Chapter No. 18: Digital Displays

Text Book of IT-125 Principles of Electricity and Electronics DAE 1st
Year Instrumentation Technology.
Chapter No. 18
DIGITAL DISPLAYS
18.1 IMPORTANCE OF DIGITAL
DISPLAY:
A few decades ago, electrical appliances were simple: you could switch them
on and off and that was about it. Now things are more complex and even
relatively simple things like clothes washing machines, vacuum
cleaners, telephones, and radios have digital displays that tell you what they're
doing. Some can show numbers, some display numbers and letters, and others
can show animated pictures.
A display is made up of millions of pixels. The quality of a display commonly
refers to the number of pixels. A pixel is made up of three sub pixels; a red,
blue and green, commonly called RGB. When the sub pixels in a pixel change
color combinations, a different color can be produced. With all the pixels on a
display working together, the display can make millions of different colors.
When the pixels are rapidly switched on and off, a picture is created.
The way a pixel is controlled is different in each type of display; CRT, LED,
LCD and newer types of displays all control pixels differently.
18.2 ENLIST DIFFERENT TYPES OF
DIGITAL DISPLAYS:
Broadly, digital displays come in different kinds that work in different ways:
1. LED Display
2. Filament Display
3. Gas Discharge Display (GDD)
4. Vacuum Fluorescent Display (VFD)
5. Liquid Crystal Display (LCD)
18.3 STATE LED DISPLAY:
A LED display is a flat panel display that uses an array of light-emitting
diodes 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. In
recent years, they have also become commonly used in destination signs
on public transport vehicles, as well as variable-message signs on highways.
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LED displays are capable of providing general illumination in addition to visual

