A display device is an output device for presentation of information in visual^[1] or tactile form (the latter used for example in tactile electronic displays for blind people).^[2] When the input information that is supplied has an electrical signal, the display is called an electronic display.

Common applications for electronic visual displays are televisions or computer monitors.

History

In the history of display technology, a variety of display devices and technologies have been used.

Design

There are various designs for display devices, using various technologies. Several components are common to most display devices.

Components

• Display, or screen, the portion of the device that displays changeable image
• Bezel, the area surrounding portion that displays changing information
• Housing, the enclosure of the display

Types of electronic displays

In use

These are the technologies used to create the various displays in use today.

• Electroluminescent (ELD) display
• Liquid crystal (LCD) display with Light-emitting diode (LED)-backlit Liquid crystal (LCD) display used in the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus and iPhone XR^[3][4]
• Light-emitting diode (LED) display
  • OLED display used for the iPhone XS and XS Max^[5]
  • AMOLED display used for the Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+^[6]
• Plasma (PDP) display
• Quantum dot (QLED) display

Segment displays

Some displays can show only digits or alphanumeric characters. They are called segment displays, because they are composed of several segments that switch on and off to give appearance of desired glyph. The segments are usually single LEDs or liquid crystals. They are mostly used in digital watches and pocket calculators. There are several types:

• Seven-segment display (most common, digits only)
• Fourteen-segment display
• Sixteen-segment display
• HD44780 LCD controller a widely accepted protocol for LCDs.

Underlying technologies of segment displays

• Incandescent filaments
• Vacuum fluorescent display
• Cold cathode gas discharge
• Light-emitting diode (LED)
• Liquid crystal display (LCD)
• Physical vane with electromagnetic activation

Full-area 2-dimensional displays

2-dimensional displays that cover a full area (usually a rectangle) are also called video displays, since it is the main modality of presenting video.

Applications of full-area 2-dimensional displays

Full-area 2-dimensional displays are used in, for example:

• Television set
• Computer monitors
• Head-mounted display
• Broadcast reference monitor
• Medical monitors

Underlying technologies of full-area 2-dimensional displays

Underlying technologies for full-area 2-dimensional displays include:

• Cathode ray tube display (CRT)
• Light-emitting diode display (LED)
• Electroluminescent display (ELD)
• Electronic paper, E Ink
• Plasma display panel (PDP)
• Liquid crystal display (LCD)
  • High-Performance Addressing display (HPA)
  • Thin-film transistor display (TFT)
• Organic light-emitting diode display (OLED)
• Digital Light Processing display (DLP)
• Surface-conduction electron-emitter display (SED) (experimental)
• Field emission display (FED) (experimental)
• Laser TV (forthcoming)
• Carbon nanotubes (experimental)
• Quantum dot display (QLED)
• Interferometric modulator display (IMOD)
• Digital microshutter display (DMS)

The multiplexed display technique is used to drive most display devices.

Three-dimensional displays

• Swept-volume display
• Varifocal mirror display
• Emissive volume display
• Laser display
• Holographic display
• Light field displays

Mechanical types

• Ticker tape (historical)
• Split-flap display (or simply flap display)
• Flip-disc display (or flip-dot display)
• Rollsign
• Tactile electronic displays are usually intended for the blind. They use electro-mechanical parts to dynamically update a tactile image (usually of text) so that the image may be felt by the fingers.
  • Optacon, using metal rods instead of light in order to convey images to blind people by tactile sensation.

See also