This is a GDI+ issue. You can try using the TextRenderingHint to see if one of its settings will give you the look you want. You can do this by handling the PrepareGraphics event. (the AntiAlias is probably what you could use, but it may affect the look of your font.) Below are some code snippets.
In 2.0, you can tell the grid to use GDI to draw the text, and that would avoid this problem as well.
Private Sub grd_PrepareGraphics(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As GraphicsEventArgs)
’ok: e.Graphics.TextRenderingHint = System.Drawing.Text.TextRenderingHint.ClearTypeGridFit
’ok: e.Graphics.TextRenderingHint = System.Drawing.Text.TextRenderingHint.AntiAlias
’wrong: e.Graphics.TextRenderingHint = System.Drawing.Text.TextRenderingHint.AntiAliasGridFit
’wrong: e.Graphics.TextRenderingHint = System.Drawing.Text.TextRenderingHint.SingleBitPerPixelGridFit
’wrong if cleartype is disable, ok if cleartype is enabled in system settings: e.Graphics.TextRenderingHint = System.Drawing.Text.TextRenderingHint.SystemDefault
e.Graphics.TextRenderingHint = System.Drawing.Text.TextRenderingHint.SingleBitPerPixel
End Sub ’gridControl1_PrepareGraphics