Specifications

Crestron Programming Design Kit
54
Doc. 5277J | crestron.com
Lower-case versus Upper-case Characters
There is almost a consensus among researchers that, when other factors are controlled, lower-case characters
are more legible than upper-case. An experiment was performed to determine the difference in readers’ attention
between upper and lower-case in newspaper headings. The results were that lower case headings were located
faster than upper case headings, and lower case was read faster and ranked higher in pleasantness.
• There are several factors that contribute to the reduced legibility of uppercase words compared with
lower-case:
• Most printed material that we read and use in everyday life is set in lower case.
• Readability of lower case words is superior; words set in lower-case are perceived at a greater distance,
suggesting that the “total word form” and legibility of the elements is important while perceiving words set
in lower-case
• The upper half of a printed line furnishes more clues to “word form”.
• Upper-case characters were perceivable at a greater distance.
Recommendations
Long chunks of text should be set in lower case. If upper case is required, the first letter of the word should be
made larger in order to enhance the legibility of the word.
DURING READING OF UPPER-CASE WORDS, PERCEPTION OCCURS IN A CHARACTER-BY-CHARACTER ORDER,
THEREBY REDUCING THE SPEED OF READING AND READABILITY OF THE ENTIRE WORD.
The pattern or shape of a familiar word is stored in the human memory. While reading text, a matching sequence
occurs between the observed word and the memory patterns stored in the brain. The more unique the patterns of
the word, the easier it is to perform the matching sequence.
RESEARCH SUGGESTS THAT SUCCESSIVE LINES OF PRINTED TEXT, COMPOSING A PATTERN OF “STRIPES,” MAY
INDUCE DISCOMFORT AND ANOMALOUS VISUAL EFFECTS TO THE READERS.
Lower-case words consist of characters that have ascenders (the vertical stroke of “d”) and descenders (“p,” “q”),
which contribute to the unique shape and pattern of a word. This makes the lower-case word-form appear more
“characteristic.” Conversely, an upper-case word appears like a rectangular box with no distinguishable contour.
Another explanation of the superior legibility of lower-case text is the combination of a capital letter and lower-case
characters at the beginning of a sentence and/or proper names. Research has shown that visual emphasis given to
the first letter of a word significantly improves the speed of a search. This finding is true for lower-case words as
well as for upper-case words combined with a larger first character. This can be useful when a designer decides
to make a distinction by using typographical features such as lower- and upper-case words and still maintain
discriminability and search speed.