From Free net encyclopedia
A seven-segment display (abbreviation: "7-seg(ment) display"), less commonly known as a seven-segment indicator, is a form of display device that is an alternative to the more complex dot-matrix displays. Seven-segment displays are commonly used in electronics as a method of displaying decimal numeric feedback on the internal operations of devices.
Concept and visual structure
Image:Sevensegment.jpg
A seven segment display, as its name indicates, is composed of seven elements. Individually on or off, they can be combined to produce idealised representations of the Hindu-Arabic numerals. Each of the numbers 0, 6, 7 and 9 may be represented by two or more different glyphs on seven-segment displays.
The seven segments are arranged as a rectangle of two vertical segments on each side with one horizontal segment on the top and bottom. Additionally, the seventh segment bisects the rectangle horizontally. There are also fourteen-segment displays and sixteen-segment displays (for full alphanumerics); however, these have mostly been replaced by dot-matrix displays.
Often the seven segments are arranged in an oblique, or italic, arrangement, which aids readability.
The segments of a 7-segment display are referred to by the letters A to G, as follows:
AAAAAA
F B
F B
F B
GGGGGG
E C
E C
E C
DDDDDD DP
where the optional DP decimal point (an "eighth segment") is used for the display of non-integer numbers.
Implementations
Most separate 7-segment displays use an array of light-emitting diodes (LEDs), though other types exist using alternative technologies such as cold cathode gas discharge, vacuum fluorescent, incandescent filament, liquid crystal display (LCD), etc. For gas price totems and other large signs, electromagnetically flipped light-reflecting segments are still commonly used. An alternative to the 7-segment display in the 1950s through the 1970s was the vacuum tube-like nixie tube. Integrated displays also exist, with multiple digits. Some of these integrated displays incorporate their own internal decoder, though most do not – each individual LED is brought out to a connecting pin.
Image:Seven segment display-animated.gif
Seven segment displays can be found in patents as early as 1908 (United States patent 974943, for example), but did not achieve widespread use until the advent of LEDs in the 1970s. They are sometimes even used in unsophisticated displays like cardboard "For sale" signs, where the user either applies color to pre-printed segments, or (spray)paints color through a seven-segment digit template, to compose figures such as product prices or a telephone numbers.
For many applications, dot-matrix LCDs have largely superseded LED displays, though even in LCDs 7-segment displays are very common. Unlike LEDs, the shapes of elements in an LCD panel are arbitrary since they are formed on the display by a kind of printing process. In contrast, the shapes of LED segments tend to be simple rectangles, reflecting the fact that they have to be physically moulded to shape, which makes it difficult to form more complex shapes than the segments of 7-segment displays. However, the high common recognition factor of 7-segment displays, and the comparatively high visual contrast obtained by such displays relative to dot-matrix digits, makes seven-segment multiple-digit LCD displays very common on basic calculators.
Alphabetic display
In addition to the ten numerals, seven segment displays can be used to show letters of the latin, cyrillic and greek alphabets including punctuation, but only few representations are unambiguous and intuitive at the same time: uppercase A, B, C, E, F, G, H, I, J, L, N, O, P, S, U, Y, Z, and lowercase a, b, c, d, e, g, h, i, n, ñ, o, q, r, t, u. Detailed tables of alternative seven-segment symbols for letters and punctuation are given in the section Character representations, below.
The representation of digits and/or letters with seven-segment displays is not standardized by any relevant entity (e.g. ISO, IEEE or IEC). Two basic conventions can be seen for digits: one lights the additional segment in six (a), seven (f) and nine (d), the other, more anglophone one does not. Ad hoc and corporate solutions dominate the field of alphabetic seven-segment display, which is usually not considered essential and only used for basic notifications.
Using a restricted range of letters that look like (upside-down) digits, seven-segment displays are commonly used by school children to form words and phrases using a technique known as "calculator spelling".
Character representations
The tables below show alternative seven-segment display patterns for the Arabic numerals, the 26 letters of the English language part of the Latin alphabet, and common related punctuation symbols. See the section Alphabetic display, above, for an overall treatment.
