Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

Subpixel-AA was not removed from macOS Mojave so the title is completely wrong anyway.

This was covered at WWDC. It uses grayscale-AA now which is much easier to hardware accelerate and gives a more consistent experience across different types of displays.



If it's greyscale, it's not subpixel antialiasing.


You are right. But I think parent comment understands the concepts, and was misled by the name, which to be fair, is a misleading name. The names "subpixel AA" and "grayscale AA" are both terrible names.

Grayscale AA isn't somehow gray or monochromatic, it is regular anti-aliasing, it works in color, and it works by averaging (virtual) sub-pixel samples. The name is trying to refer to how it's not making use of the physical LCD color subpixels.

Both names assume that the term "sub-pixel" is primarily referring to LCD hardware, rather than general sub-area portions of a pixel. From my (graphics) point of view, the LCD case is a specific and rare subset of what people mean by "subpixel", which is what makes these terms seem misleading and awkward.




Consider applying for YC's Summer 2026 batch! Applications are open till May 4

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: