Improve character readability in spite of pixel failure-a better font

Current military aircraft reflective displays (e.g. liquid crystal) may utilize a single-pixel-width 7×9 font, yet still achieve sunlight readability. However, use of double-pixel-width characters can substantially reduce reading errors when noncatastrophic dot-matrix display failures occur. Using a single-pixel-width font as a reference, an enhanced, 7×9 matrix size, two-pixel-width version was developed for testing in both degraded and undegraded forms. Probable worst-case degradation (failure of a single row or column to make one character look as much like another as possible) was applied to both font versions. Twenty-two subjects evaluated degraded and undegraded characters (both font versions) in a glance recognition test on a dot-matrix display. Test results show the double-pixel-width version to be superior in terms of reduced reading errors when simulated row/column failures occur. It is recommended that, as a minimum, two-pixel-width characters be used for military display applications