![Sixteen-segment_display_0-9_A-Z](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5b/Sixteen-segment_display_0-9_A-Z.gif)
A sixteen-segment display (SISD) is a type of display based on sixteen segments that can be turned on or off to produce a graphic pattern. It is an extension of the more common
seven-segment display
A seven-segment display is a form of electronic display device for displaying decimal numerals that is an alternative to the more complex dot matrix displays.
Seven-segment displays are widely used in digital clocks, electronic meters, bas ...
, adding four diagonal and two vertical segments and splitting the three horizontal segments in half. Other variants include the
fourteen-segment display which does not split the top or bottom horizontal segments, and the twenty-two-segment display that allows lower-case characters with
descenders.
Often a character generator is used to translate 7-bit ASCII character codes to the 16 bits that indicate which of the 16 segments to turn on or off.
Applications
Sixteen-segment displays were originally designed to display
alphanumeric
Alphanumericals or alphanumeric characters are a combination of alphabetical and numerical characters. More specifically, they are the collection of Latin letters and Arabic digits. An alphanumeric code is an identifier made of alphanumeric c ...
characters (Latin letters and Arabic digits). Later they were used to display
Thai numerals
Thai numerals ( th, เลขไทย, , ) are a set of numerals traditionally used in Thailand, although the Arabic numerals are more common due to extensive westernization of Thailand in the modern Rattanakosin period. Thai numerals follow t ...
and
Persian characters. Non-electronic displays using this pattern existed as early as 1902.
''Means for controlling illuminated announcement and display signals''
US Patent 744,923 filed 1902-08-15
Before the advent of inexpensive dot-matrix displays, sixteen and fourteen-segment displays were some of the few options available for producing alphanumeric
Alphanumericals or alphanumeric characters are a combination of alphabetical and numerical characters. More specifically, they are the collection of Latin letters and Arabic digits. An alphanumeric code is an identifier made of alphanumeric c ...
characters on calculator
An electronic calculator is typically a portable electronic device used to perform calculations, ranging from basic arithmetic to complex mathematics.
The first solid-state electronic calculator was created in the early 1960s. Pocket-sized ...
s and other embedded system
An embedded system is a computer system—a combination of a computer processor, computer memory, and input/output peripheral devices—that has a dedicated function within a larger mechanical or electronic system. It is ''embedded ...
s. However, they are sometimes used on VCRs, car stereo
Vehicle audio is equipment installed in a car or other vehicle to provide in-car entertainment and information for the vehicle occupants. Until the 1950s it consisted of a simple AM radio. Additions since then have included FM radio (1952), ...
s, microwave oven
A microwave oven (commonly referred to as a microwave) is an electric oven that heats and cooks food by exposing it to electromagnetic radiation in the microwave frequency range. This induces polar molecules in the food to rotate and produce ...
s, telephone Caller ID
Caller identification (Caller ID) is a telephone service, available in analog and digital telephone systems, including voice over IP (VoIP), that transmits a caller's telephone number to the called party's telephone equipment when the call i ...
displays, and slot machine
A slot machine (American English), fruit machine (British English) or poker machine (Australian English and New Zealand English) is a gambling machine that creates a game of chance for its customers. Slot machines are also known pejoratively a ...
readouts.
Sixteen-segment displays may be based on one of several technologies, the three most common optoelectronics
Optoelectronics (or optronics) is the study and application of electronic devices and systems that find, detect and control light, usually considered a sub-field of photonics. In this context, ''light'' often includes invisible forms of radiat ...
types being LED, LCD and VFD. The LED variant is typically manufactured in single or dual character packages, to be combined as needed into text line displays of a suitable length for the application in question; they can also be stacked to build multiline displays.
As with seven and fourteen-segment displays, a decimal point and/or comma
The comma is a punctuation mark that appears in several variants in different languages. It has the same shape as an apostrophe or single closing quotation mark () in many typefaces, but it differs from them in being placed on the baseline ...
may be present as an additional segment, or pair of segments; the comma (used for triple-digit groupings or as a decimal separator
A decimal separator is a symbol used to separate the integer part from the fractional part of a number written in decimal form (e.g., "." in 12.45). Different countries officially designate different symbols for use as the separator. The choi ...
in many regions) is commonly formed by combining the decimal point with a closely 'attached' leftwards-descending arc-shaped segment. This way, a point or comma may be displayed between character positions instead of occupying a whole position by itself, which would be the case if employing the bottom middle vertical segment as a point and the bottom left diagonal segment as a comma. Such displays were very common on pinball
Pinball games are a family of games in which a ball is propelled into a specially designed table where it bounces off various obstacles, scoring points either en route or when it comes to rest. Historically the board was studded with nails call ...
machines for displaying the score and other information, before the widespread use of dot-matrix display panels.
Examples
IIDX 16seg display.jpg, A sixteen-segment display on a ''Beatmania IIDX
is a series of rhythm video games, that was first introduced by Konami in Japan on February 26, 1999. ''IIDX'' has since spawned 31 arcade releases and 14 console releases on the Sony PlayStation 2. It is the sequel to the '' beatmania'' gam ...
'' arcade machine
Индикатор ИВ-4.JPG, A sixteen-segment vacuum fluorescent display
A vacuum fluorescent display (VFD) is a display device once commonly used on consumer electronics equipment such as video cassette recorders, car radios, and microwave ovens.
A VFD operates on the principle of cathodoluminescence, roughly ...
File:Single Board Computer AIM-65 (1978) (26589109399) (cropped).jpg, A sixteen-segment display on a AIM-65
The Rockwell AIM-65 computer is a development computer introduced in 1978 based on the MOS Technology 6502 microprocessor. The AIM-65 is essentially an expanded KIM-1 computer. Available software included a line-oriented machine code monitor, ...
See also
* Seven-segment display
A seven-segment display is a form of electronic display device for displaying decimal numerals that is an alternative to the more complex dot matrix displays.
Seven-segment displays are widely used in digital clocks, electronic meters, basic ...
* Eight-segment display
* Nine-segment display
A nine-segment display is a type of display based on nine segments that can be turned on or off according to the graphic pattern to be produced. It is an extension of the more common seven-segment display, having an additional two diagonal or ver ...
* Fourteen-segment display
A fourteen-segment display (FSD) (sometimes referred to as a starburst display or Union Jack display) is a type of display based on 14 segments that can be turned on or off to produce letters and numerals. It is an expansion of the more com ...
* Dot-matrix display
A dot-matrix display is a low cost electronic digital display device that displays information on machines such as clocks, watches, calculators, and many other devices requiring a simple alphanumeric (and/or graphic) display device of limited res ...
* Nixie tube
A Nixie tube ( ), or cold cathode display, is an electronic device used for displaying numerals or other information using glow discharge.
The glass tube contains a wire-mesh anode and multiple cathodes, shaped like numerals or other symbo ...
display
* Vacuum fluorescent display
A vacuum fluorescent display (VFD) is a display device once commonly used on consumer electronics equipment such as video cassette recorders, car radios, and microwave ovens.
A VFD operates on the principle of cathodoluminescence, roughly ...
References
External links
View and create sixteen-segment display characters
- Editable SVG-Font, Open Font License
Sixteen Segment Display with the HTML5 Canvas
Web App to design segment-display
Spinning segment display
TwentyfourSixteen
— CC0 sixteen segment TTF font based on the HP/Siemens/Litronix DL-2416 character set
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sixteen-Segment Display
Display technology