Signetics CRT is a monospace typeface built from the classic bitmap letterforms of the Signetics 2513 character generator, as seen on a vintage cathode-ray-tube screen. Signetics was a prominent semiconductor manufacturer in Sunnyvale, California, from the 1960s through the 1980s. Their 2513 character ROM chip, introduced in the early 1970s, was a common off-the-shelf part used in some iconic early computers and other systems with text displays. These are the letters of the Apple-1, the Apple II, early Atari arcade games, and the “TV Typewriters.”

As part of the design of my book about Sphere microcomputers, I developed this font to illustrate how those classic letters actually appeared on the screen technology of the time: a series of distinct horizontal raster lines. Variable TTF versions of the primary styles allow control of a “raster distortion” variable axis.

Signetics CRT is a family that includes:

• Regular and Bold (OTF and variable TTF)

• Interlace and Interlace Bold (OTF and variable TTF)

• Jitter and Jitter Bold (OTF and variable TTF)

• Signetics Bitmap (OTF)