Fourteen-segment display

<h2 id="character-encoding">Character encoding</h2>

<p>By lighting different elements, different characters can be displayed.
</p><p>In a 14-segment display, there is also an optional 15th segment which is a decimal point (denoted as "DP").
</p>
<h3>Decimal</h3>
Hexadecimal encoding of decimal numbers for 14-segment display<table><tbody><tr><th>Digit</th><th>0</th><th>1</th><th>2</th><th>3</th><th>4</th><th>5</th><th>6</th><th>7</th><th>8</th><th>9</th></tr><tr><th>Hex code</th><td>0xC3F</td><td>0x406</td><td>0xDB</td><td>0x8F</td><td>0xE6</td><td>0xED</td><td>0xFD</td><td>0x1401</td><td>0xFF</td><td>0xE7</td></tr></tbody></table>
<h3>Latin alphabet</h3>

<p>A 14-segment display is mostly used to display text because the 14 elements allow all <a href="/facts/Latin_alphabet/pqWVHpBz">Latin letters</a> to be displayed both in <a href="/facts/Upper_CASE/KQcwaUUD">upper case</a> and <a href="/facts/Letter_case/KQcwaUUD">lower case</a> (with a few exceptions like "s").
</p>
Hexadecimal Encoding of Latin Alphabet for 14-segment display<table><tbody><tr><th>Alphabet</th><th>A</th><th>B</th><th>C</th><th>D</th><th>E</th><th>F</th><th>G</th><th>H</th><th>I</th><th>J</th><th>K</th><th>L</th><th>M</th><th>N</th></tr><tr><th>Hex code</th><td>0xF7</td><td>0x128F</td><td>0x39</td><td>0x120F</td><td>0xF9</td><td>0xF1</td><td>0xBD</td><td>0xF6</td><td>0x1209</td><td>0x1E</td><td>0x2470</td><td>0x38</td><td>0x536</td><td>0x2136</td></tr></tbody></table>
<table><tbody><tr><th>Alphabet</th><th>O</th><th>P</th><th>Q</th><th>R</th><th>S</th><th>T</th><th>U</th><th>V</th><th>W</th><th>X</th><th>Y</th><th>Z</th></tr><tr><th>Hex code</th><td>0x3F</td><td>0xF3</td><td>0x203F</td><td>0x20F3</td><td>0x18D</td><td>0x1201</td><td>0x3E</td><td>0xC30</td><td>0x2836</td><td>0x2D00</td><td>0x1500</td><td>0xC09</td></tr></tbody></table>
<h2 id="applications">Applications</h2>

<p>Multiple-segment display devices use fewer elements than a full dot-matrix display, and may produce a better character appearance where the segments are shaped appropriately. This can reduce power consumption and the number of driver components.
</p><p>Fourteen-segment <a href="/facts/Plasma_display/1RqxrYBo">gas-plasma displays</a> were used in <a href="/facts/Pinball_machines/woBqmMfo">pinball machines</a> from 1986 through 1991 with an additional <a href="/facts/Comma/mcW9dcGT">comma</a> and <a href="/facts/Full_stop/w0Ylafwn">period</a> part making for a total of 16 segments.
</p><p>Fourteen and sixteen-segment displays were used to produce <a href="/facts/Alphanumeric/ytA9RSIv">alphanumeric</a> characters on <a href="/facts/Calculator/eeLfRS8L">calculators</a> and other <a href="/facts/Embedded_system/a4muX1wU">embedded systems</a>.  Applications today include displays fitted to telephone <a href="/facts/Caller_ID/hh9DqEEj">Caller ID</a> units, gymnasium equipment, <a href="/facts/Videocassette_recorder/vNXMylt5">VCRs</a>, <a href="/facts/Car_audio/IJ4lJd4S">car stereos</a>, <a href="/facts/Microwave_oven/nS1B3wp2">microwave ovens</a>, <a href="/facts/Slot_machine/n5FBPkbq">slot machines</a>, and DVD players.
</p><p>Such displays were very common on pinball machines for displaying the score and other information, before the widespread use of dot-matrix display panels.
</p>
<h3>Incandescent lamp</h3>
<p>Multiple segment alphanumeric displays are nearly as old as the use of electricity. A 1908 textbook <a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a> describes an alphanumeric display system using incandescent lamps and a mechanical switching arrangement. Each of 21 lamps was connected to a switch operated by a set of slotted bars, installed in a rotating drum.  This <i>commutator</i> assembly could be arranged so that as the drum was rotated, different sets of switches were closed and different letters and figures could be displayed.  The scheme would have been used for "talking" signs to spell out messages, but a complete set of commutator switches, drums and lamps would have been required for each letter of a message, making the resulting sign quite expensive.
</p>
<h3>Cold-cathode neon</h3>
<p>A few different versions of the fourteen segment display exist as cold-cathode neon lamps.  For example, one type made by Burroughs Corporation was called "Panaplex".  Instead of using a filament as the incandescent versions do, these use a cathode charged to a 180 V potential which causes the electrified segment to glow a bright orange color.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a> They operated similarly to <a href="/facts/Nixie_tube/uAf9NEjd">Nixie tubes</a> but instead of the full-formed numeric shapes, used segments to make up numerals and letters.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a>
</p>
<h3>Examples</h3>

