On 11/12/2018 08:51 PM, Fred Cisin via cctalk wrote:
IFF DEC used a commercial font, then it should be possible
to find it.
But, it is extremely likely that they did NOT use a
commercial font, and either had their graphics art people
draw the characters as needed, or used reference patterns
of their own that are NOT incorporated into a computer font.
Were these DEC "fonts" fully formed, or a very fine bit
pattern?
Well, how DID they make panels? I'm guessing that in the
beginning, it was all done manually with photo/optical
technology, the same stuff they used to make boards. Also,
used to screen print part numbers on sheet metal, power
supply parts, etc. So, they may have gotten pre-made
letters on some kind of carrier sheet, and transferred them
to a mylar sheet, and then photographically reproduced that
onto a master phototool, which was then used to make the
silk screen. This would be all standard technology to
anybody making PC boards in the 1960's - 1970's.
While DEC got big enough to do this all in house or have one
of the providers in this area make it for them, they also
might have just picked a font they liked from somebody's
catalog. A LOT of advertising signage and all sorts of
graphics arts stuff was done by hand with photographic
technology at that time. Bishop Graphics comes to mind as a
provider of transferable lettering and of course, DIP
component patterns and such.
I suspect that they didn't get into any digital graphics
technology until at least the later DEC-10 systems, so mid
1970's.
Jon