display, as when used for stage lighting or other decorative purposes.
Figure.18.1
What is Light Emitting Diode?
A light releasing diode is an electric component that emits light when the
electric current flows through it. It is a light source based on semiconductors.
When current passes through the LED, the electrons recombine with holes
emitting light in the process. It is a specific type of diode having similar
characteristics as the p-n junction diode. This means that an LED allows the
flow of current in its forward direction while it blocks the flow in the reverse
direction. Light-emitting diodes are built using a weak layer of heavily doped
semiconductor material. Based on the semiconductor material used and the
amount of doping, an LED will emit a colored light at a particular spectral
wavelength when forward biased.
Figure.18.2
LED Seven Segment Display:
The 7-segment display, also written as “seven segment display”, consists of
seven LEDs (hence its name) arranged in a rectangular fashion as shown. Each
of the seven LEDs is called a segment because when illuminated the segment
forms part of a numerical digit (both Decimal and Hex) to be displayed. An
additional 8th LED is sometimes used within the same package thus allowing
the indication of a decimal point, (DP) when two or more 7-segment displays
are connected together to display numbers greater than ten.
The displays common pin is generally used to identify which type of 7-segment
display it is. As each LED has two connecting pins, one called the “Anode” and
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the other called the “Cathode”, there are therefore two types of LED 7-segment
display called: Common Cathode (CC) and Common Anode (CA) as shown.
Figure.18.3
The segments of a common anode display are illuminated using the switches.
If switch a is closed, current will flow through the “a” segment of the LED to
the current limiting resistor connected to pin a and to 0 volts, making the circuit.
Then only segment a will be illuminated. So a LOW condition (switch to
ground) is required to activate the LED segments on this common anode
display.
But suppose we want the decimal number “4” to illuminate on the display. Then
switches b, c, f and g would be closed to light the corresponding LED
segments. Likewise for a decimal number “7”, switches a, b, c would be closed.
But illuminating 7-segment displays using individual switches is not very
practical.
7-segment Displays are usually driven by a special type of integrated circuit
(IC) commonly known as a 7-segment decoder/driver, such as the CMOS 4511.
Figure.18.4
LED Dot Matrix Display:
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Led matrix is a dot matrix of large display, low resolution value and is useful
for both industrial and commercial displays as well as for hobbyist human
interface machines. In contains a 2-D diode matrix which have the cathode
joined in rows and anode in columns. In this LED matrix each can be control
individually by controlling the electricity through each pair of columns or rows
diodes. These matrix are very popular matrix by means of displaying
information it, allows the static and animated images and text. A LED matrix is
shown in figure.
Figure.18.5
According to the figure each LED is addressed to its row and column number.
If R5 is pulled high and C4 pulled low, then the LED in fifth row and fourth
column would be high, similarly the characteristics can also be displayed by
scanning of each row and column. These matrix are used with controllers for a
customized display.
18.4 DESCRIBE FILAMENT DISPLAY:
The filament display was one of the first seven segment displays and was
commonly used in petrol filling station pumps. Like an ordinary electric
filament lamp, the segments consist of short coiled lengths of tungsten wire in
small glass tubes as shown in figure, which gets white hot and emits light when
current passes through them. By operating at lower temperatures, e.g. 1500 oC,
their working life exceeds 100,000 hours. Each segment needs about 10 mA at
5 V.
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Figure.18.6
18.5 GAS DISCHARGE DISPLAY (GDD)
Gas discharge display also called plasma display most notably use the
properties of plasma as a light source. Plasma is created by energizing a gas,
increasing the number of electrons within the gas. This creates an imbalance of
charges and effectively ionizes the gas, putting it in the state of plasma. Plasma
is highly conductive in the presence of an electromagnetic field.
18.1 CONSTRUCTIONAND WORKING OF GAS
DISCHARGE DISPLAY (GDD):
The xenon and neon gas in a plasma television is contained in hundreds of
thousands of tiny cells positioned between two plates of glass. Long electrodes
are also sandwiched between the glass plates, on both sides of the cells.
The address electrodes sit behind the cells, along the rear glass plate. The
transparent display electrodes, which are surrounded by an insulating dielectric
material and covered by a magnesium oxide protective layer, are mounted
above the cell, along the front glass plate.
Figure.18.7
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Both sets of electrodes extend across the entire screen. The display electrodes
are arranged in horizontal rows along the screen and the address electrodes are
arranged in vertical columns. The vertical and horizontal electrodes form a
basic grid.
To ionize the gas in a particular cell, the plasma display's computer charges the
electrodes that intersect at that cell. It does this thousands of times in a small
fraction of a second, charging each cell in turn.
When the intersecting electrodes are charged (with a voltage difference
between them), an electric current flows through the gas in the cell. The current
creates a rapid flow of charged particles, which stimulates the gas atoms to
release ultraviolet photons.
The released ultraviolet photons interact with phosphor material coated on the
inside wall of the cell. Phosphors are substances that give off light when they
are exposed to other light. When an ultraviolet photon hits a phosphor atom in
the cell, one of the phosphor's electrons jumps to a higher energy level and the
atom heats up. When the electron falls back to its normal level, it releases
energy in the form of a visible light photon.
18.6 FLUORESCENT VACUUM 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. LCDs, OLED displays and LED segment displays have
now largely replaced VFDs.
Figure.18.8
A VFD works in a similar way to this using three electrical terminals (or
electrodes) sealed inside a large glass bulb from which the air has been
removed:
1. There's a heated filament (the negatively charged cathode) made from
tungsten metal whose job is to produce electrons. It's the red bar in diagram.
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2. Each segment of the display (which is a positively charged anode) is coated

