完美的GDI++字体渲染 (zt)

GDI++是一个开源项目，它能接管Windows系统的GDI字体渲染功能，实现比Mac系统更华丽的字体渲染效果！使用PC的朋友再也不需要羡慕Mac上清晰的中文字体了，因为GDI++是有过之而无不及的。

GDI++和微软的ClearType其实是相类似的技术，都是24位字体渲染技术，在支持灰阶显示的字体边缘加上阴影，但GDI++的强大的可定制性和 灵活性足以令ClearType无地自容，GDI++可精细定制到字体的粗细、色深，阴影的方位、长度，字体代换，排除列表等等相当多的自定义选项。

GDI++的精髓在于它的配置文件的编写，不同的系统环境、显示器类型及使用者的视觉习惯都需要不同的配置文件来实现最后实际输出效果的最优化。在讲如何 编写配置文件之前，先来看几张截图：
注：不同的显示器显示效果可能有所不同，效果上可能有所折扣。

这是Gmail首页的截图：

我的电脑截图：

文本文件截图：

怎么样？这些截图上的字体漂亮吧？想不想自己的电脑也能和上面一样呢？想就跟我来吧！！
----------------------------- 我是勤劳的分割线，以下为正文 ----------------------------------

题记：使用GDI++的前提是你使用的是支持灰阶渲染的字体，除了系统自带的几个中文字体不支持灰阶之外，现在较为流行的方正、华文、华康和汉仪等等中文字体都支持灰阶渲染。不要用着宋体却问我为什么效果没变！下文如无特别说明所指均为老版（Freetype版）的GDI++，并非新的“氦”版。

GDI++的安装这里就不多讲了，下载文末附件里的自动安装版双击就自动安装好并设为开机自动加载了。GDI++的安装唯一要注意的一点是要尽量安装在靠 近系统核心的地方，即靠近system32文件夹的地方（附件中的自动安装版安装在windows\system32\GDI++目录下，以下内容也以此 文件夹为例。），虽然官方的文档并没有特别说明这一点，但根据网友使用的反馈来看安装在靠近核心的地方会相对较为稳定，不知道是什么原因。

GDI++的加载方式共有三种：第一种是手动将要渲染的程序拖到GDI++安装文件夹中的gdi++.exe上，这样这个程序的字体就被GDI++所渲染 了。第二种方法是先创建一个gditray.exe的快捷方式，然后把快捷方式中的目标部分改为C:\WINDOWS\system32\gdi++\gditray.exe "-on"，即在原来目标的后面加个空格，然后是"-on"就可以了，把这个快捷方式放到开始菜单的启动文件夹里，这样开机的时候GDI++就会自动开始 渲染了。最后一种方法是注册表加载法，也是我最推崇的方法，将以下内容写入记事本：

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Windows]
"AppInit_DLLs"="C:\\WINDOWS\\system32\\GDI++\\gdi++.dll"

并保存为GDI++.reg，双击导入即可。第一种是为临时想用用试试的人准备的，无法渲染系统字体。第二种是全局加载，即整个系统都会被 渲染，而且系统托盘中有图标，可以轻易地停用或者启用GDI++，随意地切换多个配置文件或者重新渲染。但由于启动文件夹的优先级较低，所以往往要到进入 桌面后才启动，桌面字体会经历一次由难看到清晰的转变，当然，在这之前弹出的所有对话框也不会被渲染。那为什么要推崇用注册表加载呢？注册表法也是属于全 局加载，但他的优先级极高，WindowsXP的“欢迎使用”界面还没出现它就已经加载了，而且稳定性相当好，当你配置文件已定，要准备进入长期使用的时 候这种方法是首选。不过缺点是这个键值也较为容易被病毒木马所利用，所以大部分杀毒软件都会对这个键值有监控，甚至没有任何提示直接阻止，像瑞星2008 那个LJ。而且更换配置文件或者修改配置后像查看效果较为不便，需要重启想查看效果的软件。

