TL;DR
DSEG is a free digital-display typeface family that reproduces 7‑ and 14‑segment LED/LCD numerals and includes a weather‑icon set. The project offers 51 styles in TTF and web (WOFF/WOFF2) formats and has been released under the SIL Open Font License 1.1 since version 0.40.
What happened
The DSEG font family provides purpose-built glyphs that mimic classic 7‑segment and 14‑segment electronic displays, plus a separate DSEGWeather set of weather icons. The project distributes many variants — 51 styles — covering modern and classic looks, mini sizes, weights, and italics. Files are available in TrueType (.ttf) and web font formats (.woff, .woff2), and the source repository is published on GitHub. The author changed the license to the SIL Open Font License 1.1 starting at version 0.40, allowing commercial use, embedding and modification subject to the OFL rules; earlier releases remain under their original licenses. The fonts include behavior-oriented mappings (for example, colon and half‑width space share the same width to enable blinking effects, the period is set with zero width to avoid shifting, and the exclamation mark is used to represent all‑segments‑off). The project also documents character maps, usage notes and a change log — the most recent listed release is v0.46, which added a degree sign and other small fixes.
Why it matters
- Designers and developers can reproduce authentic digital‑clock and calculator displays without using images, simplifying responsive and scalable UI.
- SIL Open Font License 1.1 permits embedding and modification, making the family usable in commercial projects if OFL conditions are followed.
- Web font formats (WOFF/WOFF2) are provided, easing integration into browser‑based interfaces.
- Built‑in mappings for blinking colons, decimal behavior and full‑on/off segment states reduce the need for additional CSS/JS hacks.
Key facts
- DSEG covers 7‑segment (DSEG7), 14‑segment (DSEG14) and a weather icon set (DSEGWeather).
- The family contains 51 distinct styles, including modern/classic, mini, weights and italics.
- Distributions include TrueType (.ttf) and web formats (.woff, .woff2); metadata for web fonts was added in later versions.
- From version 0.40 onward the project is released under the SIL Open Font License 1.1; earlier versions use a different license and require checking bundled license text.
- Character mapping includes practical rules: colon (U+003A) shares width with half‑width space for blinking; period (U+002E) width is set to zero; exclamation mark (U+0021) represents all segments off.
- DSEG14 uses tilde (~) to represent all‑segments‑on; DSEG7 uses the digit 8 for all‑on.
- Source files and older releases are available via a GitHub repository linked from the project page.
- The project changelog shows incremental updates; v0.46 (2020‑03‑15) added the degree sign and fixed a negative period width bug.
- The fonts were produced using FontForge on Ubuntu 14.04 LTS and the author also published the family on Vector.
What to watch next
- Monitor the project's GitHub repository for new releases, bug fixes and source updates (confirmed in the source).
- Browser rendering edge cases and cross‑platform typographic behavior when using the fonts at different sizes or with advanced layout features — not confirmed in the source.
- Ensure compliance with OFL requirements (attribution or including DSEG‑LICENSE.txt) when bundling the font into products (license guidance is provided in the source).
Quick glossary
- 7‑segment display: A numeric display made from seven illuminated segments used to form digits commonly seen in digital clocks and calculators.
- 14‑segment display: An alphanumeric segment display using 14 segments to represent both letters and numbers with greater detail than 7‑segment layouts.
- SIL Open Font License (OFL): A permissive license for fonts that allows embedding, modification, and redistribution under certain conditions, including preserving license text and not selling the font alone.
- WOFF / WOFF2: Web Open Font Format variants designed for efficient delivery of fonts to browsers; WOFF2 offers improved compression over WOFF.
- TrueType (TTF): A widely supported font file format used across desktop and web platforms.
Reader FAQ
Can I use DSEG in commercial projects?
Yes — from version 0.40 onward the fonts are licensed under the SIL Open Font License 1.1, which allows commercial use, embedding and modification subject to OFL terms.
What file formats are provided?
Distributions include TrueType (.ttf) and web font formats (.woff and .woff2).
How does the font support blinking colons or segment on/off states?
The colon shares the same width as a half‑width space to enable blink effects via character substitution; the exclamation mark is assigned to the all‑segments‑off glyph and specific characters represent all‑segments‑on depending on the set.
Where can I get the source files?
The project publishes source files and releases on a GitHub repository linked from the project page (confirmed in the source).
Can I sell the font by itself?
The author states that distributing DSEG or modified versions as a standalone paid font is not allowed; contact the author if unsure (as noted in the source).
[Top]->7セグ・14セグフォント「DSEG」 [Japanese] [English] 更新日：2020-03-15 7セグ・14セグフォント 「DSEG」 1.DSEGについて LEDやデジタル時計を意識したデジタル数字フォント「DSEG」(でぃーせぐ、と読む)を公開しています。 7SEG表示の「DSEG7」、14SEG表示の「DSEG14」、液晶表示風お天気アイコンの「DSEGWeather」を用意しています。特徴は次の通り。 フリーフォントで、商用利用・埋め込み・改変が自由（ライセンスがSIL Open Font License 1.1） 7セグ・14セグメント表示の英数字と記号書体を収録 種類が豊富(51書体) True Type形式(*.ttf)と Web Open Type File Format 形式(*.woff, *.woff2)を同梱 ダウンロードは以下よりどうぞ。 最新版(v0.46)のダウンロード ソースファイル >>GitHubのリポジトリ >>旧バージョン(v0.30)…
Sources
- 7- and 14-segment fonts "DSEG"
- "DSEG": Original 7-segment and 14-segment fonts
- keshikan/DSEG
- DSEG7 Font Download
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