diff --git a/src/AcDream.App/Rendering/TextureCache.cs b/src/AcDream.App/Rendering/TextureCache.cs
index 1fbf0817..7d1c0b25 100644
--- a/src/AcDream.App/Rendering/TextureCache.cs
+++ b/src/AcDream.App/Rendering/TextureCache.cs
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ public sealed unsafe class TextureCache : Wb.ITextureCachePerInstance, IDisposab
     /// Magenta — wire a UI palette when one is actually encountered). Returns a
     /// 1x1 magenta handle on miss.
     /// </summary>
-    public uint GetOrUploadRenderSurface(uint renderSurfaceId, out int width, out int height)
+    public uint GetOrUploadRenderSurface(uint renderSurfaceId, out int width, out int height, bool nearest = false)
     {
         if (_handlesByRenderSurfaceId.TryGetValue(renderSurfaceId, out var existing)
             && _rsSizeById.TryGetValue(renderSurfaceId, out var sz))
@@ -139,7 +139,7 @@ public sealed unsafe class TextureCache : Wb.ITextureCachePerInstance, IDisposab
             decoded = DecodedTexture.Magenta;
         }
 
-        uint h = UploadRgba8(decoded);
+        uint h = UploadRgba8(decoded, nearest);
         _handlesByRenderSurfaceId[renderSurfaceId] = h;
         _rsSizeById[renderSurfaceId] = (decoded.Width, decoded.Height);
         width = decoded.Width; height = decoded.Height;
@@ -542,7 +542,7 @@ public sealed unsafe class TextureCache : Wb.ITextureCachePerInstance, IDisposab
         return composed;
     }
 
-    private uint UploadRgba8(DecodedTexture decoded)
+    private uint UploadRgba8(DecodedTexture decoded, bool nearest = false)
     {
         uint tex = _gl.GenTexture();
         _gl.BindTexture(TextureTarget.Texture2D, tex);
@@ -559,8 +559,11 @@ public sealed unsafe class TextureCache : Wb.ITextureCachePerInstance, IDisposab
                 PixelType.UnsignedByte,
                 p);
 
-        _gl.TexParameter(TextureTarget.Texture2D, TextureParameterName.TextureMinFilter, (int)TextureMinFilter.Linear);
-        _gl.TexParameter(TextureTarget.Texture2D, TextureParameterName.TextureMagFilter, (int)TextureMagFilter.Linear);
+        // Point (nearest) sampling for pixel-exact UI text — bilinear softens the dat
+        // font's small glyphs. Other surfaces use bilinear.
+        int filter = nearest ? (int)TextureMinFilter.Nearest : (int)TextureMinFilter.Linear;
+        _gl.TexParameter(TextureTarget.Texture2D, TextureParameterName.TextureMinFilter, filter);
+        _gl.TexParameter(TextureTarget.Texture2D, TextureParameterName.TextureMagFilter, filter);
         _gl.TexParameter(TextureTarget.Texture2D, TextureParameterName.TextureWrapS, (int)TextureWrapMode.Repeat);
         _gl.TexParameter(TextureTarget.Texture2D, TextureParameterName.TextureWrapT, (int)TextureWrapMode.Repeat);
 
diff --git a/src/AcDream.App/UI/UiDatFont.cs b/src/AcDream.App/UI/UiDatFont.cs
index c08e20de..400ccf0f 100644
--- a/src/AcDream.App/UI/UiDatFont.cs
+++ b/src/AcDream.App/UI/UiDatFont.cs
@@ -101,11 +101,13 @@ public sealed class UiDatFont
         if (font.ForegroundSurfaceDataId == 0)
             return null;
 
-        uint fgTex = cache.GetOrUploadRenderSurface(font.ForegroundSurfaceDataId, out int fgW, out int fgH);
+        // Point-sample the glyph atlases (nearest) so small UI text stays pixel-crisp;
+        // bilinear softens the dat font noticeably (the chat menu/button text "blur").
+        uint fgTex = cache.GetOrUploadRenderSurface(font.ForegroundSurfaceDataId, out int fgW, out int fgH, nearest: true);
 
         uint bgTex = 0; int bgW = 0, bgH = 0;
         if (font.BackgroundSurfaceDataId != 0)
-            bgTex = cache.GetOrUploadRenderSurface(font.BackgroundSurfaceDataId, out bgW, out bgH);
+            bgTex = cache.GetOrUploadRenderSurface(font.BackgroundSurfaceDataId, out bgW, out bgH, nearest: true);
 
         // Build the char->descriptor lookup. FontCharDesc.Unicode is the code
         // point; for Latin-1 fonts this is a direct char cast. Last write wins