Created attachment 176753 [details] Spectacle window SUMMARY I see inconsistent text rendering across KDE. STEPS TO REPRODUCE 1. Use KDE, preferably with OTF fonts 2. Observe various KDE/QT apps. 3. OBSERVED RESULT Font rendering varies EXPECTED RESULT Font rendering is consistent SOFTWARE/OS VERSIONS Windows: macOS: Operating System: NixOS 25.05 KDE Plasma Version: 6.2.4 KDE Frameworks Version: 6.8.0 Qt Version: 6.8.0 Kernel Version: 6.12.5 (64-bit) Graphics Platform: Wayland Processors: 16 × 12th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-12500H Memory: 11.4 GiB of RAM Graphics Processor: Mesa Intel® Graphics Manufacturer: ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC. Product Name: Vivobook_ASUSLaptop X1605ZA_X1605ZA System Version: 1.0 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION I use OTF fonts because QT/KDE applies stem darkening (making them slightly bolder) and thus more pleasurable to the eye.
Created attachment 176754 [details] Dolphin window Menubar text is less bold as the location bar
Created attachment 176756 [details] Multiple windows showcasing this Multiple windows showcasing this
Created attachment 176758 [details] Haruna window where the menubar is bold
Unfortunately anything here will be a Qt bug/quirk. It's also not clear what's "correct" here and what's not. The differences are practically imperceptible to me. I'm impressed you;re able to notice at all.
(In reply to Nate Graham from comment #4) > Unfortunately anything here will be a Qt bug/quirk. It's also not clear > what's "correct" here and what's not. The differences are practically > imperceptible to me. I'm impressed you;re able to notice at all. Should I report it to upstream QT? I think this is quite annoying to notice, and other people noticed it too https://www.reddit.com/r/kde/comments/14rx66h/comment/kft656r/
Yes, go ahead!
Created attachment 178819 [details] Icons-only task manager settings + memory usage widget settings + dolphin Just in case, I noticed that the text in widget settings is blurrier/smoother than the text in other apps, like Dolphin
There's something odd, stem darkening (that only applies to otf fonts) seems to apply only once. I tested with a blank user, and when I set my fonts to Inter otf and Geist Mono otf, essentially stem darkening was applied across all of KDE, but upon relogin, A lot of KDE elements no longer apply stem darkening, like the panel, but Konsole *does* have stem darkening on its font, and so does Kate (same kind of rendering on the code/text area as konsole. I *also* reproduced this on an opensuse tumbleweed live ISO, that has the date of feb 22nd.
I think I've realized what is going on? 1. Set scaling to 100% 2. Close System Settings 3. Reopen it, text looks bold 4. Log out, and log back in 5. Stem darkening seems to be applied (noticed on clock widget, memory usage widgets, global menu, even the apps launcher that kde has on the left by default, konsole too, widget settings as well) 6. Set scaling to 125% 7. Things still have stem darkening applied. 8. Close System Settings and reopen it 9. Fonts no longer have stem darkening on (as in, looks the same way it looks when I compile qtbase with a patch to disable stem darkening, which is *not* currently applied) 10. Panel, widget settings, clock, etc have stem darkening still 11. Log out and log back in 12. Panel, system settings, application launcher, widget settings, no longer have stem darkening on, but konsole and kate *do* have it, as well as dolphin and spectacle (apps that i checked), so do right click menus.