FM Abhaya vs Unicode Sinhala
FM Abhaya vs Unicode Sinhala — Encoding Comparison
FM Abhaya සහ Unicode Sinhala encoding compare කරන්න. ඇයි FM Abhaya text garbled display වෙන්නේ, Unicode convert කරන්නේ කොහොමද.
Feature Comparison
| Feature | FM Abhaya (Legacy) | Unicode Sinhala |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | Legacy font encoding | Unicode (U+0D80–U+0DFF) |
| Compatibility | Only with FM Abhaya font | Universal — all modern software |
| Web Support | Broken without font install | Works natively |
| Search Engines | Cannot index text | Fully indexable |
| Copy/Paste | Breaks across apps | Works everywhere |
| Mobile Support | Very limited | Full support |
| Font Options | FM Abhaya only | Iskoola Pota, Noto Sans, etc. |
| Government Use | Still used in some depts | Recommended standard |
| Year Introduced | 1990s | 2003 (Unicode 3.2) |
| Future-proof | Deprecated | Active standard |
FM Abhaya (Legacy) — Pros
- + Still in use by some government offices
- + Familiar to older generation of typists
Cons
- - Not compatible with modern software
- - Text appears garbled without font installed
- - Cannot be searched or indexed
- - Copy/paste breaks across applications
- - No mobile support
- - Deprecated standard
Unicode Sinhala — Pros
- + Universal standard — works everywhere
- + Searchable and indexable by Google
- + Works on web, mobile, desktop, print
- + Multiple font options available
- + Future-proof and actively maintained
Cons
- - Old FM Abhaya documents need conversion
Verdict
Unicode is the modern standard for Sinhala text. If you have FM Abhaya encoded documents, convert them to Unicode using the free Singlish.lk PDF Converter. All new documents should be created in Unicode.
Try Singlish.lk FreeFAQ
How to convert FM Abhaya to Unicode?
Upload your FM Abhaya PDF or text to the Singlish.lk PDF Converter (singlish.lk/pdf-tools). It auto-detects the encoding and converts to clean Unicode Sinhala instantly — free and private.
Why do old Sinhala PDFs show garbled text?
Old Sinhala PDFs use FM Abhaya font encoding instead of Unicode. When opened without that specific font, characters display incorrectly. The Singlish.lk PDF Converter fixes this automatically.
Is Unicode better than FM Abhaya?
Yes. Unicode is the modern international standard. It works on all devices, is searchable, supports copy/paste, and works on the web. FM Abhaya is a deprecated legacy encoding.