30 May
2015
30 May
'15
8:19 a.m.
JOOI, does anyone know when Panaplex 7-segment
displays started going the
way of the dodo, to be replaced with LED displays (and, on the back of
that, what were the advantages of a Panaplex-type display over an LED one?)
It would appear that in the early 1970s LEDs were very expensive. I have been looking at
the
HP5930x HPIB units and in many cases the status indicators (power on, listening, etc) are
filament bulbs + driver transistors. I can think of no advantage to using a filament bulb
in this
application other than possibly cost. The 59304, which has a Panaplex display and
therefore
the HV supply to drive it, uses neon bulbs (NE2 sort of thing) as status indicators.
-tony