Simultaneously, Bitstream is releasing the CCTV Font Set, which supports the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) requirements for closed captioning display on digital and analog TVs. Bitstream carefully selected the fonts to be very readable on the TV screen and implemented all the FCC-required styles.

"We are very pleased to announce the completion of Font Fusion 2.3 and the CCTV Font Set," said Anna Chagnon, President of Bitstream. "With this release of Font Fusion, we have solidified our position as the leading font rendering technology for digital TVs, set-top boxes, wireless and handheld devices, and other embedded systems. TVs present unique display challenges, which we have helped resolve with our TV modes. Font Fusion produces high-quality text output. And we have the fastest font engine on the market, including the fastest TrueType rasterizer available."

The following features were added for the Font Fusion 2.3 release:

• Support for Adobe OpenType fonts
• Support for FCC standards for closed captioning
• New CCTV font set

Support for Adobe OpenType Fonts
Font Fusion supports both OpenType standards on the market today. Along with Microsoft OpenType fonts, Font Fusion now supports Adobe OpenType fonts. Font Fusion can read and render CFF (Compact Font Format) font data embedded inside a TrueType or OpenType font.

Support for FCC Standards for Closed Captioning
Font Fusion 2.3 supports font requirements mandated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), as specified by the Electronics Industries Alliance (EIA). Bitstream can now provide developers with a complete solution for closed captioning display on both analog and digital television systems, including fonts, font styles, and font attributes.

Closed captioning involves displaying the "audio" portion of a TV broadcast as text, which is superimposed over the video portion. Most importantly, it allows viewers who are hearing impaired to access TV broadcasts. To display closed-captioned text, the viewers must have a set-top box decoder or a TV receiver that includes this decoding capability.

The FCC has updated its closed captioning requirements for digital TVs. By July 1, 2002, manufacturers must include FCC-mandated decoder circuitry for closed captioning in their digital TV devices.

Character Edge Effects
Font Fusion includes the ability to display text using the following six character edge effects:

• Embossed ("raised")
• Engraved ("depressed")
• Outline ("uniform")
• Drop shadow left
• Drop shadow right
• None

Pen Styles, Character Offsetting, & Pen Sizes
Bitstream's fonts conform to these FCC-required specifications:

• Pen styles: normal, italic, & underline
• Character offsetting: normal, subscript, & superscript
• Pen sizes: standard, large, & small

New CCTV Font Set
In addition, Bitstream has created a CCTV Font Set that supports these FCC requirements for font styles:

• Monospaced with serifs
• Proportionally spaced with serifs
• Monospaced without serifs
• Proportionally spaced without serifs
• Casual font type
• Cursive font type
• Small capitals

About

Font Fusion
Font Fusion provides developers with full font fidelity and high-quality typographic output at any resolution on any device, while maintaining the integrity of the original character shapes.

Available as an SDK (Software Developers' Kit), Font Fusion is able to rasterize 8 different font formats: TrueType, Type 1, CFF/Type2, T2K Latin, T2K Asian, TrueDoc PFR (portable font resource), Bitstream Speedo, and Font Fusion stroke (FFS) format, as well as embedded bitmaps. Developers can also license a number of different suites of fonts, including delta-hinted screen fonts and the TV Font Pack.

Font Fusion is small and fast. Most developers can compile the source code in 32-105 KB, depending on options. It generates more than 16,000 characters per second, using the Arial font at 25 lines per em on a 233MHz Pentium II processor, cache turned off.

Font Fusion performs well in memory- and performance-constrained environments. For example, a complete traditional Chinese TrueType font with over 13,000 characters can occupy as much as 8 MB. With Font Fusion, the same characters occupy less than 0.5 MB, representing considerable savings in memory and disk space costs.

Font Fusion is designed for operating systems, software applications, Web applications, low-resolution screen devices, multimedia servers, high-definition television screens (HDTVs), set-top boxes, continuous tone printers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and other embedded systems and information and wireless appliances.

Bitstream Inc.
Bitstream Inc. ( Nasdaq:BITS ) is the leading developer of font technology, digital fonts, and custom font designs. Bitstream licenses its award-winning TrueDoc and Font Fusion technologies to Web and application developers, and to manufacturers of information appliances, wireless and handheld devices, set-top boxes, embedded systems, and printers. Setting the standard for excellence in font technology, Bitstream holds numerous key patents that cover the creation of portable fonts for the Internet. Building on this experience, Bitstream is currently developing ThunderHawk, a breakthrough technology for the wireless Web.

Founded in 1981, Bitstream is the first digital font foundry. In 1999, Bitstream created MyFonts.com, Inc. (http://www.myfonts.com), the Web site for finding, trying, and buying fonts on line. Bitstream is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Bitstream, Speedo, and TrueDoc are registered trademarks, and CCTV Font Set, Font Fusion, and ThunderHawk are trademarks of Bitstream Inc. T2K is a registered trademark of Type Solutions, Inc., a Bitstream company. Other technologies and brand names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.