Change Country/Area Global – Industrial Products
Breadcumbs
Main content

Information about fonts corresponding to MS Gothic and MS Mincho

MS Gothic and MS Mincho are fonts created by our company, but we have transferred their marketing rights to Microsoft Corporation so we handle fonts that correspond to those two fonts.

Main differences with MS Gothic / MS Mincho

  MS Gothic HGGothicB
Typefaces included
in font file (TTC)		 MS Gothic HGGothicB
MS UI Gothic  
MS PGothic HGPGothicB
　

Version comparison

MS Gothic
MS PGothic
Version		 Main characteristics Total characters
（Unicode®quantity）
Excluding vertically written characters		 Bitmap Font replacement HGGothicB
HGPGothicB
Version
2.3   14,965 10,12,14,16,18,20dot
7,8 dot (kana only)		 4.80
2.5 Number of characters increased
13 dot added to Bitmap Font replacement
For Windows Vista®		 16,050 10,12,13,14,16,18,20dot
7,8dot (kana only)		 2.50
5.00 JIS2004 character form support
For Windows Vista®		 16,050 10,12,13,14,16,18,20dot
7,8dot (kana only)		 5.00
5.01 10-character change to 12 dot Bitmap Font 16,050 10,12,13,14,16,18,20dot
7,8dot (kana only)		 5.01
5.02 For Microsoft® Office 2008 for Mac 16,050 10,12,13,14,16,18,20dot
7,8dot (kana only)		 Can be produced
5.10 Number of characters increased
For Windows® 8		 16,125 10,12,13,14,16,18,20dot
7,8dot (kana only)		 5.10m
5.11 For Windows® 10 16,125 10,12,13,14,16,18,20dot
7,8dot (kana only)		 5.11m
9 Characters (MacJapanese) more than MS Gothic
5.31 Added outline of Character form” class= ligature, but does not include Bitmap Font for replacement 16,126 10,12,13,14,16,18,20dot
7,8dot (kana only)		 5.31m1
9 Characters (MacJapanese) more than MS Gothic IncludingCharacter formligature Bitmap Font
MS Mincho
MS PMincho
Version		 Main characteristics Total characters
（Unicode quantity）
Excluding vertically written characters		 Bitmap Font replacement HGMinchoL
HGPMinchoL
Version
2.3   14,965 10,12,14,16,18,20dot
7,8dot (kana only) 		Can be produced
2.31 14,965 10,12,14,16,18,20dot
7,8dot (kana only)		 4.80
2.5 Number of characters increased
13 dot added to Bitmap Font replacement
For Windows Vista®		 16,050 10,12,13,14,16,18,20dot
7,8dot (kana only) 		2.50
5.00 JIS2004 character form support
For Windows Vista®		 16,050 10,12,13,14,16,18,20dot
7,8dot (kana only) 		5.00
5.01 16,050 10,12,13,14,16,18,20dot
7,8dot (kana only) 		5.01
5.02 For Microsoft® Office 2008 for Mac 16,050 10,12,13,14,16,18,20dot
7,8dot (kana only) 		Can be produced
5.10 Number of characters increased
For Windows® 8		 16,125 10,12,13,14,16,18,20dot
7,8dot (kana only) 		5.10m
5.11 For Windows® 10 16,125 10,12,13,14,16,18,20dot
7,8dot (kana only) 		5.11m
9 Characters (MacJapanese) more than MS Mincho
5.30 Added outline of Character form ligature, but does not include Bitmap Font for replacement 16,126 10,12,13,14,16,18,20dot
7,8dot (kana only) 		5.30m1
9 Characters (MacJapanese) more than MS Mincho IncludingCharacter form ligature Bitmap Font

Bitmap Font replacement

Including Bitmap Font in the TrueType Font (and RT Font) makes it possible to prevent character illegibility by giving priority to displaying with Bitmap Font using the subject number of dots.
HG Gothic B and HG Mincho L include bitmap fonts similar to MS Gothic / MS Mincho.

Red characters are Bitmap Font.

 When Bitmap Font includedWhen Bitmap Font not included
24dotCharacter formCharacter form
21dotCharacter formCharacter form
20dotCharacter formCharacter form
18dotCharacter formCharacter form
16dotCharacter formCharacter form
14dotCharacter formCharacter form
13dotCharacter formCharacter form
12dotCharacter formCharacter form
10dotCharacter formCharacter form
8dotCharacter formCharacter form
7dotCharacter formCharacter form
 

Pt (point) is the actual display size so it does not depend on resolution. 1 [pt]＝1/72 [inch] ≒ 0.35 [mm]
Dot is the number of pixels on the display device so the actual display size depends on resolution.
Resolution [dpi] is the number of the dots per 1 inch.

Conversion formula from pt (points) to dot (dots)

Number of dots [dot] ＝ Resolution [dpi] ÷ 72 × Number of points [pt]Note: Windows® standard resolution is 96 [dpi].

Conversion formula from dot (dots) to pt (points)

Number of points [pt] ＝ 72 ÷ Resolution [dpi] × Number of dots [dot]Note: Windows® standard resolution is 96 [dpi].

Ricoh fonts have been developed along with the development of our printers. Beginning with type font design for use with impact printers and electronic typewriters, we produced bitmap fonts for the dot impact printers used with the PCs and word processors introduced in the 1980s. Later as printer and screen resolution improved and the number of dots increased, we increased the number of character size variations. However, even though data volume can be kept small for bitmap fonts, character quality deteriorates when the display is magnified. In order to overcome this problem, we developed outline fonts.

Background on MS Gothic and MS Mincho

Using this outline font technology as a base, MS Gothic and MS Mincho were born as the first Windows® OS Japanese TrueType Fonts. Ever since Windows® 3.1, these fonts have continued to be included while undergoing revisions.

MS Gothic and MS Mincho are fonts created by our company, but we have transferred the marketing rights for them so please contact Microsoft Corporation.