接下来讲GDI++配置文件的编写，这是我当前所用的Freetype版的配置文件：

[General]
;配置文件名
Name=fonlan

; 自动挂钩子进程
; [0:Disable] 1:Enable
HookChildProcesses=1

; 字体微调
;情况一，当FontLoader=0（在下面）时：
;0：使用字体内部的微调，字体内部没有微调的话就和选1时的效果一样；
;1：不使用微调；
;2：用freetype对字体进行微调。
;（注：1.下面的选了4或5的时候，就算是某个没有内部微调的字体，在此项设定为0时也还是会被应用微调；2.有内部微调的英文字体在下面的AntiAliasMode选择4或5时，推荐将此项设为0。）
;情况二，当FontLoader=1（在下面）时：0和2完全一样，其他同情况一。
HintingMode=2

; 抗锯齿方式，将此值设的过大的时候可能反而会变得五彩、看起来更费劲，GammaCorrection=1时无效。
; -1:Disable [0:Normal] 1:Light 2:LCD(RGB) 3:LCD(GBR) 4:Light-LCD(RGB) 5:Light-LCD(GBR)
AntiAliasMode=4

; 交付 gdi++ 处理的最大尺寸（单位为像素）
; 可调范围0～2147483647,0表示全尺寸
MaxHeight=300

;只有在FontLoader=0（在下面）时此项设置才有效。建议选0。
UseMapping=0

;字体链接
; 0:Disable 1:Enable
;当FontLoader=0（在下面）时：
;0：什么都不做；
;1：使用注册表里的字体链接设置；
;当FontLoader=1（在下面）时：
;会保持启用的状态，但是所有字体链接的处理会交由WIN32API完成。
FontLink=1

;字体替代
; 0:Disable 1:ini Only 2:ini+Registry
;当FontLoader=0（在下面）时：
;0：什么都不做；
;1：使用该设置文件最下面的设置；
;2：该设置文件最下面的设置和注册表里的设置一起启用。
;当FontLoader=1（在下面）时：
;会保持启用的状态，但是所有字体替代的处理会交由WIN32API完成
FontSubstitutes=2

;字宽设置
; 0:GDI32 1:FreeType
WidthMode=0

;字体载入方法
; 0:FreeType 1:WIN32
FontLoader=1

;粗体字的渲染方法(只对没有单独粗体字文件的字体有效)
; 0:New 1:Old 2:Original FreeType Algorithm
BolderMode=0

;Gamma模式开关
; -1 = Disabled 0 = Use "GammaValue" 1 = sRGB 2 = Aternative
GammaMode=0

;Gamma值(只有上面GammaMode=0的时候此项设置才有效。精确到小数点后一位。)
GammaValue=1.4

;字体轮廓
;数字越大字体就越粗越黑（当字体为黑色时，其他颜色时表现出来的是颜色越深）。精确到小数点后两位。
RenderWeight=1.5

;对比度
;数字越大越锐利，数字越小越发虚。精确到小数点后一位。
Contrast=1.5

;RGB三色全局设置
; 取值范围0～12，-1时无效
TextTuning=0
TextTuningR=-1
TextTuningG=-1
TextTuningB=-1

;字体粗细的单独调整,数字越大越粗，负数也有效，可以使字体更细。
NormalWeight=0
BoldWeight=4

;取值范围-16~+16
;字形为斜体时的倾斜加角
;可以设置字形为斜体时的倾斜加角。正数为右倾，负数为左倾。数字越大加角幅度越大。
;此项设置仅对没有单独斜体字形的字体有效。
ItalicSlant=0

;液晶显示器的优化配置
;0:None 1:Default 2:Light 16:Legacy
LcdFilter=2

;阴影设置
Shadow=1,1,6

;字体缓存、内存的设置
LoadOnDemand=1
CacheMaxFaces=32
CacheMaxSizes=32
CacheMaxBytes=10485760

;强制使用以下字体为系统界面字体
#ForceChangeFont=SIMSUN

[Individual]
;顺序格式=Hinting,AAMode,NormalWeight,BoldWeight,ItalicSlant,Kerning
Tahoma=1
MingLiU=1
PMingLiU=1
微软雅黑 = 3
Lucida Grande = 1
MS Shell Dlg = 1
MS Shell Dlg 2 = 1

[Exclude]
;不渲染的字体列表
FIXEDSYS
Marlett

[ExcludeModule]
;排除的程序列表（gdi++.dll依然会注入以下进程，但不会生效）
imejpmgr.exe
msdev.exe
devenv.exe
winlogon.exe
fontview.exe
SREngPS.EXE
cstrike.exe
xdict.exe
CppIDE.exe
nvsvc32.exe
services.exe
csrss.exe
lsass.exe
svchost.exe
wmiprvse.exe
Safari.exe
spoolsv.exe
ctfmon.exe
scardsvr.exe
conime.exe
SynTPEnh.exe
RTHDCPL.exe
smss.exe
agrsmsvc.exe
oobechk.exe
jqs.exe

