Electrically operated

display device A display device is an output device for presentation of information in visual or tactile form (the latter used for example in tactile electronic displays for blind people). When the input information that is supplied has an electrical signa ...

s have developed from electromechanical systems for display of text, up to all-electronic devices capable of full-motion 3D color graphic displays. Electromagnetic devices, using a solenoid coil to control a visible flag or flap, were the earliest type, and were used for text displays such as stock market prices and arrival/departure display times. The

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 ...

was the workhorse of text and video display technology for several decades until being displaced by plasma, liquid crystal (

LCD A liquid-crystal display (LCD) is a flat-panel display or other electronically modulated optical device that uses the light-modulating properties of liquid crystals combined with polarizers to display information. Liquid crystals do not em ...

), and

solid-state device Solid-state electronics are semiconductor electronics: electronic equipment that use semiconductor devices such as transistors, diodes and integrated circuits (ICs). The term is also used as an adjective for devices in which semiconductor elect ...

s such as

thin-film transistor A thin-film transistor (TFT) is a special type of field-effect transistor (FET) where the transistor is made by thin film deposition. TFTs are grown on a supporting (but non-conducting) substrate, such as glass. This differs from the convention ...

s (TFTs),

LED A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor device that emits light when current flows through it. Electrons in the semiconductor recombine with electron holes, releasing energy in the form of photons. The color of the light (corresp ...

s and

OLED An organic light-emitting diode (OLED), also known as organic electroluminescent (organic EL) diode, is a type of light-emitting diode (LED) in which the emissive electroluminescent layer is an organic compound film that emits light in respon ...

s. With the advent of

metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor upright=1.3, Two power MOSFETs in amperes">A in the ''on'' state, dissipating up to about 100 watt">W and controlling a load of over 2000 W. A matchstick is pictured for scale. In electronics, the metal–oxide–semiconductor field- ...

s (MOSFETs),

integrated circuit An integrated circuit (IC), also known as a microchip or simply chip, is a set of electronic circuits, consisting of various electronic components (such as transistors, resistors, and capacitors) and their interconnections. These components a ...

(IC) chips,

microprocessors A microprocessor is a computer processor for which the data processing logic and control is included on a single integrated circuit (IC), or a small number of ICs. The microprocessor contains the arithmetic, logic, and control circuitry r ...

, and

microelectronic Microelectronics is a subfield of electronics. As the name suggests, microelectronics relates to the study and manufacture (or microfabrication) of very small electronic designs and components. Usually, but not always, this means micrometre- ...

devices, many more individual picture elements ("

pixel In digital imaging, a pixel (abbreviated px), pel, or picture element is the smallest addressable element in a Raster graphics, raster image, or the smallest addressable element in a dot matrix display device. In most digital display devices, p ...

s") could be incorporated into one display device, allowing graphic displays and video.

Cathode ray tube

One of the earliest electronic displays is the

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 ...

(CRT), which was first demonstrated in 1897 and made commercial in 1922. The CRT consists of an

electron gun file:Egun.jpg, Electron gun from a cathode-ray tube file:Vidicon Electron Gun.jpg, The electron gun from an RCA Vidicon video camera tube An electron gun (also called electron emitter) is an electrical component in some vacuum tubes that produc ...

that forms images by firing electrons onto a

phosphor A phosphor is a substance that exhibits the phenomenon of luminescence; it emits light when exposed to some type of radiant energy. The term is used both for fluorescent or phosphorescent substances which glow on exposure to ultraviolet or ...

-coated screen. The earliest CRTs were monochrome and were used primarily in

oscilloscope An oscilloscope (formerly known as an oscillograph, informally scope or O-scope) is a type of electronic test instrument that graphically displays varying voltages of one or more signals as a function of time. Their main purpose is capturing i ...

s and black and white televisions. The first commercial colour CRT was produced in 1954. CRTs were the single most popular display technology used in

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 ...

s and

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 for over half a century; it was not until the 2000s that LCDs began to gradually replace them. A derivative of CRTs were

storage tube Storage tubes are a class of cathode-ray tubes (CRTs) that are designed to hold an image for a long period of time, typically as long as power is supplied to the tube. A specialized type of storage tube, the Williams tube, was used as a main mem ...

s, which had the ability to retain information displayed on them, unlike standard CRTs which need to be refreshed periodically. In 1968,

Tektronix Tektronix, Inc., historically widely known as Tek, is an American company best known for manufacturing test and measurement devices such as oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, and video and mobile test protocol equipment. Originally an independent c ...

introduced the

Direct-view bistable storage tube Direct-view bistable storage tube (DVBST) was an acronym used by Tektronix to describe their line of storage tubes. These were cathode-ray tubes (CRT) that stored information written to them using an analog technique inherent in the CRT and bas ...

, which went on to be widely used in oscilloscopes and

computer terminal A computer terminal is an electronic or electromechanical hardware device that can be used for entering data into, and transcribing data from, a computer or a computing system. Most early computers only had a front panel to input or display ...

s.medical-answers.org – Tektronix 4014

Monochrome CRT

1922

Monochrome A monochrome or monochromatic image, object or palette is composed of one color (or values of one color). Images using only shades of grey are called grayscale (typically digital) or black-and-white (typically analog). In physics, mon ...

