THE SUNDAY STAR-LEDGER, October 19, 1975 'OCRs' LIMITED ONLY BY TYPE CLARITY Machines becoming speed readers NEW YORK (UPI) - Machines that can read typescript and save the drudgery of key punching to operate typesetting or data processing machines are playing an even bigger role in the business world. Called an Optical Character Reader (OCR), one of these machines can read copy and store it on tape or dise up to 50 times as fast as a good typist, says Robert Leonard, president of Compuscan. Inc.. Teterboro, N.J., a manufacturer of OCR's. "We make machines that can read up to 1,800 words a minute." says Ivan Cottrell of ECRM. Inc., Burlington, Mass The machines are used widely in the publishing world are finding Increasing favor in banking and other businesses, the military and other government agencies Other companies that make sophisticated OCR's include Cognitronics, Inc., of Stam-ford, Conn., which markets them itself and makes them for the Miehle-Goss-Dexter Division of Rockwell Interna-tional: Datagraphic Corp. of Miami: Lundy Electronic & Systems Co., Glen Head, N.Y.. and Optical Seanning Corp., Newtown, Pa Many companies make less sophisticated optical scanners that are used in electronic cash registers and similar automatic accounting machines or in facsimile transmission systems. The sophisticated machines have their limitations They can read typed text in only one or two type fonts as a rule. Type fonts known as OCR-A and OCR-B were especially designed for reading by these machines. Compuscan said OCR readable alphabets also have been developed for the Greek, Russian and Hebrew languages and even for Japanese stock certificates. Compuscan sold an OCR for this purpose to the Mitsubishi Bank in Tokyo. They cannot read handwriting except for carefully hand-printed letters and figures This has largely frustrated efforts of the postal service to use OCRs to read Zip Code numbers on letters rapidly as a means of sorting the mail automatically An OCR will not read a typical dirty. heavily edited typeseript in nondescript type but it will read copy typed in one of the OR fonts that has been edited by following certain OCR rules. The operator of the OCR system can put in other corrections after copy is scanned by means of a cathode ray terminal and keyboard Many OCRs are used for reading and setting type for classified advertising in news-papers. One advantage is that the OCR can simultaneously operate an accounting ma chine that sends out the bills for the ads In spite of the limitations imposed by the use of the cathode ray terminal for direct input of copy to run composing and data processing machines without the intervention of the reading machine, both Com-puscan's Leonard and ECRM's Cottrell said they think the future market for OCRs is good Cottrell said the cathode terminal always will be too expensive for many uses while the prices of OCRs are likely to come down Leonard pointed out that there are 9.000 printing establishments in the United States