Titler Text: designed to be slightly blurry?

[Guy Burns]

I'm running CS6, working in 1920 x 1080.

I recently had to setup some text in Photoshop that was already in Premiere. When I imported the PS text, and placed it side-by-side with the Titler text, checking that it was about the same size, I noticed that the PS text was definitely sharper. A bit of research proved that other people had the same opinion. A shock to me, I must say. I may have to replace a few hundred titles.

To recap: I can copy Titler text, paste it into a 1920 x 1080 PS document, bring it straight back into Premiere, and it's sharper.

I was aware that my text looked not quite sharp, but I had assumed that was to do with video, and it never bothered me. It bothers me now.

Before I replace all the Titler text, I want to make sure that there isn't a good reason why Adobe decided to make text slightly fuzzy. For instance, maybe sharper text looks over-sharpened in HD, or it causes some other problem, or it's a design hangover from the poor resolution of DVDs.

Is there a reason why Titler text is fuzzy compared to identical text from PS?

[Ann Bens]

Does the PS file still look sharper after export?

[Ann Bens]

Moved to CS6 forum

[Guy Burns]

Yes, sharper after export.

I have just generated a comparison test using Adobe Garamond Pro in various point sizes, all frames are 1920 x 1080.

1. Generated text in Titler.

2. Copied text.

3. Created  a blank PS document, cleared the background, pasted the text and saved as PSD.

4. Imported into Premiere and placed on a timeline opposite the Titler version.

5. Exported to h.264, target of 20mbps, max 40mbps

6. Uploaded video to here.

The difference isn't obvious at first glance, but when you start looking carefully, the PS version has a 'presence' lacking in the Titler version. The PS text is sharper, particularly in the serifs. Overall, the Titler version has a subtle hazy look.

I'm giving the Titler away unless someone can explain why a slight haziness might be desirable in video text.

[Ann Bens]

Garamont is a serif font, best is to use sans serif fonts such as:

[Guy Burns]

Thanks for the response, Ann, but this is not about the best font. I posted to find out why Premiere text is blurred compared to identical PS text. I doubt if the problem is confined to CS6 because the last poster in this thread, from early last year, reported the same problem, as have several others.

New Test

I have performed another test, and uploaded it to replace the previous test (see my second post). The new test involved a fuller comparison:

• The first half involved Premiere on one side using various fonts and sizes, versus Photoshop on the other.

• The second half involves comparing the four styles available in PS: Sharp, Strong, Crisp, Smooth, just in case that was causing the difference.

I projected the file through a Blu-ray player onto our 3-metre screen, using a Benq W7000 DLP, known for its sharpness. We sat 4 metres from the screen. I asked my partner if she could see any difference between the left and right sides. She perused them carefully for several seconds and then said: "The right side looks sharper". So we went the lines individually and she concluded that two of the lines were of equivalent sharpness, and the rest were sharper on the right side. I asked her which she preferred. No question – the right side, the PS side.

For the next test we moved on to the second half of the video, comparing the four different PS styles. We couldn't see any difference on screen. If I zoom to 200% on my iMac screen, I can see the difference, but not at 100%, and not when projected.

Final test: a friend said he could run this test through a Barco DP2K-20C, a projector used at a local cinema. Same result as with the W7000. The PS side was preferred.

Titler Generates Blurry Text

So, the above tests, and the other reports of this problem up until fairly recently, indicate that the Titler, up until at least CC17, is blurring text. Maybe it does even in the later releases. The blurring is not obvious unless you see a comparison, just like it won't be obvious to an audience engrossed in a film, that you're showing them 576P visuals from a DVD, instead of 1080P from Blu-ray. I know, because I run movie nights at home with a gaggle of friends, and the occasional DVD stands up surprisingly well. I see the slight 576P blurriness, the audience doesn't. Hey – if you happen to be in Tasmania tomorrow night (Friday 19th), drop in. We're showing Letter from an Unknown Woman, the 1948 classic, on Blu-ray.

Getting back to the business at hand: this blurriness is a problem if you're after sharp text – which I am because my audio-visuals use text throughout.

Conclusion

The solution, Ann, isn't to use another font. The solution, for CS6 users, is to generate text in PS. The solution for the users of the latest Premiere offering, is to check if the blurriness problem still exists – and ask Adobe to do something about it.