Color CRT

1954

Color Color (or colour in English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English; American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, see spelling differences) is the visual perception based on the electromagnetic spectrum. Though co ...

for the display of

color television Color television (American English) or colour television (British English) is a television transmission technology that also includes color information for the picture, so the video image can be displayed in color on the television set. It improv ...

Direct-View Bistable Storage Tube

1968 The

Direct-View Bistable Storage Tube Direct-view bistable storage tube (DVBST) was an acronym used by Tektronix to describe their line of storage tubes. These were cathode-ray tubes (CRT) that stored information written to them using an analog technique inherent in the CRT and bas ...

CRT retains static information displayed upon it, written using a steerable electron beam that can be turned off. The DVBST was used in

vector displays A vector monitor, vector display, or calligraphic display is a display device used for computer graphics up through the 1970s. It is a type of CRT, similar to that of an early oscilloscope. In a vector display, the image is composed of drawn lin ...

of early computers and in

oscilloscopes An oscilloscope (formerly known as an oscillograph, informally scope or O-scope) is a type of electronic test instrument that graphically displays varying voltages of one or more signals as a function of time. Their main purpose is capturing ...

Nixie tube display

1955

Nixie tube A Nixie tube ( ), or cold cathode display, is an electronics, electronic device used for display device, displaying numerals or other information using glow discharge. The glass tube contains a wire-mesh anode and multiple cathodes, shaped like ...

Flip-flap or disc display

1957

Split-flap display A split-flap display, or sometimes simply a flap display, is a digital electromechanical display device that presents changeable alphanumeric text, and occasionally fixed graphics. They were (from the 1960s to 1990s) commonly used as public tr ...

: 1961

Flip-disc display The flip-disc display (or flip-dot display) is an electromechanical dot matrix display technology used for large outdoor signs, normally those that will be exposed to direct sunlight. Flip-disc technology has been used for external destination ...

Stroboscopic display

1960s Stroboscopic display: In the 1960s RASA Calculator (Russian), a small motor spins a cylinder that has a number of transparent numerals. To display a numeral, the calculator briefly flashes a

thyratron A thyratron is a type of gas-filled tube used as a high-power electrical switch and controlled rectifier. Thyratrons can handle much greater currents than similar hard-vacuum tubes. Electron multiplication occurs when the gas becomes ionized, pro ...

light behind the required number when it spins into position.

Monochrome plasma display

1964

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 ...

LED display

1968

LED display A LED display is a flat panel display that uses an array of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) as pixels for a video display. Their brightness allows them to be used outdoors where they are visible in the sun for store signs and billboards. I ...

Eggcrate display

1968

Eggcrate display A text display is an electronic alphanumeric display device that is mainly or only capable of showing text, or extremely limited graphic characters. This includes electromechanical split-flap displays, vane displays, and flip-disc displays; all-e ...

Vacuum fluorescent display

1967

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 audio, car radios, and microwave ovens. A VFD operates on the principle of cathodoluminescence, ...

as used in consumer electronics.

Twisted nematic field effect LCD

1971

Twisted nematic field effect The twisted nematic effect (''TN effect'') was a major technological breakthrough that made the manufacture of large, thin liquid crystal displays practical and cost competitive. Unlike earlier flat-panel displays, TN cells did not require a curre ...

Joseph Castellano
"Modifying Light'
''American Scientist'', September–October 2006

Electroluminescent display

1974

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 ...

(ELD):

Super-twisted nematic LCD

1984

Super-twisted nematic display An STN (super-twisted nematic) display is a type of liquid-crystal display (LCD). An LCD is a flat-panel display that uses liquid crystals to change its properties when exposed to an electric field, which can be used to create images. This change ...

(STN LCD) to improve passive-matrix LCDs, allowing for the first time higher resolution panels with 540x270 pixels. BBC STN Matrixanzeige 540x270

Pin screen

Pin screen: 1969 Braille display:

Thin film transistor LCD

1986 Color

Thin-film-transistor liquid-crystal display A thin-film-transistor liquid-crystal display (TFT LCD) is a type of liquid-crystal display that uses thin-film-transistor technology to improve image qualities such as addressability and contrast. A TFT LCD is an active matrix LCD, in contrast ...

Digital Light Processing

1987 optical micro-electro-mechanical technology that uses a digital micromirror device. While the Digital Light Processing (DLP) imaging device was invented by Texas Instruments, the first DLP-based projector was introduced by Digital Projection Ltd in 1997.

Full-color plasma display

1995 Full-color

Organic light-emitting diode

2003

Organic light-emitting diode An organic light-emitting diode (OLED), also known as organic electroluminescent (organic EL) diode, is a type of light-emitting diode (LED) in which the emissive electroluminescent layer is an organic compound film that emits light in respon ...

display (OLED) 2003

Active-matrix OLED AMOLED (active-matrix organic light-emitting diode; ) is a type of OLED display device technology. OLED describes a specific type of thin-film-display technology in which organic compounds form the electroluminescent material, and active matri ...

(AMOLED):

Electronic paper

2004

Electronic paper Electronic paper or intelligent paper, is a display device that reflects ambient light, mimicking the appearance of ordinary ink on paper – unlike conventional flat-panel displays which need additional energy to emit their own light. This may ...

:hitech-projects.com – E-paper production flow – Adapting production workflow processes for digital newsprint

References

{{Display technology Display technology Computer output devices Television technology