TRAINING DIRECTORATE

Module 5
Digital Techniques/Electronic Instrument Systems
BASIC TRAINING CENTER
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 5.11 ELECTRONIC DISPLAYS

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LED – Light Emitting Diodes

An LED consists of a junction diode

made from the semiconductor
compound gallium arsenide
phosphide. It emits light when
forward biased, the intensity of the
light emitted is in direct proportion
to the current flow. Light emission
in the red, orange, green and
yellow regions of the spectrum is
obtained depending on the
composition and impurity content View A: the light emitting diode
of the compound.

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LED – Light Emitting Diodes

When a P-N junction is forward biased,

electrons move across the junction from
the n-type side to the p-type side where
they recombine with holes near the
junction. The same occurs with holes
going across the junction from the p-
type side. Every recombination results
of a certain amount of energy, causing,
in most semiconductors, a temperature
rise. In gallium arsenide phosphide
some of the energy is emitted as light
7-segment and 8-segment common cathode displays
gets out of the LED because the
junction is formed very close to the
surface of the material.

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LED – Light Emitting Diodes

In the 7-segment display

for numerical indication as
shown in the diagram
(next page), each segment
is an LED mounted within
a reflective cavity with a
plastic overlay

: 8-segment common cathode and common

anode displays

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 LED – Light Emitting Diodes

A typical aircraft LED

indication display
A combined analogue and digital LED indication display

A typical 7x16 dot matrix

display

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LED – Light Emitting Diodes
13- and 16-segment displays
On the figure we see a 13/16-segment
display. The 16-segment display is
essentially the same as the 13-segment
display but the centre, top and bottom
bars are replaced with 2 segments
each. This arrangement improves the
quality of the display but some
elements are displaced a little.
Note: 7-segment displays are normally
numeric only 13- and 16-segment
displays are alpha/numeric.

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LED – Light Emitting Diodes

Dot matrix
The circuit dot matrix LED display is used for
displaying information. The method of displaying
message on dot matrix displays is same as seven
segment multiplexing. Column of dot matrix is
rotating very fast means greater then seventeen times
in a second and same time changing in row data
causes display some information on it. Due to the
vision of our eye it looks like stable. An LED dot matrix
display consists of a matrix of LEDs arranged in a
rectangular configuration. The desired character or
graphics can be displayed by switching ON/OFF a
desired configuration of LEDs. Common display
configurations available are 7×5, 8×8, 7×15, etc. LED
dot matrix can be used in simple display applications
where the resolution is not a big concern.
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CRT – Cathode Ray Tube
A CRT is an evacuated glass tube that is
designed in such a way that electrons are
caused to move along the tube and be
deflected so as to write across a
fluorescent screen, similar to a pencil
drawing lines one below the other down a
piece of paper. Once the last line is drawn
at the bottom of the screen, the electron
beam starts at the top. The markings (lines)
it has made on the screen will last for a
short while as the inner part of the screen
is coated with phosphor and some rare
mercury gases, which glow when struck by
the electron beam.

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CRT – Cathode Ray Tube
The beam writes lines very quickly, too quick for the human
eye to see, and by adjusting the density of the electron flow
as the beam moves across the screen different density lines
can be imaged and a picture can be produced. A moving
picture is possible as “re-write” times are fast. shows a
working cross section of a CRT with electrostatic deflection.
The heater, is an electrically heated tungsten
wire inside the cathode. It is insulated from
the hollow cylindrical nickel cathode, and
when a current is passed through the heater,
it raises the temperature of the cathode to a
point where the electrons become agitated
and the cathode emits electrons (thermionic
emission). Thermionic emission

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CRT – Cathode Ray Tube

The negatively charged

electrons are attracted to and
accelerated towards the
anodes 1 and 2 (these are
usually cylinders with holes at
either end, and are positive
with respect to the cathode,
Anode 1 more so than Anode
2). The electrons are attracted
to the anodes, and because of
their acceleration the electrons
move through the centre of the
anodes to impinge on the A CRT with electrostatic deflection
screen.

