On the noise immunity and legibility of Lucida fonts

Modern digital typography often has to contend with output devices such as workstation screens and laser-printers which have a much lower resolution than metal type or phototypesetter machines. In this paper we present results of some legibility investigations in which volunteers were asked to read...

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Main Authors: Bowden, Paul R., Brailsford, David F.
Format: Conference or Workshop Item
Published: 1989
Subjects:
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/28462/
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author Bowden, Paul R.
Brailsford, David F.
author_facet Bowden, Paul R.
Brailsford, David F.
author_sort Bowden, Paul R.
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description Modern digital typography often has to contend with output devices such as workstation screens and laser-printers which have a much lower resolution than metal type or phototypesetter machines. In this paper we present results of some legibility investigations in which volunteers were asked to read laser-printed and photocopied material produced in three different typefaces. Two of these faces were not designed with adverse imaging conditions in mind but the third, Lucida, had as one of its design aims that it should be robust and readable at low resolutions. Evidence is presented for Lucida’s enhanced legibility in noisy conditions when compared to the other two faces. However, the difficulties of devising suitable tests and the subjective nature of much of the evidence are also discussed.
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format Conference or Workshop Item
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publishDate 1989
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spelling nottingham-284622020-05-04T20:33:57Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/28462/ On the noise immunity and legibility of Lucida fonts Bowden, Paul R. Brailsford, David F. Modern digital typography often has to contend with output devices such as workstation screens and laser-printers which have a much lower resolution than metal type or phototypesetter machines. In this paper we present results of some legibility investigations in which volunteers were asked to read laser-printed and photocopied material produced in three different typefaces. Two of these faces were not designed with adverse imaging conditions in mind but the third, Lucida, had as one of its design aims that it should be robust and readable at low resolutions. Evidence is presented for Lucida’s enhanced legibility in noisy conditions when compared to the other two faces. However, the difficulties of devising suitable tests and the subjective nature of much of the evidence are also discussed. 1989-10 Conference or Workshop Item PeerReviewed Bowden, Paul R. and Brailsford, David F. (1989) On the noise immunity and legibility of Lucida fonts. In: Raster Imaging and Digital Typography (RIDT 89), 12-13 Oct 1989, Lausanne, Switzerland. Times Computer Modern Lucida Legibility Fonts.
spellingShingle Times
Computer Modern
Lucida
Legibility
Fonts.
Bowden, Paul R.
Brailsford, David F.
On the noise immunity and legibility of Lucida fonts
title On the noise immunity and legibility of Lucida fonts
title_full On the noise immunity and legibility of Lucida fonts
title_fullStr On the noise immunity and legibility of Lucida fonts
title_full_unstemmed On the noise immunity and legibility of Lucida fonts
title_short On the noise immunity and legibility of Lucida fonts
title_sort on the noise immunity and legibility of lucida fonts
topic Times
Computer Modern
Lucida
Legibility
Fonts.
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/28462/