In the days of letterpress and phototypesetting, many of the most-commonly used typefaces were available in a "display face" variation.
在凸版印刷和照相制版的时代，许多最常用的字体都包含一种叫做“特排字体”的变体。
Display faces were created for best appearance at large "display" sizes (typically 36 points or larger) as might be used for a major headline in a newspaper or on the cover of a book.
设计特排字体，是为了在大尺寸（一般在36pt或更大）下获得最佳的显示效果，通常是用于报纸的大标题或是书籍的封面。
The main distinction of a display face was the lack of "ink traps," small indentations at the junctions of letter strokes. In smaller point sizes, these ink traps were intended to plug up when the letterpress was over-inked, providing some latitude in press operation while maintaining the intended appearance of the type design.
特排字体的主要特征是，没有“油墨陷阱”——在字母笔画接合部的向内的小凹陷。在小字号印刷时，这样的凹陷有助于收纳凸版印刷时候多余的油墨，在保持字体原有外观设计意图的同时，为印刷提供一些回旋余地。（译注：这是凸版印刷的局限，油墨的量很难精确的控制，同时纸张的粗糙程度和对油墨的吸收程度不同，多余的油墨就有可能在笔画结合的地方溢出，导致笔画粘连不清，印刷的品质难于控制。因此油墨陷阱在一定程度上可以降低凸版印刷的废品率。）
At larger sizes these ink traps are not necessary, so display faces do not have them. Today's digital typefaces are most often used for offset lithography, electrophotographic printing or other processes that are not subject to the ink supply variations of letterpress, so ink traps have largely disappeared from use. This is why display cases are rarely found in the world of digital typography, whereas they were once common in letterpress printing.
在大字号情况下，油墨陷阱就不是必要的（更重要的是，会影响美观——译注），因此特排字体就没有这样的设计。现今的数字化字体通常都用于平版印刷、电子照排印刷等场合，不会受到凸版印刷供墨不稳定的影响，因而油墨陷阱基本上没有了用武之地。这就是当今数字化排印领域中罕见特排字体的原因，虽然它们在凸版印刷的时代盛行一时。
When digital fonts feature a "display" variation, it is to accommodate stylistic differences that may benefit type used at larger point sizes.
现今的数字化字体中有时也会提供一个叫做“特排”的变体，则是在风格上有所差异，以改善字体在大字号下的使用效果。
Unfortunately, some twenty years plus into the desktop publishing revolution, few typographers with metal foundry type experience are still working (and fewer still peruse Wikipedia) so the misuse of the term "display typeface" as a synonym for "ornamental type" has become widespread.
不幸的是，在桌面出版革命20多年之后，现今的排印从业人员中有铅字排版经验的已经很少了（认真去读Wiki百科的更少），因而把“特排字体”当成“装饰字体”的同义术语而误用的情形也变得普遍。
