[ft-devel] dropout in '2' in times.ttf

[Graham Asher]

Dear FreeTypers,

Here is a problem that has probably already been solved, given the popularity 
of Times Roman.

Is there a solution for the really bad dropout in the digit '2' in Times Roman 
(times.ttf) when anti-aliased? I enclose a PNG file illustrating the problem at 
16ppem.

Here are the actual pixel values generated by FreeType 2.3.4, as 11 rows of 6 
pixels, in hex:

6 93 F0 E0 43 00 
2 65 0A 2D CD 2F 
6E 00 00 00 3D C5
0 00 00 00 06 EB
0 00 00 00 1F 9A
00 00 00 00 6B 1B
0 00 00 1A 3C 00
00 00 06 25 00 00
0 02 11 00 00 00
4 10 00 03 4E BB
B4 FF FF FF FF 88

Note the stem near the bottom has adjacent values 2h and 11h, totalling 13h = 
19; thus the stem has an effective horizontal width of 19/255 = 0.075 pixels, 
which is incredibly narrow. Naturally the pixels don't show up at all.

Thanks in advance for any help or advice.

Graham Asher

times-2-dropout.PNG
Description: PNG image