font family, i.e. Droid Sans with a space.

[JEF]

Thanks for that - it's all looking normal now

[sub]

I did look into this recently and worked out what was happening. It relates to a difference in the order the "ttf" files are found in C:\Users\Public\NPVR\Skin\Default in >=Win8 vs <Win8. Simply renaming "DroidSans.ttf" to "aDroidSans.ttf" to force it to be found before "DroidSans-Bold.ttf" is enough to get it to use the lighter font.

It's been like this since Windows 8 though, so for most people, they've only ever seen NextPVR's UI with the heavier font. Because of this, I don't think it's worth changing the default - since majority of people seem to have been happy with the look, and I don't want to force a change on them. I also prefer looking at the bolder font these days. Easier to read across the room.

I might be able to add a 'use lighter font' checkbox in the settings screen.

[sub]

I've added a setting for this.

[NumberFive]

Hi sub,

Cool, thanks for including the option, it's much appreciated. I did try renaming the fonts as you suggest, I'm not sure that it produces the correct result. I've attached an image to help explain.

Windows 10 defaults to (1), but Windows 7 to (3). I think reordering the fonts produces (2). Just to show the difference, I included (4) but this can't happen without intentionally editing Global.xml to remove the bold weight.

[BrettB]

I did look into this recently and worked out what was happening. It relates to a difference in the order the "ttf" files are found in C:\Users\Public\NPVR\Skin\Default in >=Win8 vs <Win8. Simply renaming "DroidSans.ttf" to "aDroidSans.ttf" to force it to be found before "DroidSans-Bold.ttf" is enough to get it to use the lighter font.

It's been like this since Windows 8 though, so for most people, they've only ever seen NextPVR's UI with the heavier font. Because of this, I don't think it's worth changing the default - since majority of people seem to have been happy with the look, and I don't want to force a change on them. I also prefer looking at the bolder font these days. Easier to read across the room.

I might be able to add a 'use lighter font' checkbox in the settings screen.

Sub:

A few thoughts/responses:

1. Having NextPVR "behave differently" depending upon the file naming of font files in its directory (especially now that you've sort of told people to rename the file if desired) sounds like a bit of a support headache for both you and other skinners. And what happens if the DroidSans and DroidSans-Bold fonts are actually installed on the system so they are used instead of the files in the NextPVR directory? A lot of variables/possibilities...

2. I'm curious if you have some sort of data that indicates that most NextPVR users are running Windows 8 or greater? My sense from the forums is that most of us are using Windows 7.

3. What does the "use lighter font" checkbox in the settings screen actually do? Is it somehow overriding the font names specified in the skin files? Again, this feels like a kludge and support headache.

4. Why not change the font file name and default skin file for the installation so that it behaves and looks the same in Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 10 (or at least as much as possible if Windows 8/Windows 10 use the "fake" bold instead of the actual bold font)? If you now prefer the bolder font, you can change the default skin to specify that. But having the application behave consistently and actually use the font names specified in the skin files seems extremely logical to me.

[sub]

Don't worry, I have fixed it cleanly for the next release (not depending on filename order etc). It looks exactly the same as Win7 when you have the 'use lighter font' selected, with mixture of bold and regular font. When that is not selected, the UI uses the same bold version of the font it's been using up until now on Win8+. The way I've fixed it will give the same look on Win7 and newer versions of Windows. It'll default to the bolder look, but you can get it back to the Win7 look by ticking the 'use lighter font' tick box.

[NumberFive]

That's brilliant! Thanks sub.

[sub]

I don't have a Win7 machine here anywhere to test it anymore, but I do wonder if even there it's been using the bolder look for most - except the old-timer users who probably installed/registered the Sans Droid fonts on their system.

[mvallevand]

Sub, could you do something about the genres font, to me they overpower the description. I was going to say I didn't have this problem on Win10 but I forgot I use web client to a Vista.

Martin