An electronic visual display is a display device that can display

image An image or picture is a visual representation. An image can be Two-dimensional space, two-dimensional, such as a drawing, painting, or photograph, or Three-dimensional space, three-dimensional, such as a carving or sculpture. Images may be di ...

video Video is an Electronics, electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving picture, moving image, visual Media (communication), media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, whi ...

, or

text Text may refer to: Written word * Text (literary theory) In literary theory, a text is any object that can be "read", whether this object is a work of literature, a street sign, an arrangement of buildings on a city block, or styles of clothi ...

that is transmitted electronically. Electronic visual displays include

television set A television set or television receiver (more commonly called TV, TV set, television, telly, or tele) is an electronic device for viewing and hearing television broadcasts, or as a computer monitor. It combines a tuner, display, and loudspeake ...

computer monitor A computer monitor is an output device that displays information in pictorial or textual form. A discrete monitor comprises a electronic visual display, visual display, support electronics, power supply, Housing (engineering), housing, electri ...

s, and

digital signage Digital signage is a segment of electronic signage that uses Electronic visual display, digital display technologies to present multimedia content in both public and private environments. Content may include video, images, text, or interactive me ...

. They are ubiquitous in

mobile computing Mobile computing is human–computer interaction in which a computer is expected to be transported during normal usage and allow for transmission of data, which can include voice and video transmissions. Mobile computing involves mobile commun ...

applications like

tablet computer A tablet computer, commonly shortened to tablet, is a mobile device, typically with a mobile operating system and touchscreen display processing circuitry, and a rechargeable battery in a single, thin and flat package. Tablets, being computers ...

smartphones A smartphone is a mobile phone with advanced computing capabilities. It typically has a touchscreen interface, allowing users to access a wide range of applications and services, such as web browsing, email, and social media, as well as mult ...

, and information appliances. Many electronic visual displays are informally referred to as touch screens. Starting in the early 2000s, flat-panel displays began to dominate the industry, as

cathode-ray tube A cathode-ray tube (CRT) is a vacuum tube containing one or more electron guns, which emit electron beams that are manipulated to display images on a phosphorescent screen. The images may represent electrical waveforms on an oscilloscope, a ...

s (CRT) were phased out, especially for computer applications. Starting in the mid 2010s, curved display panels began to be used in televisions, computer monitors, and smartphones.

Types

There are various technologies used for electronic visual displays: * Liquid crystal display (LCD) including LED-backlit LCD * LED display ** OLED display ** AMOLED display *

Plasma display A plasma display panel is a type of flat-panel display that uses small cells containing Plasma (physics), plasma: Ionization, ionized gas that responds to electric fields. Plasma televisions were the first large (over diagonal) flat-panel displ ...

* Quantum dot display *

Electroluminescent display Electroluminescent displays (ELDs) are a type of flat panel display created by sandwiching a layer of electroluminescent material such as gallium arsenide between two layers of conductors. When current flows, the layer of material emits radiatio ...

An overhead projector can be considered a type of electronic visual display. Additionally, CRTs were widely used in the past and

microLED MicroLED, also known as micro-LED, mLED or μLED is an emerging flat-panel display technology consisting of arrays of microscopic Light-emitting diode, LEDs forming the individual pixel elements. Inorganic semiconductor microLED (μLED) technol ...

displays are under development.

Classification

Electronic visual displays present visual information according to the electrical input signal (analog or digital) either by emitting light (then they are called ''active displays'') or, alternatively, by modulating available light during the process of reflection or transmission (light modulators are called ''passive displays'').

Display mode of observation

Electronic visual displays can be observed directly (''direct view display'') or the displayed information can be projected to a screen (transmissive or reflective screen). This usually happens with smaller displays at a certain magnification. A different kind of projection display is the class of " laser projection displays", where the image is built up sequentially either via line by line scanning or by writing one complete column at a time. For that purpose one beam is formed from three lasers operating at the primary colors, and this beam is scanned electro-mechanically (galvanometer scanner, micro-mirror array)) or electro-acousto-optically.

Layout of picture elements

Depending on the shape and on the arrangement of the picture elements of a display, either fixed information can be displayed (symbols, signs), simple numerals (7-segment layout) or arbitrary shapes can be formed (dot-matrix displays).

Emission and control of colors

Colors can be generated by selective emission, by selective absorption, transmission or by selective reflection.

Addressing modes

Each sub-pixel of a display device must be selected (addressed) in order to be energized in a controlled way.

Display driving modes

References

SID - Society for Information Display
International Conference Proceedings 1970–2008

Display Reparatur
(in German)
Passive Displays

Choosing an IT device