InDesign v20.3.1 x64, Windows 11

It appears that inDesign is maybe not able to correctly variate CVT values, causing unexpected hinting results. It seems as though CVT values that are used depend on the variable font’s default style/source. A possible way to recreate the issue: Compare the same variable font built in the same way but with a different default source set for each. If Hair (weight: 100) is set as the default, then it will appear in inDesign as if the Regular (weight: 400) is maybe using the CVT values of the Hair. This is shown in the first screenshot. It is not possible to recreate this issue in another environment such as Chrome. You would expect the choice of default style to not have any effect on the hinting result.

Also attached is a screenshot that looks at the difference between a static and variable version of a Windows font: Segoe UI. Although this example is less valuable as it does not show as stark of a visual difference as the first screenshot and the static and variable versions are not exact matches, it stands to show a difference in variable font hinting that I found difficult to recreate in other environments outside of inDesign, possibly alluding to inDesign doing something unique with how it handles hinting in variable fonts.

The screenshot examples use 18pt size text.