[FontSubstitutes]
;字体替换
Microsoft Sans Serif=SimSun
System=SimSun

以上配置文件中的注释参考了70599大侠的大作，对70599大侠除了膜拜我想不出第二个词语。Orz

在实际的调校过程中主要就是GammaValue、RenderWeight、Contrast和Shadow这四个参数最为重要，他直接决定了Freetype版GDI++在你的电脑上的表现，而我们的微调也主要是调这几个参数。

我使用的是字体是先锋论坛的一位网友修改的方正准圆_GBK，网页字体是蚂蚁老版的iYuanTi，效果图如文首的那几幅截图。
---------------------------------------很重要的，不得不看---------------------------------------

下面我来说说使用GDI++过程中的一些需要注意的地方：GDI++，尤其是Freetype版，虽然字体渲染效果较为出色，但兼容性较差，和很多软件都有兼容性问题。首 先和IE的兼容性问题就不小，使用IE内核的浏览器时，遨游和遨游2开启后进入选项没多久就程序崩溃，世界之窗可以正常运行，但主界面菜单字体会变得比较 大（这点其实可以通过把配置文件中的FontLink值改为0来修正），但可以在设置中制定主界面所用字体及字 号。Firefox和Opera与GDI++完全兼容。所以在GDI++环境下浏览器最好选择非IE内核的，如果一 定要使用IE内核建议使用世界之窗2.0。

GDI++和魔兽世界的小地图有冲突，因为魔兽的字体也使用了同样的字体渲染方式。解决方法是使用gditray加载方式，在启动魔兽世界之前关闭GDI++渲染即可。

还有一个比较严重的问题是QQ比较容易崩溃，操作的时候一不小心QQ可能就崩溃了，解决的方法要么把QQ加入GDI++的排除列表，要么把 FontLoad改为1，但全局渲染效果会变差，要么就小心使用，忍受这颗不定时的炸弹，但最彻底的解决方案还是使用氦版的GDI++，QQ不会出现崩溃的情况。

GDI++对迅雷的支持也有限，虽然不会造成迅雷的崩溃，但迅雷一旦开始下载，GDI++便无法渲染迅雷的界面了，不知是什么原因。

GDI++工作的方式是注入到所有正在运行的进程下，拦截所有原本由系统的gdi32完成的字体渲染工作。这两个行为都是极有可能被杀毒软件所误报的，所 以请务必把gdi++添加到杀毒软件的可信任程序列表，否则他是无法工作的。还有通过注册表全局加载的时候，由于使用的是 HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Windows项下的AppInit_DLLs来实现开机自动加载，但由于这个键也是病毒木马常用的启动项，所以几 乎所有的安全软件都会对这个键有所监控，请在安装前先关闭安全软件，否则可能出现无法导入注册表的情况。

GDI++的配置文件有两种放法：一种是把配置文件直接保存成gdi++.ini，放在GDI++的安装目录下，优点是目录结构简单、清晰，建议使用注册 表全局渲染时使用。缺点是只能使用一种配置文件，使用Gditray加载时无法在右键中切换配置。另一种方法是在GDI++的安装文件夹中新建一个名为 ini的文件夹，将所有的配置文件放在此文件夹下，然后GDI++安装文件夹下的gdi++.ini按如下格式编写：

[General]
AlternativeFile=.\ini\蓝枫冰月.ini

[GdiTray]
MultiINISelector=1
RedrawDelay=50
CoolMenu=1

这里的蓝枫冰月.ini就是你放在ini文件夹中并且希望当前启用的配置文件。使用这个方法时不论使用何种全局加载方式，gdi++都会在开机时根据gdi++.ini文件中AlternativeFile后 面的路径来寻找配置文件并加载，注意：这个路径是允许使用相对路径的。这种方法的优点也是显而易见，使用gditray加载时可以在邮件里轻松的切换多个 配置文件，使用注册表加载时也只要修改gdi++.ini中的配置文件名（即上例中的蓝枫冰月.ini），然后注销即可切换配置。缺点就是多一个叫ini 的文件夹，或许这个也算不上是缺点。

