Why Sans-Serif?

WIRIS editor has adopted sans-serif typesetting as default option for rendering formulas, because it's better for screens.

What's the difference?

Let’s compare a formula with a serif font vs sans-serif font:

Serif typesetting (Times New Roman)	Sans-serif typesetting (Arial)

If we zoom into the characters, we will see the difference between serif and sans-serif font typesetting which are mainly the red pixels:

Serif typesetting (Times New Roman)	Sans-serif typesetting (Arial)

Serif typefaces have more small details. For instance, they usually have different width in different parts of a letter. Compare the line-widths of the horizontal and oblique lines of the serif A.

So, why is sans-serif better?

Most web sites are sans-serif based. In fact, it has become the de facto standard. Sans-serif is a better default, in order for the formulas to follow the surrounding text style.
Screens, up to now, have less definition than printed paper; compare 96dpi vs 300dpi. Sans-serif has no small details to preserve.
If there is no serif then characters take less space. In other words: given a fixed external size, a formula in sans-serif has bigger characters than the same formula in serif.
Sans-serif looks more modern and stylish. Students like it better. (Well, that's our opinion. ;-P)

Examples

W3C sample	WIRIS editor
	$\|\begin{matrix} U \\ V \end{matrix}\| = ‖\begin{matrix} U \\ V \end{matrix}‖$
	$1111 1,234 \times 4,321 1 111 1 1,234 24,68 370,2 4,936 5,332,114$
	$\int f (\frac{x}{2}) ⅆ x$

Index

Table of Contents

Why Sans-Serif?

What's the difference?

So, why is sans-serif better?

Examples