llisplags

Further delays for Sinclair’s TV Sinclair’s flat screen CRT television, once intended for launch in mid 1982, is now scheduled to be released in the UK sometime ‘before the end of 1983 definitely’. By this time most other companies intending to launch pocket TVs, whether CRT or liquid crystal- based, say they will have done so. The market for such largely gimmicky pro- ducts may be saturated and the lower price and better picture claimed by Sinclair for his TV may not prove a sufficient inducement for the product as it now stands to succeed.

Launch of the flat screen TV has

been held up by industrial disputes at the Timex factory in Dundee, Scotland, where the TV is contracted to be made. The two-year delay is not entirely accounted for by the production plant strike; it has also taken longer than expected to weed out gremlins from the new tube-making process used at the plant. Fortunately for Sinclair Research, introduction of Japanese liquid crystal TVs is also being delayed in the UK, by standards differences, though they have stolen a march on any possible rival US or European products in Japan and America.

Mini terminal uses LCDs

Two-line 40character liquid crystal displays are offered on the Microscribe MT80 terminal, an addition to Terminal Technology’s range of port- able mini-terminals. The CMOS tech- nology terminal is primarily aimed at OEM applications, and field service repair use.

Liquid crystals provide the answer for portable mini terminal display

Its ability to run diagnostic routines, retrieving and storing results simultaneously, is expected to be of particular benefit to service engineers. The Microscribe is also suited for use as a lowcost dedicated terminal on peripherals requiring periodic operator input, and for displaying status mes- sages and prompts.

The two-line by 40character

Programmable panel

A 175 x 50 mm LCD panel, with a programmable 240 x 64 dot matrix has been introduced in the UK by Impectron. The Sharp-made panel incorporates display panel, CMOS LSI driver circuits and interconnection facilities. The unit is intended for panel meters, point-of-sale terminals, word processors, test equipment, automotive and similar applications. It can display graphs, diagrams or animated pictures as well as letters, figures or symbols.

Optical characteristics are claimed to be unusually good for a LCD. Viewing angle is a minimum of 40°, with contrast ratio typically 3.0 and a response speed better than 300 ms. The back of the display contains ten control and driver chips which ensure applications flexibility. Operat- ing temperature range is 0’ to 50’C.

Impectron Ltd, Foundry Lane, Ho&am, West Sussex RH13 5PX, U1 Y.

LED drivers Three seven-segment display drivers have been developed by Plessey, suit able for driving LED common catho’ de filament and fluorescent displays. By using external transistors common anode and glow discharge displays can also be driven. The circuits have high speed latched input and 20 mA source output. All have blanking inputs which can be used for pulse width modulation of display brightness.

Plessey Semiconductors, Cheney Manor, Stindon, Wilts SN2 2Q W, UK.

display of the Microscribe makes it particularly suited to applications involving lengthy or complicated text, for example in electronic mail or information retrieval systems. Micro- scribes can be linked to such databases as Telecom Gold or Dialog.

Terminal Technology Ltd, Clarence House, Clarence Place, New- port, Gwent NP2 7AA, UK.

242 DISPLAYS. OCTOBER 1983