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A Survey of Font Rendering Techniques

A Survey of Font Rendering Techniques. Cameron Egbert Software Development Engineer XNA Developer Connection Microsoft. Appetizer. Texture Based. Vector Texture. GPU Vector Graphic. Texture Based Fonts. Render textured quads + Easy + Render anything representable with a texture

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A Survey of Font Rendering Techniques

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  1. A Survey of Font Rendering Techniques Cameron Egbert Software Development Engineer XNA Developer Connection Microsoft

  2. Appetizer Texture Based Vector Texture GPU Vector Graphic

  3. Texture Based Fonts • Render textured quads • + Easy • + Render anything representable with a texture • - The usual blocky texture artifacts

  4. Vector Textures“Improved Alpha Tested Magnification for Vector Textures and Special Effects” – Chris Green 2007 • Uses a distance field representation • Threshold the distance map to get the final text • Enables various edge effects 4096x4096 texture 256x256 Distance Map

  5. Caveats • Sharp features tend to get rounded off Vector Texture Reference • Breaks down at high magnification

  6. Comparison + Almost as simple as traditional textures + Much better visual quality + No shaders required, just Alpha Test + Edge Effects & Antialiasing (with shaders) - Tends to cut corners off

  7. As Seen in Team Fortress 2 Vector Texture based text with anti-aliasing and soft drop-shadows (courtesy Valve Software)

  8. GPU Vector Graphics“Resolution Independent Curve Rendering Using Programmable Graphics Hardware” – Loop and Blinn 2005 • Convert character outline to Bézier curves • Render curves as triangles with an inside-outside test • Use derivatives for edge effects & anti-aliasing • Requires extra geometry

  9. Caveats • Creating the geometry is a bit involved • Intersecting outlines • Complex characters • Designed for quadratic and cubic Béziers • Anti-Aliasing requires a lot of geometry

  10. Comparison +Resolution independence! +Perfect reproduction of quadratic and cubic Bézier curves +Edge effects & anti-aliasing (with extra geometry) - Performance is tied to font complexity

  11. As Seen in Forza Motorsport 2 GPU Vector graphic based text with anti-aliasing

  12. demo

  13. Performance • XBox 360 GPU • 1255 Characters • 1280x720 A8R8G8B8 Surface

  14. Recommendations • Traditional textures for non-vector graphics • Vector Textures if you don’t mind slightly rounded corners • GPU Vector Graphics if you can invest in the highest visual quality

  15. Questions? cegbert@microsoft.com

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