<ul><li><a href="/facts/Seven-segment_display/4rzfu0q0">Seven-segment display</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Eight-segment_display/AnFznq4e">Eight-segment display</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Nine-segment_display/Vc4Jr8a6">Nine-segment display</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Sixteen-segment_display/n3EtQ5rv">Sixteen-segment display</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Dot_matrix_display/1PAS4Ix9">Dot matrix display</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Nixie_tube/uAf9NEjd">Nixie tube</a> display</li>
<li><a href="/facts/Vacuum_fluorescent_display/70BmkStl">Vacuum fluorescent display</a></li></ul>

<h2 id="external-links">External links</h2>
<p> Media related to Fourteen segment displays at Wikimedia Commons
</p>

<h2 id="references">References</h2>

<ol>
<li id="fn:1"><p>"AlphaNum G click with 14-segment LED display released". MikroElectronika Blog. MikroElektronika. Retrieved 11 March 2018. <a href="https://www.mikroe.com/blog/alphanum-g-click-with-14-segment-led-display-released" target="_blank">https://www.mikroe.com/blog/alphanum-g-click-with-14-segment-led-display-released</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:2"><p>"EFM32 Series 0 LCD Driver Application Note" (PDF). Silicon Laboratories. p. 11. Retrieved 11 March 2018. <a href="https://www.silabs.com/documents/public/application-notes/an0057.0-efm32-segment-lcd.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.silabs.com/documents/public/application-notes/an0057.0-efm32-segment-lcd.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:3"><p>Richard C. Dorf (ed.) The Electrical Engineering Handbook, CRC Press, Boca Raton, 1993, ISBN 0-8493-0185-8 page 1770 <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:4"><p>Maxim Integrated.
"Application Note 3211: Driving 14-Segment Displays".
2004. <a href="http://www.maximintegrated.com/app-notes/index.mvp/id/3211" target="_blank">http://www.maximintegrated.com/app-notes/index.mvp/id/3211</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:5"><p>I. C. S. Reference Library Volume 4B, Scranton, International Textbook Company, 1908, no ISBN <a href="/wiki/International_Textbook_Company" target="_blank">/wiki/International_Textbook_Company</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:6"><p>[1] Burroughs b5791 Tube Data <a href="http://www.tubeclockdb.com/nixie-tubes/73-burroughs-5971-alphanumeric.html" target="_blank">http://www.tubeclockdb.com/nixie-tubes/73-burroughs-5971-alphanumeric.html</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:7"><p>http://www.ineedcaffeine.com/content/the-burroughs-b7971/ Archived 2015-04-02 at the Wayback Machine Burroughs B7971 segmented display tube illustration, retrieved 2012 July 19 <a href="http://www.ineedcaffeine.com/content/the-burroughs-b7971/" target="_blank">http://www.ineedcaffeine.com/content/the-burroughs-b7971/</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
</ol>

Fourteen-segment display open-in-new

Fourteen-segment display