Some of the alphabets in the table have been given new names because they are not identical with existing alphabets. The word simplex has been selected to describe those alphabets which are composed of lines of uniform thickness and have no serifs or flourishes. The simplex style of character is known otherwise as gothic[n 1], sans serif, grotesk, light face, or block letter. The word complex may be applied to those alphabets which are composed of lines of variable thickness and do have serifs or flourishes. The complex style of character includes those which are known otherwise as standard, modern, boldface, or black letter. The words uniplex, duplex, multiplex may be used to express the number of lines which are used in parallel to obtain a variation in line thickness.
Three sizes of characters are provided by the repertory in Appendix B. Characters 9 raster units in height are available for FORTRAN or cartographic applications. Characters 13 raster units in height are available for indexical lines of print. Characters 21 raster units in height are available for principal lines of print.
PRINTING SYSTEMS
Character Generation
In cathode ray printing systems, characters are displayed on the face of a cathode ray tube and are photographed by a camera. Two distinct methods are used for the creation of a character on the face of the cathode ray tube. In one method, a character is created by a beam of electrons which is shaped by its passage through an aperture in a matrix. In the other method, a character is created from the strokes of an electron beam with a constant sweep rate.
- ↑ Only in America is the term gothic applied to this style of character.
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