Page 63 - DCAP101_BASIC_COMPUTER_SKILLS

Basic Computer Skills

Notes OCR software is extremely complex because it is difficult to make a computer recognize
an unlimited number of typefaces and fonts. Hence, these software are designed to recognize
texts written using standard type fonts (called OCR fonts). Two such standard fonts are
OCR-A (American standard) and OCR-B (European standard). Figure 4.11 shows, OCR-A
fonts. Note that if the document contains italics or bold face letters, or fonts other than
that for which the OCR software has been designed, the OCR software will not work
effectively.

Figure 4.11: OCR-A Fonts

Magnetic-Ink Character Recognition (MICR)
MICR is similar to OCR. It is used by banking industry for faster processing of large volume
of cheques handled every day by this industry. A bank cheque has bank’s identification code
(name, branch, etc.), account number, and cheque number pre-printed (encoded) on it by
using characters from a special character set. A special ink containing particles of iron oxide
(that can be magnetized) is used for pre-printing the characters on the cheque. Figure 4.12
shows a sample cheque that employs MICR technology.

Figure 4.12: Magnetic-Ink Character Recognition (MICR)

When a customer presents a filled-in cheque at a bank, a bank employee manually enters
(keys in) the customer supplied information including the amount written on the cheque.
This cheque is then processed by using an (MICR reader-sorter that can recognize magnetic
ink characters. The MICR reader-sorter reads the pre-printed data on the cheques, and sorts
the cheques for distribution to other banks or for further processing.

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