with phosphor, like the screen of a TV. These phosphor-coated segments
glow with light (often a ghostly green color) when electrons hit them.
3. In between the cathode and the anode there's a thin mesh of metal called
the grid that can be switched on or off, controlling the flow of electrons
from the cathode to the anode.
Figure.18.9
The cathode is negatively charged (-ve) and each anode is positively charged
(+ve), so electrons (yellow arrowed line) tend to flow naturally from one to the
other. When electrons strike the phosphor coated anode, it glows with green
light. We can stop this happening by making the grid negatively charged, which
repels electrons away from the anode. Changing the grid voltage is thus a simple
way of switching a segment of the display on or off. It's also a way of controlling
the brightness of the display: making the grid more positively charged
accelerates the electrons so they rush past and hit the anode with more energy,
giving off more light. The higher the positive grid voltage, the brighter the
display. (Brightness controls on VFDs are effectively just voltage controls on
the grid.)
18.7 LIQUID CRYSTAL DISPLAY (LCD):
A liquid crystal display or LCD draws its definition from its name itself. It is a
combination of two states of matter, the solid and the liquid. LCD uses a liquid
crystal to produce a visible image. Liquid crystal displays are super-thin
technology display screens that are generally used in laptop computer screens,
TVs, cell phones, and portable video games. LCD’s technologies allow displays
to be much thinner when compared to a cathode ray tube (CRT) technology.
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Figure.18.10
CONSTRUCTION OF LIQUID CRYSTAL
DISPLAY (LCD):
Liquid crystal display is composed of several layers as shown in figure.
It has a mirror (A) in back, which makes it reflective. Then, a piece of glass (B)
with a polarizing film on the bottom side, and a common electrode plane (C)
made of indium-tin oxide on top. A common electrode plane covers the entire
area of the LCD. Above that is the layer of liquid crystal substance (D). Next
comes another piece of glass (E) with an electrode in the shape of the rectangle
on the bottom and, on top, another polarizing film (F), at a right angle to the
first one.
Figure.18.11
The electrode is hooked up to a power source like a battery. When there is no
current, light entering through the front of the LCD will simply hit the mirror
and bounce right back out. But when the battery supplies current to the
electrodes, the liquid crystals between the common-plane electrode and the
electrode shaped like a rectangle untwist and block the light in that region from
passing through. That makes the LCD show the rectangle as a black area.
WORKING OF LIQUID CRYSTAL DISPLAY
(LCD):
The principle behind the LCDs is that when an electrical current is applied to
the liquid crystal molecule, the molecule tends to untwist. This causes change
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in the angle of light which is passing through the molecule of the polarized glass
and also causes a change in the angle of the top polarizing filter. As a result, a
little light is allowed to pass the polarized glass through a particular area of the
LCD. Thus that particular area will become dark compared to others. The LCD
works on the principle of blocking light.
A LCD cell, as shown in the figure, consists of upper and lower substrate plates
separated by a narrow gap (typically 5-10 micrometres; 1 micrometre = 10-
6
metre) filled with a layer of liquid crystal. The substrate plates are normally
transparent glass and carry patterned electrically conducting transparent
coatings of indium tin oxide. The electrode layers are coated with a thin
aligning layer of a polymer that causes the liquid crystal molecules in contact
with them to align approximately parallel to the surface. In most currently
manufactured displays, the alignment layers consist of a layer of polymer a few
tens of nano meters thick (1 nano metre = 10-9 metre) that has been rubbed with
a cloth in only one direction. In assembling the cell, the top and bottom substrate
plates are arranged so that the alignment directions are perpendicular to each
other. The whole assembly is then contained between a pair of sheet polarizers,
which also have their light-absorption axes perpendicular to each other. In the
absence of any voltage, the perpendicular alignment layers cause the liquid
crystal to adopt a twisted configuration from one plate to the other. With no
liquid crystal present, light passing in either direction through the cell would be
absorbed because of the crossed polarizers, and the cell would appear to be dark.
In the presence of a liquid crystal layer, however, the cell appears to be
transparent because the optics of the twisted liquid crystal match the crossed
arrangement of the polarizers. Application of three to five volts across the liquid
crystal destroys the twisted state and causes the molecules to orient
perpendicular to the substrate plates, giving a dark appearance to the cell, as
shown in the diagram. For simple displays, the liquid crystal cell is operated in
a reflective mode, with a diffuse reflector placed behind the display, and the
activated parts of the electrode pattern appear as black images on a gray
background provided by the diffuse reflector. By patterning the electrodes in
segments or as an array of small squares, it is possible to display alphanumeric
characters and very low-resolution images: for example, in digital watches or
calculators.
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Figure.18.12
APPLICATIONS OF LIQUID CRYSTAL
DISPLAY (LCD):
LCDs are used in a wide range of applications, including LCD televisions,
computer monitors, instrument panels, aircraft cockpit displays, and indoor and
outdoor signage. ... LCD screens are also used on consumer electronics
products such as DVD players, video game devices and clocks.
EXERCISE # 18
PART-A
Chose the correct answer
1. The digital display uses
(a) dial (b) segments
(c) pointer (d) scale
2. In filament lamps coiled coil filaments are used in
(a) Coloured lamps (b) Low wattage lamps
(c) Gas field lamps (d) Higher wattage lamps
3. The LED seven-segment display uses seven individual
(a) light emitting diodes (b) light restoring diodes
(c) capacitors (d) inductors
4. The individual segments are coded
(a) a,b,c,d (b) a,b,c,d,e
(c) a,b,c,d,e,f,g (d) a,a,a,c,d,e,f
5. The optical properties of liquid crystals depend on the direction of
(a) Air (b) Light
(c) Solid (d) Water
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6. By which properties, the orientation of molecules in a layer of liquid

