In 1910, a seven-segment display illuminated by incandescent bulbs was used on a power-plant boiler room signal panel. Wood invented an 8-segment display, which displayed the number 4 using a diagonal bar ( U.S. patent 1,126,641), when Carl Kinsley invented a method of telegraphically transmitting letters and numbers and having them printed on tape in a segmented format. Seven-segment representation of figures can be found in patents as early as 1903 (in U.S. Seven-segment displays are widely used in digital clocks, electronic meters, basic calculators, and other electronic devices that display numerical information. Form of electronic display device for displaying decimal numeralsĪ typical 7-segment LED display component, with decimal point in a wide DIP-10 packageĪ seven-segment display is a form of electronic display device for displaying decimal numerals that is an alternative to the more complex dot matrix displays.
