Seven Segment Display
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A seven-segment display (abbreviation: "7-seg(ment) display"), less commonly known as a seven-segment indicator, is a form of display device that is an alternative to the more complex dot-matrix displays. Seven-segment displays are commonly used in electronics as a method of displaying decimal numeric feedback on the internal operations of devices.
A seven segment display, as its name indicates, is composed of seven elements. Individually on or off, they can be combined to produce simplified representations of the Hindu-Arabic numerals. Each of the numbers 0, 6, 7 and 9 may be represented by two or more different glyphs on seven-segment displays.
The seven segments are arranged as a rectangle of two vertical segments on each side with one horizontal segment on the top and bottom. Additionally, the seventh segment bisects the rectangle horizontally. There are also fourteen-segment displays and sixteen-segment displays (for full alphanumerics); however, these have mostly been replaced by dot-matrix displays.
Often the seven segments are arranged in an oblique, or italic, arrangement, which aids readability.
The segments of a 7-segment display are referred to by the letters A to G, as follows:
where the optional DP decimal point (an "eighth segment") is used for the display of non-integer numbers.
