Electronic display

Article By:

Tannas, Lawrence E., Jr. Consultant, Orange, California.

Last reviewed:January 2020

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.225300

An electronic component used to convert electrical signals into visual imagery in real time suitable for direct interpretation by a human operator. It serves as the visual interface between human and machine. The visual imagery is processed, composed, and optimized for easy interpretation and minimum reading error. The electronic display is dynamic in that it presents information within a fraction of a second from the time received and continuously holds that information, using refresh or memory techniques, until new information is received. The image is created by electronically making a pattern from a visual contrast in luminance between (1) individual electrically alterable picture elements (pixels) in a matrix array of pixels in flat-panel displays (FPDs) or (2) electrically excited and nonexcited areas in a phosphor film in cathode-ray tubes (CRTs). High-information-content (HIC) displays are those displays that have a sufficient number of pixels (75,000 to 2,000,000) to show standard or high-definition television images, or comparable computer images.

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