Electronic visual display. An electronic visual display is a display device that can display images, video, or text that is transmitted electronically. Electronic visual displays include television sets, computer monitors, and digital signage. They are ubiquitous in mobile computing applications like tablet computers, smartphones, and information appliances. Many electronic visual displays are informally referred to as touch screens.

Starting in the early 2000s, flat-panel displays began to dominate the industry, as cathode-ray tubes (CRT) were phased out, especially for computer applications. Starting in the mid 2010s, curved display panels began to be used in televisions, computer monitors, and smartphones.

Types 
There are various technologies used for electronic visual displays:
 Electroluminescent (EL) display
 Liquid crystal display (LCD) with light-emitting diode (LED)-backlit Liquid crystal display (LCD)
 Light-emitting diode (LED) display
OLED display
AMOLED display
 Plasma (P) display
 Quantum dot (QD) display

An overhead projector can be considered a type of electronic visual display.

Additionally, CRTs were widely used in the past and microLED displays are under development.

Classification

Electronic visual displays present visual information according to the electrical input signal (analog or digital) either by emitting light (then they are called active displays) or, alternatively, by modulating available light during the process of reflection or transmission (light modulators are called passive displays).

Display mode of observation

Electronic visual displays can be observed directly (direct view display) or the displayed information can be projected to a screen (transmissive or reflective screen). This usually happens with smaller displays at a certain magnification.

A different kind of projection display is the class of "laser projection displays", where the image is built up sequentially either via line by line scanning or by writing one complete column at a time. For that purpose one beam is formed from three lasers operating at the primary colors, and this beam is scanned electro-mechanically (galvanometer scanner, micro-mirror array)) or electro-acousto-optically.

Layout of picture elements

Depending on the shape and on the arrangement of the picture elements of a display, either fixed information can be displayed (symbols, signs), simple numerals (7-segment layout) or arbitrary shapes can be formed (dot-matrix displays).

Emission and control of colors

Colors can be generated by selective emission, by selective absorption, transmission or by selective reflection.

Addressing modes
Each sub-pixel of a display device must be selected (addressed) in order to be energized in a controlled way.

Display driving modes

See also 
 Display device
 ISO 13406-2

References

 SID - Society for Information Display International Conference Proceedings 1970–2008
 Journal of the Society for Information Display (JSID)
 Display Reparatur (in German)
 Passive Displays
 Choosing an IT device

Further reading
 Pochi Yeh, Claire Gu: "Optics of Liquid Crystal Displays", John Wiley & Sons 1999, 4.5. Conoscopy, pp. 139

Electronic display devices

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