Punched tape
There are different formats for punching tapes. Today, two formats are left, which are mechanically compatible. One is used in Telex and early computing applications. The strip is  wide, and has five positions, plus a row that serves for feeding, and is always punched. The feeding row is between positions three and four. Data positions use a quadratic raster of a width of . The other format is mainly used in computing. The strip is  wide, and has eight positions. Like the other format, the feeding row is between holes three and four. Both formats save ten rows of data (or characters) on a length of . If the 5 position strip is put on top of the 8 position one, the first five holes (and the feeding row) have the same position. Thi means that a reader which is capable of reading 8-position tape can also read 5-position tape. There are devices which can output both formats.