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CRT – Cathode Ray Tube
Focusing is achieved electrostatically, by
altering the voltage applied to anode 1, thus
altering the voltage between anode 1 and
anode 2. When the electrons strike the screen,
which is coated with a phosphor coating, it
causes the phosphor to luminesce and give a
spot of light on the screen.
There is a return path for the electrons from
the screen to the cathode, otherwise unwanted
negative charge would build up on the screen.
This does not happen because when struck by
electrons, the screen emits secondary
electrons, and these are attracted to and
collected by a conductive coating (graphite) on
the inside of the tube and returned to the Vertical movement of the electron beam is
cathode via the power supply. achieved by horizontal electrostatic plates

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CRT – Cathode Ray Tube

Deflection coils
Deflection coils are an alternative method
of achieving movement of the electron
beam. The coils produce a magnetic field,
either horizontally or vertically depending
on their orientation.

The coils are placed around the neck of

the tube. Vertical movement of the
electron beam is achieved by a horizontal The electro-magnetic deflection coils.
magnetic field. Vertical movement of the electron beam is achieved by a
horizontal magnetic field and horizontal movement of the
electron beam is achieved by a vertical magnetic field

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CRT – Cathode Ray Tube

Deflection coils
Deflection coils are an alternative method
of achieving movement of the electron
beam. The coils produce a magnetic field,
either horizontally or vertically depending
on their orientation.

The coils are placed around the neck of

the tube. Vertical movement of the
electron beam is achieved by a horizontal The electro-magnetic deflection coils.
magnetic field. Vertical movement of the electron beam is achieved by a
horizontal magnetic field and horizontal movement of the
electron beam is achieved by a vertical magnetic field

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CRT – Cathode Ray Tube

Magnetically controlled CRT with vertical and horizontal field coils

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CRT – Cathode Ray Tube

The sawtooth wave, generated by the oscillator,

and applied to the X-plates of the CRT A CRT’s X-plates and Y-plates

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Colour CRT – Cathode Ray Tube

The three electron guns of the colour CRT

Colour generation

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Liquid crystal displays (LCD)

Construction
Today’s LCDs have a
sandwich type structure of
layers. as depicted in the
View A (next page).
Every display has a
“resolution”; images are
made up on the screen by
pixels or small dots of
various colours. A typical
screen has 1280 x 1024
pixels that make up the Main parts of a reflective type LCD
display.

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Liquid crystal displays (LCD)

Construction
A 13x8 pixel display. The
more pixels = the higher
resolution = the less
blocky the picture is.
This concept is known as 13x8 pixel display
a matrix (of pixels) and
the technology used in
LCD Screens is known as
“active matrix”.

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Colour Liquid crystal displays (LCD)
An LCD that can show colours must have three subpixels with red, green and blue colour filters to
create each colour pixel.
Through the careful control and variation of the voltage applied, the intensity of each subpixel can
range over 256 shades. Combining the subpixels produces a possible palette of 16.8 million colours
(256 shades of red x 256 shades of green x 256 shades of blue), as shown (next page). These colour
displays take an enormous number of transistors. For example, a typical laptop computer supports
resolutions up to 1,024x768. If we multiply 1,024 columns by 768 rows by 3 subpixels, we get 2,359,296
transistors etched onto the glass! If there is a problem with any of these transistors, it creates a “bad
pixel” on the display. Most active matrix displays have a few bad pixels scattered across the screen.
LCD technology is constantly evolving. LCDs today employ several variations of liquid crystal technology,
including super twisted nematics (STN), dual scan twisted nematics (DSTN), ferroelectric liquid crystal
(FLC) and surface stabilized ferroelectric liquid crystal (SSFLC).
Display size is limited by the quality-control problems faced by manufacturers. Simply put, to increase
display size, manufacturers must add more pixels and transistors. As they increase the number of pixels
and transistors, they also increase the chance of including a bad transistor in a display. Manufacturers
of existing large LCDs often reject about 40 percent of the panels that come off the assembly line. The
level of rejection directly affects LCD price since the sales of the good LCDs must cover the cost of
manufacturing both the good and bad ones. Only advances in manufacturing can lead to affordable
displays in bigger sizes.

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