Digits and punctuation
| 0
| Image:7-segment abcdef.svg | Image:7-segment cdeg.svg
|
| 1
| Image:7-segment bc.svg | Image:7-segment ef.svg
|
| 2
| Image:7-segment abdeg.svg
|
| 3
| Image:7-segment abcdg.svg
|
| 4
| Image:7-segment bcfg.svg
|
| 5
| Image:7-segment acdfg.svg
|
| 6
| Image:7-segment acdefg.svg | Image:7-segment cdefg.svg
|
| 7
| Image:7-segment abc.svg | Image:7-segment abcf.svg | Image:7-segment abcg.svg | Image:7-segment abeg.svg
|
| 8
| Image:7-segment abcdefg.svg
|
| 9
| Image:7-segment abcdfg.svg | Image:7-segment abcfg.svg
|
| .
| Image:7-segment cdeg.svg | Image:7-segment d.svg | Image:7-segment cg.svg
|
| ,
| Image:7-segment e.svg | Image:7-segment eg.svg
|
| ;
| Image:7-segment eg.svg | Image:7-segment aeg.svg
|
| :, =; #
| Image:7-segment dg.svg | Image:7-segment ag.svg | Image:7-segment ad.svg
| Image:7-segment bcef.svg
|
| ?; ¿
| Image:7-segment abdg.svg | Image:7-segment abeg.svg
| Image:7-segment adeg.svg | Image:7-segment bdeg.svg
|
| !; ¡
| Image:7-segment abdfg.svg | Image:7-segment bd.svg | Image:7-segment df.svg
| Image:7-segment acdeg.svg
|
| ", “, ”; „
| Image:7-segment bf.svg
| Image:7-segment ce.svg
|
| ', ‘, ’; ‚
| Image:7-segment b.svg | Image:7-segment f.svg
| Image:7-segment c.svg
|
| -, –, —, −; ¯; _
| Image:7-segment g.svg
| Image:7-segment a.svg
| Image:7-segment d.svg
|
| +; &
| Image:7-segment bcg.svg
| Image:7-segment abefg.svg | Image:7-segment ceg.svg
| Image:7-segment defg.svg
|
| / (÷); \ (*, ·, ×)
| Image:7-segment be.svg | Image:7-segment beg.svg
| Image:7-segment cf.svg | Image:7-segment cfg.svg
|
| (, [, <, {
| Image:7-segment adef.svg | Image:7-segment afg.svg | Image:7-segment deg.svg | Image:7-segment bcg.svg
|
| ), ], >, }
| Image:7-segment abcd.svg | Image:7-segment abg.svg | Image:7-segment cdg.svg | Image:7-segment efg.svg
|
| °; ′; ″
| Image:7-segment abfg.svg | Image:7-segment f.svg | Image:7-segment bf.svg
|
| ^; ´; `; ~
| Image:7-segment abf.svg
| Image:7-segment af.svg
| Image:7-segment ab.svg
| Image:7-segment a.svg
|
| §; $
| Image:7-segment acdf.svg
| Image:7-segment cfg.svg
|
Latin alphabet
| A, a; @
| Image:7-segment abcefg.svg | Image:7-segment abcdeg.svg
|
| B, b
| Image:7-segment cdefg.svg | Image:7-segment acdefg.svg | Image:7-segment abcdefg.svg
|
| C, c
| Image:7-segment adef.svg | Image:7-segment deg.svg
|
| D, d
| Image:7-segment bcdeg.svg | Image:7-segment abcdeg.svg | Image:7-segment abcdef.svg
|
| E, e
| Image:7-segment adefg.svg | Image:7-segment abdefg.svg
|
| F, f
| Image:7-segment aefg.svg
|
| G, g
| Image:7-segment acdef.svg | Image:7-segment abcdfg.svg
|
| H, h
| Image:7-segment bcefg.svg | Image:7-segment cefg.svg
|
| I, i, ı
| Image:7-segment bc.svg | Image:7-segment ef.svg | Image:7-segment ac.svg | Image:7-segment ae.svg | Image:7-segment ade.svg | Image:7-segment de.svg
|
| J, j
| Image:7-segment abcde.svg | Image:7-segment bcde.svg | Image:7-segment bcd.svg | Image:7-segment acd.svg
|
| K, k
| Image:7-segment adfg.svg | Image:7-segment acefg.svg | Image:7-segment bcefg.svg | Image:7-segment bdefg.svg | Image:7-segment efg.svg
|
| L, l
| Image:7-segment def.svg | Image:7-segment ef.svg | Image:7-segment bc.svg | Image:7-segment de.svg
|
| M, m
| Image:7-segment abdf.svg | Image:7-segment aceg.svg | Image:7-segment adefg.svg | Image:7-segment abcdg.svg
