Maker Pro
Maker Pro

Help identifying a display

Andy.wpg

Apr 8, 2015
19
Joined
Apr 8, 2015
Messages
19
I recently purchased a digital thermometer probe for the kitchen, and it has a fascinating display that I would like to find out about.

When you turn the unit on, the display glows with an orange(ish) color, and is visible in the dark. The display consists of little four-pixel cubes that are activated to form the digits (graphics display?).

The interesting part is that, unlike an LED, when the display is in bright sunlight, the background looks blacker, and the digits are a pale gray or white - easily visible. The whole thing is running on a CR2032 lithium coin cell - so it must be low voltage.

Before I disassemble my new toy (with all the inherent dangers in that) to find a part number, does anyone have any idea what this interesting display type is called? I have a couple of projects that could benefit from this!

Thanks for any info,

Andy
 

kellys_eye

Jun 25, 2010
6,514
Joined
Jun 25, 2010
Messages
6,514
I'd second that.... let's see a picture of it to confirm.
 

Andy.wpg

Apr 8, 2015
19
Joined
Apr 8, 2015
Messages
19
I'd second that.... let's see a picture of it to confirm.

Well, there's no sun here today to get a sunlight picture, but here's a lower light picture:

display.jpg

I notice that the backlight is uneven - more light on the right side than the left side. Not sure if that helps identify it.

Thanks again!

Andy
 
Last edited:

kellys_eye

Jun 25, 2010
6,514
Joined
Jun 25, 2010
Messages
6,514
Woah.... VERY specific. Not seen anything like that. I very much doubt anyone other than the OEM can help here.
 

Andy.wpg

Apr 8, 2015
19
Joined
Apr 8, 2015
Messages
19
Woah.... VERY specific. Not seen anything like that. I very much doubt anyone other than the OEM can help here.

Yeah, I knew this one is going to be specific to this application. What I was hoping is that someone could identify the display technology so I could get a generic 7-segment display with it. The daylight visible part is the coolest thing about it - would be very useful for a couple of my projects.
 

kellys_eye

Jun 25, 2010
6,514
Joined
Jun 25, 2010
Messages
6,514
You might want to look up the difference between reflective and trans-reflective displays.

Modern displays using OLED technology are perfectly readable in sunlight.
 

73's de Edd

Aug 21, 2015
3,613
Joined
Aug 21, 2015
Messages
3,613
The spectral color shift and light intensity being shown on the display from far right edge , over to mid center seems to suggest either an old school incandescent or most likely a newer LED light being installed at that edge for its display backlighting for a transmissive frontal display element in low light conditions.
Otherwise, the frontal display acts in reflective mode, if being in adequately lit conditions, or even out in bright sunlight.
Do you confirm that all digit combinations seem to be functioning, with just the sole oddity being that non uniformly lit display ?
Had that utilized electroluminescent backlighting, one expects a uniform overall lighting being presented.
Yours suggests of point source edge lighting, with possibly a bit of lateral evening of light output with a tapered Lucite blank.
Get that unit torn down to the level that you can inspect both sides of its rear edges, for backlighting technique being utilized. Then you can account for the questionable left side lighting source.

73's de Edd
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Andy.wpg

Apr 8, 2015
19
Joined
Apr 8, 2015
Messages
19
The spectral color shift and light intensity being shown on the display from far right edge , over to mid center seems to suggest either an old school incandescent or most likely a newer LED light being installed at that edge for its display backlighting for a transmissive frontal display element in low light conditions.
Otherwise, the frontal display acts in reflective mode, if being in adequately lit conditions, or even out in bright sunlight.
Do you confirm that all digit combinations seem to be functioning, with just the sole oddity being that non uniformly lit display ?
Had that utilized electroluminescent backlighting, one expects a uniform overall lighting being presented.
Yours suggests of point source edge lighting, with possibly a bit of lateral evening of light output with a tapered Lucite blank.
Get that unit torn down to the level that you can inspect both sides of its rear edges, for backlighting technique being utilized. Then you can account for the questionable left side lighting source.

73's de Edd

.

The display is fully functioning - at least up to 212F which is all I'll ever need. I guess I'll pull it apart to see what is going on with the backlighting and if there is a non-OEM part number so I can get one to play with.

Thanks
 
Top