# LaTeX vs pdflatex on \neq

Using LaTeX for .dvi output produces unexpected result for \neq, instead of the \neq, it's displaying = though pdflatex provides the correct symbol.

Am I doing something wrong? I'm using flashcard.cls

\begin{flashcard}{Weak Axiom}
\begin{itemize}
\item In words: A consumer faces $(p,w)$ chooses $x(p,w)$ in lieu of $x(p^{\prime},w^{\prime})$. If $x(p^{\prime},w^{\prime})$ is ever chosen, $x(p,w)$ must not be affordable.
\item $p{x}({p}^\prime,{w}^\prime)\leq w \mbox{ and } x(p^{\prime},w^{\prime}) \neq x(p,w) \Rightarrow {p}^\prime x(p,w) > {w}^\prime$
\end{itemize}
\end{flashcard}


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As for me I can't see any problem there. I compiled it but I didn't get any difference. – Thorsten Apr 23 '11 at 17:36
Testing with other PDF viewers could also help. Screen rendering issues are not uncommon (I'm looking at you, Adobe Reader/Acrobat!), but printed output should be the same. – Martin Tapankov Apr 24 '11 at 7:09
@jasper what does 'too faintly' mean? using ghostscript. – justin cress Apr 25 '11 at 15:47
You can always use \not= instead of \neq. – Justin Bailey Jun 17 '11 at 20:42
Same here. DVI displays an eqals, PDF has a not-equals. Does not depend on resolution. No special packages loaded. This is Ubuntu 11.10, distro installation. This is pdfTeX, Version 3.1415926-1.40.10 (TeX Live 2009/Debian) Creating the pdf with dvipdf, the pdf looks fine. Runnign pdflatex, also fine. May be an evince problem. See bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=571701 – user12360 Mar 6 '12 at 16:22

You could use a symbol from a package instead of the default \neq, such as

• \neq of mathabx
• \nequal, \ne or \neq of MnSymbol, all meaning the same
• The default \neq is defined as \not=, in fontmath.ltx, you could also try using \not= in case \neq has been overwritten by a package. \not is originally defined by \DeclareMathSymbol{\not}{\mathrel}{symbols}{"36}.
• The cancel package offers an alternative by \cancel{=}.
• Finally, check if it's just a viewer issue by zooming, printing and trying a different viewer.
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The \neq is not displayed properly within a .dvi, but you can use dvips to convert the .dvi to a .ps, and it should be displayed properly. If you need a .pdf, you can then use ps2pdf (I actually find this to have better formatting success in general than using pdflatex directly.)

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Is this supposed to be a comment (not an answer)? – Werner Feb 3 at 19:00