ClearType is Microsoft's implementation of subpixel rendering technology in rendering text in a font system. ClearType attempts to improve the appearance of text on certain types of computer display screens by sacrificing color fidelity for additional intensity variation. This trade-off is asserted to work well on LCD flat panel monitors.
ClearType was first announced at the November 1998 COMDEX exhibition. The technology was first introduced in software in January 2000 as an always-on feature of Microsoft Reader, which was released to the public in August 2000. ClearType was later introduced as an operating system feature in Windows XP, where it was kept turned off by default. In Windows Vista and Windows 7 ClearType is turned on by default. In Microsoft Office 2007 and later versions, Internet Explorer 7 and later versions and Windows Live Messenger, ClearType is also turned on by default, even if it is not enabled throughout the operating system. ClearType is also an integrated component of the Windows Presentation Foundation text-rendering engine.
Read more about ClearType: Background, How ClearType Works, ClearType and Human Vision, Display Requirements, Sensitivity To Display Orientation, ClearType in GDI, ClearType in WPF, ClearType in DirectWrite, Patents