25 May
2005
25 May
'05
3:53 p.m.
On 26 May, 2005, at 00:34, Eric Smith wrote:
Tom Jennings wrote:
Automatic testing and sorting should not be too difficult. As long as
each row had about the same characteristics, the driver circuitry could
compensate for differences.
Many early portable computers used orange plasma displays which were
actually such memories. They did not need any refresh, so the only
thing missing was the readout circuitry.
--
-bv
For neon, from flawed memory, strike-over is
around 100V, and
sustain around 80V. [...] You could probably make a
coincident-voltage
memory from them... but they'd be slow I think, but pretty.
I replied:
If the numbers are 80V and 100V...
[matrix
drive ideas snipped]
I've just looked at the specifications for Chicago Miniature Lamp
neon bulbs, and it looks like they don't have anything suitable.
The problem is that the specifications for the "maintain" and
"breakdown" (start) voltage ranges are too wide, and often there
is overlap. So unless you are willing to cherry-pick bulbs that
meet tighter specs, 2-D matrix drive doesn't seem practical.