It was also
not the display I have in my other digital voltmeter
(Dynamco, I think) which has as digits a multilayer Perspex sandwich.
Each perspex layer has a dot pattern for a character drilled in it; you
light up a character by illuminating the edge of the appropriate perspex
wafer, and total internal reflection confines the light to that wafer,
thus lighting up the dot pattern of only the one character. Neat.
I've seem those used with a 2-colour (black, or illuminated red)
background for +ve or -ve results. Problem is, I can never remember if
red is +ve (as an engineer would use) or -ve (as an accountant would
use)... Actually, didn't Dynamco do that on some of their voltmeters?