A VFD or a Vacuum Fluorescent Display is a display device that was used on purchaser gadgets gear like car radios, video cassette recorders, and microwave ovens.
A VFD follows the principle of Cathodoluminescence which is much similar to that of the CRT (Cathode Ray Tube). The only difference is that they can be operated at a much lower potential difference. Each tube present in a VFD consists of an anode coated with a phosphor that is bombarded by electrons transmitted from the cathode fiber. In addition to that, each tube in a VFD has a mesh control grid.
A VFD produces an exceptionally splendid light with high contrast and can support display components of different hues. The standard illumination quantity for a VFD is around 640 cd/m2. The VFDs providing high brightness operate at 4,000 cd/m2 and that of the experimental components is as high as 35,000 cd/m2 . The brightness of the display and the selection of color altogether influence the lifetime of the tubes. It ranges from as high as 30,000 hours for the most commonly produced green light to as low as 1,500 hours for a vivid red. In the past, cadmium was used as VFDs metal but now they are replaced by RoHS-complaint VFDs.
VFDs can display multi-segment Alpha Numeric characters or 7 segment numerals. By and by, there is little breaking point to the shape of the picture that can be shown: it depends exclusively on the state of phosphor on the anode(s).
The very first VFD was the DM160 made in 1959 by Philips. This was the single segment VFD. The 1st multi-segment VFD was the 1967 Japanese single digit, 7 segment device. The displays started to get common on calculators as well as other purchaser gadgets gears. In the late 1980s, a huge number of units were made yearly.
Use:
Along with brightness, VFDs are inexpensive, rugged, and can be easily arranged to show a wide assortment of customized messages. In contrast to LCDs, VFDs are not restricted by the reaction time of adjusting liquid crystals. Thus, they can carry out their functions normally in cold temperatures. One of its biggest drawbacks of VFDs was that they used to consume a large amount of power than a simple LCD. This was viewed as a huge disadvantage for battery-worked gear like calculators and as a consequence, these VFDs ended up its use in devices that were given power using an AC source.
In the 1980s, VFDs found its use in automobiles for digital displays in odometers and speedometers. Their high brightness feature made them well suited for cars. From 1979 to the mid of 1980, VFDs were also used in portable electronic game units. VFDs also served a piece of good equipment for triode amplifiers.
This was all we have regarding Vacuum Fluorescent Display. Hope you like reading the article on it. Brands that manufacture them are Noritake, Matrix Orbital and Newhaven Display. Make sure to follow them using the links as provided.
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