替换宋体的下载请看这里：http://fonlan.cn/post/20.html
氦版GDI++补充教程： http://fonlan.cn/post/11.html
GDI++使用 FAQ：http://fonlan.cn/post/18.html

Freetype版GDI++下载：
纳米盘下载：

BRSBOX下载：

What to Buy at Walmart (by Catherine Holahan)

Despite (or perhaps because of) the fact that Walmart (WMT) is the nation’s largest retailer, there are plenty of people who wouldn’t be caught dead in one. To these folks, Walmart conjures images of a rapacious juggernaut of stadium-sized stores offering low-quality merchandise, spotty service, and mistreating employees and the environment — while driving small local retailers out of business.


But many of those misgivings are starting to fade, partly as a result of some well-timed improvements to the company’s product line-up and its environmental record. What’s more, there’s nothing like the worst recession in 80 years to nudge “low prices” a little higher on the collective priority list. And while Walmart may not be making its employees rich, the chain handed out very few pink slips in the downturn and remains the country’s largest private employer.

To be sure, there are plenty of reasons to remain wary of the retail behemoth. Whether you are concerned about the threat to a downtown business district, object to the retail culture, or just have a mental picture of the Walmart shopper that you can’t square with your own self image, it may not be for you. But it’s worth keeping in mind that, when it leverages its enormous scale for good, Walmart can make a difference in a hurry. It’s one thing when a boutique sells fair-trade coffee, but when Walmart gets into the game, a lot of sustainable farmers benefit. Here are five product categories where you can comparison shop in good conscience at the nation’s “low-price leader.”

1. Moderately Priced Consumer Electronics

Dying to get the latest hi-definition TV from Vizio or Viore? We thought not. Those low-priced brands are what Walmart has focused on in the past, but recently the retailer has expanded its offerings to include high-def TVs from top makers such as Samsung (SSNLF), Sony (SNE), Philips (PHG), and Sharp (SHCAY). It also now offers digital cameras made by the likes of Nikon and Canon.

Walmart still isn’t the best place to shop for a top-of-the-line television or digital SLR camera. But its focus on bringing in more big brands has made it an attractive option for shoppers seeking consumer electronics in the sub-$1,000 price range. This year, for example, some WalMart stores offered a 50-inch Samsung plasma television for less than $700 during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

What Walmart doesn’t have is an army of educated sales people ready to explain all the settings on the back of that SLR or the subtle differences between a high-def TV with a resolution of 1080i versus one with 1080p. But such service has become less important now that 90 percent of consumers turn to the Internet for detailed product reviews, says James Russo, Nielsen’s vice president of global consumer insights.

“Consumers will do their research outside the store,” says Russo. “So if Walmart has the right selection and price point, consumers will go there.

2. Smart Phones

In the past year, Walmart has beefed up its offerings of higher-end cell phones, especially Blackberries. This is good news if you’ve reached the end of your phone contract and are looking to compare new phones and carriers all in one place, since Walmart sells phones and service plans from each of the four largest U.S. carriers: Verizon (VZ), AT&T (T), Sprint (S), and T-Mobile (DT). So if you want to see how T-Mobile’s G1 phone, which uses Google’s Android operating system, matches up against Apple’s iPhone, Walmart is the place for you. You can’t do that at an AT&T store, or even at one of Apple’s fancy boutiques.


3. Coffee

While Walmart has been criticized in the past for being more concerned with price than environmental or labor issues when sourcing its goods, one area where it’s improving its record is with coffee. This year, the company partnered with TransFair USA, an independent certifying agency, to offer fair trade-certified coffee in its Walmart and Sam’s Club stores. The coffee is sustainably grown by farmers who receive a living wage and is thus more expensive than competing coffees — roughly $5.88 for a 10 to 12 ounce bag, compared with less than $5 for supermarket brand Eight O’Clock Coffee. But it tastes better (or at least it should), and by selling fair-trade coffee, Walmart vastly expands the market for such goods.

Carmen K. Iezzi, executive director of the Fair Trade Federation, a North American association for such products, says Walmart’s expansion of fair trade certified items like coffee was promising, although she cautioned that it’s too early to tell how much impact Walmart’s efforts will have. Still, coffee is a good start. “When any major corporation begins to move in the direction of more sustainable practices, that is a positive sign,” says Iezzi.

