computer science

History of display technology

History of display technology is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand History of display technology rather than just read about it. In short: Electrically operated display devices 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.

Key takeaways

History of display technology belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect History of display technology to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of History of display technology from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Electrically operated display devices 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 was the workhorse of text and video display technology for several decades until being displaced by plasma, liquid crystal (LCD), and solid-state devices such as thin-film transistors (TFTs), LEDs and OLEDs. With the advent of metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs), integrated circuit (IC) chips, microprocessors, and microelectronic devices, many more individual picture elements ("pixels") 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 (CRT), which was first demonstrated in 1897 and made commercial in 1922. The CRT consists of an electron gun that forms images by firing electrons onto a phosphor-coated screen. The earliest CRTs were monochrome and were used primarily in oscilloscopes 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 sets and computer monitors for over half a century; it was not until the 2000s that LCDs began to gradually replace them. A derivative of CRTs were storage tubes, which had the ability to retain information displayed on them, unlike standard CRTs which need to be refreshed periodically. In 1968, Tektronix introduced the Direct-view bistable storage tube, which went on to be widely used in oscilloscopes and computer terminals.

Monochrome CRT 1922 Monochrome cathode ray tube:

Color CRT 1954 Color cathode ray tube for the display of color television:

Direct-View Bistable Storage Tube 1968 The Direct-View Bistable Storage Tube 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 of early computers and in oscilloscopes.

Nixie tube display 1955 Nixie tube:

Flip-flap or disc display 1957 Split-flap display:

1961 Flip-disc display:

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 light behind the required number when it spins into position.

Monochrome plasma display 1964 Monochrome plasma display:

LED display 1968 LED display:

Eggcrate display 1968 Eggcrate display

Vacuum fluorescent display 1967 Vacuum fluorescent display as used in consumer electronics.

Twisted nematic field effect LCD 1970 Twisted nematic field effect LCD

Electroluminescent display 1974 Electroluminescent display (ELD):

Super-twisted nematic LCD 1984 Super-twisted nematic display (STN LCD) to improve passive-matrix LCDs, allowing for the first time higher resolution panels with 540x270 pixels.

Pin screen Pin screen:

1969 Braille display:

Thin film transistor LCD 1986 Color Thin-film-transistor liquid-crystal display:

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 plasma display:

Organic light-emitting diode 2003 Organic light-emitting diode display (OLED)

2003 Active-matrix OLED (AMOLED):

Electronic paper 2004 Electronic paper:

Illustrations

History of display technology: Tektronix 4014 with a "DVBST" storage display screen — Tektronix 4014 with a "DVBST" storage display screen

History of display technology: The ten digits of a GN-4 Nixie tube — The ten digits of a GN-4 Nixie tube

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with History of display technology

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what History of display technology claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to History of display technology before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about History of display technology ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of History of display technology

In research: History of display technology appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses History of display technology in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: History of display technology is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Computer output devices, Display technology, Television technology, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for History of display technology outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study History of display technology in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what History of display technology means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain History of display technology out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is History of display technology in simple terms?

Why does History of display technology matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study History of display technology?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on History of display technology.