|
| N, n
| Image:7-segment abcef.svg | Image:7-segment ceg.svg | Image:7-segment cfg.svg
|
| O, o
| Image:7-segment abcdef.svg | Image:7-segment cdeg.svg
|
| P, p
| Image:7-segment abefg.svg
|
| Q, q
| Image:7-segment abcfg.svg | Image:7-segment abdfg.svg
|
| R, r
| Image:7-segment eg.svg | Image:7-segment aef.svg | Image:7-segment abdefg.svg
|
| S, s, ſ
| Image:7-segment acdfg.svg | Image:7-segment cfg.svg | Image:7-segment aef.svg
|
| T, t
| Image:7-segment defg.svg | Image:7-segment efg.svg | Image:7-segment aef.svg | Image:7-segment abc.svg
|
| U, u
| Image:7-segment bcdef.svg | Image:7-segment cde.svg
|
| V, v
| Image:7-segment bdf.svg | Image:7-segment bfg.svg | Image:7-segment bcdef.svg | Image:7-segment cde.svg
|
| W, w
| Image:7-segment bdfg.svg | Image:7-segment acde.svg | Image:7-segment abcdg.svg | Image:7-segment adefg.svg
|
| X, x
| Image:7-segment adg.svg | Image:7-segment bcefg.svg
|
| Y, y
| Image:7-segment bcdfg.svg | Image:7-segment bcfg.svg | Image:7-segment bdefg.svg | Image:7-segment befg.svg
|
| Z, z
| Image:7-segment abdeg.svg | Image:7-segment beg.svg | Image:7-segment abcg.svg
|
Greek alphabet
| Α, α
| Image:7-segment abcefg.svg
|
| Β, β, ϐ
| Image:7-segment acdefg.svg | Image:7-segment abcdefg.svg
|
| Γ, γ
| Image:7-segment aef.svg | Image:7-segment bcfg.svg
|
| Δ, δ
| Image:7-segment bcdeg.svg | Image:7-segment abcdeg.svg | Image:7-segment acde.svg
|
| Ε, ε
| Image:7-segment adefg.svg
|
| Ϝ, ϝ
| Image:7-segment aefg.svg
|
| Ζ, ζ
| Image:7-segment abdeg.svg | Image:7-segment adef.svg
|
| Η, η
| Image:7-segment bcefg.svg | Image:7-segment abcf.svg
|
| Θ, θ, ϴ, ϑ
| Image:7-segment abcdefg.svg
| Image:7-segment bcde.svg | Image:7-segment abcde.svg | Image:7-segment abcdfg.svg
|
| Ι, ι
| Image:7-segment bc.svg | Image:7-segment ef.svg | Image:7-segment de.svg
|
| Κ, κ, ϰ
| Image:7-segment acefg.svg
|
| Λ, λ
| Image:7-segment abceg.svg | Image:7-segment bceg.svg | Image:7-segment ace.svg
|
| Μ, μ, µ
| Image:7-segment befg.svg | Image:7-segment abdf.svg | Image:7-segment aceg.svg | Image:7-segment adefg.svg
|
| Ν, ν
| Image:7-segment cfg.svg | Image:7-segment cde.svg | Image:7-segment abcef.svg
|
| Ξ, ξ
| Image:7-segment adg.svg | Image:7-segment adefg.svg
|
| Ο, ο
| Image:7-segment abcdef.svg | Image:7-segment cdeg.svg
|
| Π, π, ϖ
| Image:7-segment abef.svg | Image:7-segment abcef.svg | Image:7-segment ceg.svg
|
| Ϙ, ϙ; Ϟ, ϟ
| Image:7-segment abcfg.svg | Image:7-segment cfg.svg
|
| Ρ, ρ, ϱ
| Image:7-segment abefg.svg | Image:7-segment abdefg.svg
|
| Σ, σ, ς, Ϲ, ϲ
| Image:7-segment adef.svg | Image:7-segment adefg.svg | Image:7-segment acfg.svg | Image:7-segment bcdeg.svg
|
| Ϛ, ϛ
| Image:7-segment acdfg.svg | Image:7-segment acfg.svg
|
| Τ, τ
| Image:7-segment eg.svg | Image:7-segment abc.svg
|
| Υ, υ
| Image:7-segment bcdef.svg | Image:7-segment befg.svg | Image:7-segment cde.svg
|
| Φ, φ, ϕ
| Image:7-segment acdeg.svg
| Image:7-segment aefg.svg
|
| Χ, χ
| Image:7-segment bcef.svg | Image:7-segment beg.svg
|
| Ψ, ψ
| Image:7-segment bdfg.svg | Image:7-segment acde.svg
|
| Ω, ω
| Image:7-segment abdfg.svg | Image:7-segment abcdg.svg
|
Examples
See also
it:Display a sette segmenti
ja:7セグメントディスプレイ
nl:Zevensegmentendisplay
tr:Gösterge (Display)