4. Video Game Bundles

Of course, Walmart’s primary appeal has always been its low prices, but it makes sense for shoppers to do a cost/benefit analysis: Is it worth it to save $10 on a book, when you could be supporting an independent bookseller instead? On the other hand, you can save a lot more money if you’re in the market for video game systems, which Walmart often bundles with starter games. For example, Walmart was recently selling the Xbox 360 Elite gaming system, along with two games, including this season’s blockbuster title, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, for just $259. The game console alone sells for upward of $249 at stores such as Sears, while Call of Duty typically retails for $60. And buying video game consoles and products at Walmart is arguably a guilt-free purchase. After all, Sears (SHLD) isn’t known for standing up against suburban sprawl.

5. Laundry Detergent

When it comes to the environment, Walmart’s suppliers have often fallen far short of best practices. Now the chain is trying to clean up its act by offering more eco-friendly products. One area where it’s done the most is laundry detergent. The company recently switched to selling only concentrated laundry detergent in its U.S. stores — these products use up to 50 percent less packaging and require less fuel to transport than the earlier versions. Once again, scale matters: Walmart has a serious carbon footprint, so cutting laundry detergent containers by half can have a big impact.

Walmart has taken steps to combat phosphates, which pollute the water and lead to an explosion of the algae population that destroys fish habitats and plants. The company already says there are no phosphates in detergent it sells in the U.S., and earlier this year, it announced plans to choose more eco-friendly suppliers for the laundry and dish detergent it sells in its Americas region, cutting phosphates by 70 percent by 2011. The Americas region includes Canada, Mexico, and countries in Central and South America..

And Walmart has unveiled broader initiatives to improve its eco-image. In July, the company began developing a sustainability index that will eventually rank all of its suppliers and products based on their environmental impact. “Walmart is taking some important steps, although they’ve still got a long way to go,” says Honor Schauland, a campaign assistant at the Organic Consumers Association, a Minnesota-based consumer advocacy group.

Walmart didn’t become the world’s largest retailer by accident. Executives in Bentonville, Ark., are well aware that stocking sustainable products was a good way to attract a more affluent consumer. And those consumers like low prices on recognizable brands as much as anyone, especially in the current economy, says Doug Conn, a managing director at Hexagon Securities who focuses on the retail sector.

“They have picked up on trends like organics and natural products, and that has helped get new customers,” says Conn. “But the key theme is that customers are more value-oriented than they have ever been this holiday season, and Walmart is the default place to go for low prices.”

In other words, new customers are coming for the deals. But if they shop the categories mentioned above, they can feel good about being thrifty without worrying that they’ve abandoned their ideals just to save a buck.

What Not to Buy at Walmart (by Catherine Holahan)

While Walmart has recently burnished its reputation among upscale shoppers, there are still some product categories where you’d be better off going elsewhere — either because you’re straying beyond Walmart’s core competency, or to avoid supporting the giant retailer’s bad behavior. Here are three of them.

1. High-End Electronics

Though Walmart has expanded its selection of name-brand electronics, it’s still focused on value-oriented products in the sub-$1,000 price range. And its sales staff tend not to be experts in the finer points of multimedia interface. So if you want to splurge on a top-of-the-line television or digital SLR camera — and get the accompanying level of service and accessories — you’ll want to visit a specialty electronics store. Best Buy (BBY), for example, has a customer support team (the Geek Squad) capable of explaining why, for instance, you may need a television with several HDMI ports.

2. Books

This year, Walmart slashed prices aggressively to establish itself as the low-price leader for best-selling books. The store cut the cost of popular novels such as Stephen King’s Under the Dome by 70 percent to $13.99, sparking a price war with Amazon (AMZN).

The Walmart/Amazon rivalry translates into incredibly low prices for consumers on some of the most popular book titles. But Walmart’s prices come at a cost, say local business advocates. In the long-run, such deep discounts can drive independent booksellers out of business. And without these stores, consumers will have difficulty finding all but the most well-known authors, says Stacy Mitchell, senior researcher with the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, a non-profit that advocates for local businesses.

