Why is there a different font thickness if compiling differently?

Question

I've noticed that the text looks different if I compile a file via latex,dvipdf or via pdflatex, for example, consider this .tex file:

\documentclass{article}

\begin{document}
Prueba de texto para comparar compilaciones tex$\rightarrow$dvi$\rightarrow$pdf, y tex$\rightarrow$pdf, via latex dvipdf y pdflatex respectivamente.

\[ 1234567890-+\times \]
\end{document}

The outputs that are produced by the previous two compiling paths look like in the image:

enter image description here

The above is what's produced by making the intermediate dvi file. The thickness is bigger in this case.

I would like to know the reason for this, and I would like to know how to get the same effect when compiling with pdflatex.

In view of the comments, this is the output of pdfinfo for the latex-dvipdf file:

Title:          grosor.dvi
Creator:        dvips(k) 5.993 Copyright 2013 Radical Eye Software
Producer:       GPL Ghostscript 9.10
CreationDate:   Sat Jul 11 23:44:25 2015
ModDate:        Sat Jul 11 23:44:25 2015
Tagged:         no
Form:           none
Pages:          1
Encrypted:      no
Page size:      595 x 842 pts (A4)
Page rot:       0
File size:      11577 bytes
Optimized:      no
PDF version:    1.4

and for the pdflatex file:

Creator:        TeX
Producer:       pdfTeX-1.40.14
CreationDate:   Sat Jul 11 23:44:30 2015
ModDate:        Sat Jul 11 23:44:30 2015
Tagged:         no
Form:           none
Pages:          1
Encrypted:      no
Page size:      595.276 x 841.89 pts (A4)
Page rot:       0
File size:      36096 bytes
Optimized:      no
PDF version:    1.5

There is a difference in the PDF version.

And this is the difference of the output of pdffonts: for the dvi->pdf file:

name                                 type              encoding         emb sub uni object ID
------------------------------------ ----------------- ---------------- --- --- --- ---------
XDBXOD+CMBX10                        Type 1C           WinAnsi          yes yes no      12  0
KGXOBL+CMSY10                        Type 1C           Custom           yes yes no      10  0
FJRNGQ+CMR10                         Type 1C           Custom           yes yes no       8  0

and for the pdflatex file:

name                                 type              encoding         emb sub uni object ID
------------------------------------ ----------------- ---------------- --- --- --- ---------
TPACRM+CMR10                         Type 1            Builtin          yes yes no       4  0
NIWPOC+CMSY10                        Type 1            Builtin          yes yes no       5  0
JEQXNS+CMBX10                        Type 1            Builtin          yes yes no       6  0

On my machine, I don't get this difference at all. Maybe just your PDF viewer? — cfr, Jul 11 '15 at 21:48
If it is a true difference, consider checking the respective files with pdfinfo. — jon, Jul 11 '15 at 21:57
@cfr May I ask which of my two results are you getting (at least cloer to it? — MyUserIsThis, Jul 11 '15 at 22:00
@jon There is a difference in the pdf version. Is this the latest? Or any reason for dvipdf producing a pdf with an older version? — MyUserIsThis, Jul 11 '15 at 22:04
Neither really. Maybe closer to the second but much clearer and better defined. (Might just be the screenshot, though.) — cfr, Jul 11 '15 at 22:04
You can put \pdfminorversion=4 as the first line in your .tex document to test when compiling with pdfTeX. — cfr, Jul 11 '15 at 22:05
Your question says "dvipdf", your output dvips. How do you compile? And did you check the fonts used (e.g. with the adobe reader->document properties). — Ulrike Fischer, Jul 11 '15 at 22:11
@UlrikeFischer I'm compiling in the way stated in the question. That's just the output of pdfinfo. latex -> dvipdf. — MyUserIsThis, Jul 11 '15 at 22:14
@cfr It's a very small screenshot just to show the difference, that's why it's so badly defined. Could I ask what PDF version are you producing? — MyUserIsThis, Jul 11 '15 at 22:15
@jon I added the outputs to the question, and there are differences, I don't really understand them though. — MyUserIsThis, Jul 11 '15 at 22:18
The PDF I get using dvipdf is version 1.5, by the way. And I do not get the first line in the fonts listing. With pdfTeX, I do not get the third line of your font listing. — cfr, Jul 11 '15 at 22:22
@UlrikeFischer dvipdf is just a wrapper for dvips as far as I know. At least, it is on my machine. — cfr, Jul 11 '15 at 22:24
Your mwe doesn't use CMBX10. The output of pdffonts imho can't be from this example. — Ulrike Fischer, Jul 12 '15 at 09:37
Compile your example above and then put the pdf's and the log-file of the pdflatex compilation somewhere on the net. — Ulrike Fischer, Jul 12 '15 at 20:14
Without the TeX logs we can't help here: this looks very much like an issue with your set up. — Joseph Wright, Dec 17 '15 at 11:20

Why is there a different font thickness if compiling differently?

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