A fiber-optic display is a light-emitting display that uses
fiber optic
An optical fiber, or optical fibre in Commonwealth English, is a flexible, transparent fiber made by drawing glass (silica) or plastic to a diameter slightly thicker than that of a human hair. Optical fibers are used most often as a means t ...
s to display images or text. Fiber-optic displays can either be static or dynamic, with the typical lighting source being
halogen light bulbs.
Static fiber optic displays
Static fiber optic displays have been commonly used for some types of
traffic signal
Traffic lights, traffic signals, or stoplights – known also as robots in South Africa are signalling devices positioned at road intersections, pedestrian crossings, and other locations in order to control flows of traffic.
Traffic lights ...
s. One common use for static fiber optic displays are
lane control lights, which display either a green downward-pointing arrow or a red X to indicate the open/closed status of road lanes.
Dynamic fiber optic displays
Dynamic fiber optic displays typically display alphanumeric text, and utilize electromechanical shutters to open or close the ends of the fiber strands to display an alphanumeric pixel. These type of displays were commonly used as
variable-message signs on highways. Compared to
eggcrate displays, dynamic fiber optic displays offered lower energy consumption due to requiring fewer bulbs, and offered improved nighttime legibility. For daytime legibility, they were sometimes combined with
flip-disc display
The flip-disc display (or flip-dot display) is an electromechanical dot matrix display technology used for large outdoor signs, normally those that will be exposed to direct sunlight. Flip-disc technology has been used for destination signs in ...
s to be reflective in daylight and emissive at night.
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Display technology