4 ms·

I have seen these throughout the US and Europe and been fascinated by them. Penn Station has (had? been a while) a big one with more segments per character. I’v

by msarnoff 10mo ago

I have seen these throughout the US and Europe and been fascinated by them. Penn Station has (had? been a while) a big one with more segments per character. I’ve been trying forever to find the name of this particular style of segmented displays and get more info on them. The closest I could find is “mosaic display.” Love this article! Signed, someone who has an obsession with segmented displays

sho_hn 10mo ago
It's probably Reitberger's 38-segment AFA alphanumeric LCD: https://www.reitberger.de/English/Large%20displays/Alphanumeric_LCD_Display_TK/38-Segment_character_set.gif https://www.reitberger.de/English/Large%20displays/Alphanume... https://www.reitberger.de/English/Broadsheet/Prospekt_GA_AFA_Int.pdf https://www.reitberger.de/English/Broadsheet/Prospekt_GA_AFA... These are very common here.
- Aloisius 10mo ago
  The Penn Station passenger display was, according to the NYT, segmented LCD glass made by Signature Technologies in Arizona. It had 43 segments (each character had a 13 segment column, 17 segments column, then another 13 segment column that was a mirror of the first). You can see the segment shape on the original sign: https://media.wired.com/photos/59327db4aef9a462de983397/3:2/w_2240,c_limit/42-67058503.jpg https://media.wired.com/photos/59327db4aef9a462de983397/3:2/... The same segment design was used on in Spain along with a more angular version: https://web.archive.org/web/20210602143217im_/https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DcIAL0aVAAAQ_5V.jpg https://web.archive.org/web/20210602143217im_/https://pbs.tw...
badlibrarian 10mo ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Split-flap_display https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Split-flap_display https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flip-disc_display https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flip-disc_display
- msarnoff 10mo ago
  When I was last at Penn Station in the 2010s their departure board was a mosaic LCD like the article, not a split-flap display: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bd/Penn_Station_departure_board.jpg https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bd/Penn_Sta... I do miss the split flap displays at the Boston and Providence Amtrak stations though…

sho_hn 10mo ago

It's probably Reitberger's 38-segment AFA alphanumeric LCD: https://www.reitberger.de/English/Large%20displays/Alphanumeric_LCD_Display_TK/38-Segment_character_set.gif https://www.reitberger.de/English/Large%20displays/Alphanume... https://www.reitberger.de/English/Broadsheet/Prospekt_GA_AFA_Int.pdf https://www.reitberger.de/English/Broadsheet/Prospekt_GA_AFA... These are very common here.

Aloisius 10mo ago
The Penn Station passenger display was, according to the NYT, segmented LCD glass made by Signature Technologies in Arizona. It had 43 segments (each character had a 13 segment column, 17 segments column, then another 13 segment column that was a mirror of the first). You can see the segment shape on the original sign: https://media.wired.com/photos/59327db4aef9a462de983397/3:2/w_2240,c_limit/42-67058503.jpg https://media.wired.com/photos/59327db4aef9a462de983397/3:2/... The same segment design was used on in Spain along with a more angular version: https://web.archive.org/web/20210602143217im_/https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DcIAL0aVAAAQ_5V.jpg https://web.archive.org/web/20210602143217im_/https://pbs.tw...

badlibrarian 10mo ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Split-flap_display https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Split-flap_display https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flip-disc_display https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flip-disc_display

msarnoff 10mo ago
When I was last at Penn Station in the 2010s their departure board was a mosaic LCD like the article, not a split-flap display: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bd/Penn_Station_departure_board.jpg https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bd/Penn_Sta... I do miss the split flap displays at the Boston and Providence Amtrak stations though…