5x5 Pixel font for tiny screens

#1

Post by zdw » Sun, Apr 19, 2026, 3:19 PM UTC

5x5 Pixel font for tiny screens
maurycyz.com

Re: 5x5 Pixel font for tiny screens

#2

Post by lostmsu » Sun, Apr 19, 2026, 3:21 PM UTC

Small g is unreadable. I obviously know the alphabet and despite that it took quite some time to understand what letter is that.

Re: 5x5 Pixel font for tiny screens

#3

Post by bartvk » Wed, Apr 22, 2026, 5:15 PM UTC

lostmsu wrote: post #2

Small g is unreadable. I obviously know the alphabet and despite that it took quite some time to understand what letter is that.

Perhaps they should've used something similar to the 9. However then it wouldn't really look like a lower-case g.

Re: 5x5 Pixel font for tiny screens

#4

Post by ramses0 » Wed, Apr 22, 2026, 5:17 PM UTC

...and don't forget "twoslice": https://joefatula.com/twoslice.html

I haven't done the pixel-by-pixel deviation checking, but they may be comparable and independently derived!

Re: 5x5 Pixel font for tiny screens

#5

Post by dfox » Wed, Apr 22, 2026, 5:31 PM UTC

IIRC the really cheap Casio Organizers/DataBanks of 90's used 5x5 font. And then my ex used something like that on linux in order to fit a ridiculous amount of xterms onto 14" CRT (somewhat absurd feat with her congenital vision defect).

Re: 5x5 Pixel font for tiny screens

#6

Post by IvanK_net » Wed, Apr 22, 2026, 5:36 PM UTC

Too bad "tiny screens" pretty much do not exist anymore. Screens with hundreds of pixels on each side are very cheap already.

It reminds me people who research "colorizing grayscale photos", which do not exist anymore either (if you want a color photo of someone you met in your life, there probably exists a color photo of that person).

Re: 5x5 Pixel font for tiny screens

#7

Post by JoshTriplett » Wed, Apr 22, 2026, 5:38 PM UTC

These look great.

I would have loved to have seen a sample of the 4x5, not just the 5x5.

Re: 5x5 Pixel font for tiny screens

#8

Post by DonThomasitos » Wed, Apr 22, 2026, 5:41 PM UTC

Incomplete blog post! Where was the comparison vs. a 1x1 pixel font?

Re: 5x5 Pixel font for tiny screens

#9

Post by Nnnes » Wed, Apr 22, 2026, 5:42 PM UTC

ramses0 wrote: post #4

...and don't forget "twoslice": https://joefatula.com/twoslice.html I haven't done the pixel-by-pixel deviation checking, but they may be comparable and independently derived!

See also Picket Right, 2 pixels wide (7 high) and still readable: https://stormgold.itch.io/picket-right-font

Re: 5x5 Pixel font for tiny screens

#10

Post by FelipeCortez » Wed, Apr 22, 2026, 5:43 PM UTC

1x5 can also work if you take advantage of subpixel rendering https://www.msarnoff.org/millitext/