Chromatic dispersion is pre-compensated in a direct-detected orthogonal frequency-division multiplexed optical transmitter through digital signal processing methods, to generate signals that can be transmitted over an optical fiber. The dispersion pre-compensation digital signal processing may include multiplying subcarriers by a respective factor. The dispersion pre-compensation digital signal processing may instead include application of a finite impulse response filter to signals. The dispersion pre-compensation digital signal processing may instead include fast Fourier transformations of signals, application of a frequency domain filter to signals generated by the fast Fourier transformations, and inverse fast Fourier transformations of the signals produced by application of the frequency domain filter.