With the ever increasing information rates characteristic of modern electronic systems it is not surprising that display technology is one of the most vigorous fields of current research. A wide variety of phenomena is being exploited in order to produce displays suitable for a diversity of applications. This paper, which was presented at a meeting of the Institute in London on 17 December 1975, with Captain B. J. Calverb in the Chair, reviews recent developments in both emissive and passive displays, emphasizing the advantages of alternative types for particular applications.

Man's knowledge of the world in which he lives is steadily increasing and, compounded with a rapidly increasing capacity for communication, this leads to a need for new means of displaying the available information. The development of computers further increases this requirement since they make large quantities of information quickly accessible. It is to be expected that in many situations, where formerly the printed page or spoken word would at best have been the only practical possibilities, the advantages offered by modern electronic displays will increasingly be appreciated. In both civil and military applications it is clear for example that much information transmitted at present by letter could be better sent telegraphically, once suitably convenient displays are available; the need for ‘hard copy’ can be met where required. Considerable savings in time and convenience, not to mention paper, could clearly be made.