I am using QGIS 2.14.9 on windows 10 to view our geospatial data and use the QuickMapServices plugin connected to 'OSM Standard' as a base map. Recently, I had need to use WFS layers, which are not compatible with our organisation's proxy server. If I do not use the proxy server then QuickMapServices will not download the tiles.
To overcome this I am using GDAL TMS driver with this xml:
<GDAL_WMS>
<Service name="TMS">
<ServerUrl>http://tile.openstreetmap.org/${z}/${x}/${y}.png</ServerUrl>
</Service>
<DataWindow>
<UpperLeftX>-20037508.34</UpperLeftX>
<UpperLeftY>20037508.34</UpperLeftY>
<LowerRightX>20037508.34</LowerRightX>
<LowerRightY>-20037508.34</LowerRightY>
<TileLevel>19</TileLevel>
<TileCountX>1</TileCountX>
<TileCountY>1</TileCountY>
<YOrigin>top</YOrigin>
</DataWindow>
<Projection>EPSG:3857</Projection>
<BlockSizeX>256</BlockSizeX>
<BlockSizeY>256</BlockSizeY>
<BandsCount>3</BandsCount>
<Cache />
</GDAL_WMS>
However, the displayed tiles are so 'blocky' that they are very hard to read and looks poor.
I noticed that if I right click on 'OSM Standard' layer in the QGIS Layers Panel, select properties and uncheck 'smoothing' then the QuickMapServices tiles look just as blocky.
Is there a way to 'smooth' the tiles in the GDAL XML or by using QGIS?
Update: CRS is 3857. Example images added: