Eight-segment display

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Eight-segment display of the Sharp EL-8 Sharp EL-8 Itron vacuum-fluorescent Display Tube.jpg
Eight-segment display of the Sharp EL-8

An eight-segment display is a type of display based on eight segments that can be turned on or off according to the font pattern to be produced.

Contents

Applications

One application was in the Sharp EL-8, an early electronic calculator. The eight-segment display produces more rounded digits than a seven-segment display, yielding a more "script-like" output, with the trade-off that fewer possible alphabetic characters can be displayed because the bars F and G are merged (see table below).

Displaying

An eight segment display can sometimes display alphabetic characters with less readability because the segments F and G are combined and the corners are rounded. The asymmetrical layout of the elements produced a distinctive "handwritten" digit style, with a half-height "0".

Characters able to be displayed by a seven-segment display but unable to be displayed by an eight-segment display due to graphical confusion
ScriptCharacters
LatinC, c, d, G, L, N, n, 0, o, r, U, Z, Ə
GreekΓ, Ζ, Ν, Ξ, Ο, ο, Π, π
CyrillicГ, г, д, П, п, Э
Others0, (, [, ", ^, -, /, ?
CharactersWhat they display as on an eight-segment display
C, [, (E
c, L, r, гt
d, U
G6
N, Ν, λ, Π, ПA
n, π, пh
o, οb
Z, Ζ,e
0, O, Ə, Ο, д8
Γ, ГF
Ξ
Э9
"˅
^°
-`
/μ
?P

Examples

See also