Abstract: Various technologies and techniques are disclosed that improve text rendering contrast. The shape of one or more characters is converted from an original format, such as a vector format received from a font, to an overscaled bitmap format. The width of the shape of the character is adjusted based on a text contrast setting. For example, the width of the shape can be adjusted by extending a right or other edge of the shape by the number of pixels corresponding to the numerical value of the text contrast setting. The shape is made wider or thinner based on the text contrast setting. A filtering procedure is used to determine density values for how the shape corresponds to a set of screen pixels. The density values are blended with color values related to the display device to form a modified shape ready for output. The modified shape is then displayed.