Display Interfaces

Basic Concepts in Display Systems Part 1

Introduction Regardless of the type of display used, its size, or the application in question, there are some concepts that are common to just about any display system. In the most general usage of the phrase, “display system” can be taken to mean any system through which information is conveyed to people through visual means. […]

Basic Concepts in Display Systems Part 2

Spatial formats vs. resolution; fields Regardless of whether or not the array of sampling points (pixels) is rectangular (i.e., the pixels are arrayed orthogonally, in linear rows and columns), a concept often encountered in imaging discussions is the notion of “square” pixels. This does not mean that the pixels are literally square in shape – […]

The Human Visual System (Display Interfaces) Part 1

Introduction It is very appropriate that a topic dealing primarily with display interfaces devotes at least some time to a discussion of human vision, with at least a functional description of how it works and what its limitations are. As pointed out in the previous topic, the viewer should be considered a part of the […]

The Human Visual System (Display Interfaces) Part 2

Dynamic Range and Visual Response At any given moment, the eye is capable of discriminating varying levels of luminance over a range of perhaps 100:1 or slightly higher. If the brightness of a given object in the visual field falls below the lower end of the range at any moment, it is simply seen as […]

Fundamentals of Color (Display Interfaces) Part 1

Introduction The theory of color – how we see it, how to use it, and how it may be created, analyzed, and represented – truly deserves an entire topic, rather than just a single topic, and there are of course any number of excellent texts on the subject available. (Several of these are listed in […]

Fundamentals of Color (Display Interfaces) Part 2

Color Temperature A common means of indicating the characteristic spectral distribution of many light sources is to state their color temperature. The concept of stating color as a temperature comes from the fact that physical bodies radiate energy proportional to their temperature (when this radiation is visible, the object is in a state of incandescence). […]

Fundamentals of Color (Display Interfaces) Part 3

MacAdam Ellipses and MPCDs One other graphical depiction of the non-uniformity of the xy diagram can be seen via MacAdam ellipses, which are experimentally derived groupings or small areas describing indistinguishable colors. In other words, the average viewer sees all colors within the area as the same color. The ellipses, then, define the distance corresponding […]

Display Technologies and Applications (Display Interfaces) Part 1

Introduction Having examined the workings of vision and color, it is now time to look at the other side of the human/display interface: the display itself. While the basic purpose of all displays is the same – to deliver visual information to the user – the means through which this is accomplished varies significantly among […]

Display Technologies and Applications (Display Interfaces) Part 2

Advantages and Limitations of the CRT As might be expected of a display device of such relative complexity, the CRT suffers from a number of limitations and shortcomings. However, it also represents a very mature technology, and one in which these problems have for the most part been addressed. This maturity also results in one […]

Display Technologies and Applications (Display Interfaces) Part 3

Plasma Displays Plasma displays are closely related to the simple neon lamp. It has long been known that certain gas mixtures will, if subjected to a sufficiently strong electric field, break down into a “plasma” which both conducts an electric current and converts a part of the electrical energy into visible light. This effect produces […]

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