3. Wood Furniture

Despite Walmart’s increased focus on sustainability, the retailer has a long way to go in the furniture category. In December 2007, an environmental group published a report tracing furniture from Walmart suppliers to wood illegally logged in protected Russian habitats for Siberian tigers and other wildlife. Several months later, Walmart promised to investigate its suppliers and joined the Global Forest & Trade Network, an organization dedicated to eliminating illegal logging. Environmental activists have applauded Walmart’s promise to purge environmentally rotten wood, but Walmart could take until a self-imposed deadline of 2013 to phase out the products. Until then, consumers can’t be certain that Walmart’s wood furniture comes from well-managed forests.

Do E-Readers Cause Eye Strain? ( By NICK BILTON, NYTimes)

The admonition offered by legions of mothers — “Don’t sit so close to the TV” — isn’t really an option when it comes to e-reading devices. You have to get close to the screen to use it.


Emmanuel Dunand/Getty Images
Amazon.com’s Kindle with a black-and-white E Ink screen.
The act of reading is going through a number of radical transitions, but perhaps none is more fundamental than the shift from reading on paper to reading on screens. As consumers decide whether to make this jump and which technology to use, one key question is how reading on a screen affects the eyes.

First of all: doctors say that reading on a screen won’t cause any harm.

“Most of what our mothers told us about our eyes was wrong,” said Dr. Travis Meredith, chair of the ophthalmology department at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. “Sitting close to a television, or computer screen, isn’t bad for our eyes. It’s a variety of other factors that can cause physical fatigue.”

For example, the ergonomics of reading screens and the lack of blinking when we stare at them play a big role in eye fatigue. “The current problem with reading on screens is that we need to adjust our bodies to our computer screens, rather than the screens adjusting to us,” Dr. Meredith said.

Still, as regular readers of Bits comments know, there is a lively debate among fans of e-readers and paper books about which type of reading experience is most friendly to the eyes.

It turns out the answer isn’t as black-and-white as we might assume.

Doctors and researchers note that in most instances, paper can offer more visual sophistication than a screen. But certain types of paper, including inexpensive newsprint and the paper in softcover books, can actually provide an inferior reading experience for our eyes than the electronic alternatives.

With e-readers, there are currently numerous display technologies available, from the black-and-white E Ink technology found in Amazon.com’s Kindle and the Barnes & Noble Nook, to the coming full-color IPS LCD display that will come built into Apple’s iPad. And then there’s old-fashioned paper. Does one offer a better reading experience than the others?

Michael Bove, director of the Consumer Electronics Laboratory at the M.I.T. Media Lab, says different screens make sense for different purposes.

“It depends on the viewing circumstances, including the software and typography on the screen,” said Mr. Bove. “Right now E Ink is great in sunlight, but in certain situations, a piece of paper can be a better display than E Ink, and in dim light, an LCD display can be better than all of these technologies.”


Jim Wilson/The New York Times
Apple’s iPad with a full-color LCD display.
E Ink has a very low contrast ratio. Although it can offer an excellent reading experience in bright sunlight, the screens can become uncomfortable to use in dark settings because of the lack of contrast and backlighting on the screen.

LCD screens, meanwhile, have long struggled to offer good viewing angles for reading. Apple’s latest IPS LCD screens include extremely wide viewing angles, but the reflective glass on the screen could be a hindrance in brightly lit situations.

Professor Alan Hedge, director of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Laboratory at Cornell University, said that reducing eye fatigue is less a matter of choosing a specific display than of taking short breaks from looking at the screen.

When we read, Dr. Hedge explained, a series of ocular muscles jump around and can cause strain, regardless of whether we are looking at pixels or paper. “While you’re reading, your eyes make about 10,000 movements an hour. It’s important to take a step back every 20 minutes and let your eyes rest,” he said.

Today’s screens are definitely less tiring to look at than older displays, which refreshed the image much less frequently, causing a flicker. Carl Taussig, director of Hewlett-Packard’s Information Surfaces Lab, said the 120 Hz refresh rate typical of modern screens is much quicker than our eyes can even see.

“The new LCDs don’t affect your eyes,” Mr. Taussig said. “Today’s screens update every eight milliseconds, whereas the human eye is moving at a speed between 10 and 30 milliseconds.”

Mr. Taussig said consumers will pick the type of screen that makes sense on an individual basis. “I don’t think there is a single technology that will be optimum for all the things we want to do with our devices. For example, H.P. sells 65 million displays a year, and they are all used in a different way.”