A display device is an output device for presentation of information in visual or tactile form (the latter used for example in tactile electronic displays for blind people). When the input information is supplied has an electrical signal, the display is called an electronic display.
Common applications for electronic visual displays are televisions or computer monitors.
Some displays can show only digits or alphanumeric characters. They are called segment displays, because they are composed of several segments that switch on and off to give appearance of desired glyph. The segments are usually single LEDs or liquid crystals. They are mostly used in digital watches and pocket calculators. There are several types:
2-dimensional displays that cover a full area (usually a rectangle) are also called video displays, since it is the main modality of presenting video.
Full-area 2-dimensional displays are used in, for example:
Underlying technologies for full-area 2-dimensional displays include:
The multiplexed display technique is used to drive most display devices.
In the history of display technology, a variety of display devices and technologies have been used.