crystals can be changed?
(a) Magnetic field (b) Static field
(c) Electromagnetic field (d) Electric field
7. The full form of GDD is
(a) Gas discharge display (b) Gas direct display
(c) Good day dawn (d) Global Direct dialing
8. Electro-optical effect is produced in
(a) LED (b) LCD
(c) OFC (d) OLED
9. In 7 segment display, how many LEDs are used?
(a) 7 (b) 8
(c) 9 (d) 10
10. The LCD digital display that is based on
(a) Radiation of light (b) Reflection of light
(c) Emission of light (d) Transmission of light
11. Which of the following liquid crystal layers are used in LCD's
(a) Heavy water (b) Hydrosulphuric acid
(c) Nematic (d) Hydrochloric acid
12. Which of the following consumes less power?
(a) LED (b) VFD
(c) GDD (d) LCD
13. What does the availability of LCD in 16 x 2 typical value indicate ?
(a) 16 lines per character with 2 such lines
(b) 16 characters per line with 2 such lines
(c) 16 pixels per line with 2 such sets
(d) 16 lines per pixel with two such sets
14. The full form of LCD is
(a) Logical Crystalline Display (b) Liquid Crystalline Display
(c) Logical Crystal Display (d) Liquid Crystal Display
15. The reverse bias in the semiconducting devices will
(a) Decrease the potential barrier (b) Not affect the potential barrier
(c) Increase the potential barrier (d) Make the potential barrier zero
16. Which of the following displays has slowest switching speed?
(a) LCDs (b) VFDs
(c) LEDs (d) GDDs
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17. Which type of display is used in digital watches?

(a) CRT (b) LED display
(c) HD display (d) LCD display
18. What is pixel?
(a) A term display (b) A software
(c) A term of sound (d) A hardware
19. Plasma is used to drive particle accelerators and
(a) motors (b) fans
(c) lasers (d) cars
20. Plasma panel are also called
(a) Liquid crystal display (b) Gas discharge display
(c) filament display (d) fluorescent vacuum display
ANSWER KEY
1. b 2. c 3. a 4. c 5. b
6. d 7. a 8. b 9. a 10. b
11. c 12. d 13. b 14. d 15. c
16. a 17. d 18. a 19. c 20. b
PART-B
Give the short answer of the following questions
1. Write importance of digital display.
2. Enlist applications of digital display.
3. What is LED?
4. State LED display.
5. Draw a simple circuit of LED.
6. Enlist the applications of LED display.
7. What is LED seven segment display?
8. Differentiate common anode and common cathode display.
9. Draw the diagram of common anode seven segment display.
10. Draw the diagram of common cathode seven segment display.
11. What is LED dot matrix?
12. Draw the diagram of 4x4 matrix.
13. How to use a LED dot matrix?
14. State rows and columns of dot matrix.
15. Describe filament display.
16. State the construction of filament display.
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17. Define gas discharged display.

18. State the construction of gas discharged display.
19. Write the working of gas discharged display.
20. What is vacuum fluorescent display?
21. State the Construction vacuum fluorescent display.
22. Write the working vacuum fluorescent display.
23. Define grid of the vacuum fluorescent display.
24. Define liquid crystal display.
25. Write the applications of liquid crystal display.
26. State the construction of liquid crystal display.
27. Write the working of liquid crystal display.
28. Draw the diagram of liquid crystal display.
29. Enlist the parts of liquid crystal display.
30. Enlist different digital displays.
PART-C
Give the detailed answer of the following questions.
1) Write the importance of digital display. Describe any one in detail.
2) Describe LED display in detail.
3) Explain gas discharge display (GDD) with help of diagram.
4) Explain filament display with help of diagram.
5) Explain construction and working of fluorescent vacuum display with help
of diagram.
6) Explain construction and working of liquid crystal display (LCD) with help
of diagram.
PART-D
SOLVE THE PROBLEMS
Q.1: Draw the circuit diagram of LED seven segment display.
Q.2: Draw the circuit diagram of LED 8x8 Dot Matrix display.
Q.3: Draw the diagram of gas discharge display (GDD).
Q.4: Draw the diagram of fluorescent vacuum display (VFD).
Q.5: Draw the diagram of liquid crystal display (LCD).
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Chapter No. 18: Digital Displays

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Text Book of IT-125 Principles of Electricity and Electronics DAE 1st

Year Instrumentation Technology.

LED displays are capable of providing general illumination in addition to visual

2. Each segment of the display (which is a positively charged anode) is coated

6. By which properties, the orientation of molecules in a layer of liquid

17. Which type of display is used in digital watches?

17. Define gas discharged display.

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