Electronics > Beginners
Multimeters why not LCD?
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PsychoBoy:
So I was dreaming last night about creating my own multimeter (it's just dreams though  ;D) and wondering why all multimeters use this customized LED display panels instead of modern LCD? Is it just much cheaper? Or maybe it is more immune to impact etc?

Cheers
Nerull:
Most multimeters use LCDs. I haven't seen a LED character display on anything but cheap panel meters in ages.

Benta:
Don't think I've seen a hand-held DMM with LEDs for decades, only LCD.
On desktop types you see LED or OLED or other graphic types.

Berni:
I think he means why multimeters use custom made 7 segment LCD panels rather than a graphical matrix LCD.

Part of it might be because of history but mostly because they don't actually bring much benefit to multimeters with basic functionality. They don't need to display more than numbers plus a few fixed symbols, while these segmented displays can provide a sharper and more contrasting image.

I do admit i am not a fan of these LCD displays. My favorite handheld meter so far is the Agilent U1273 with its OLED display. For indoor use (Where i use it all the time anyway) it greatly improves the readability of the display while still providing better battery life than a lot of LCD display meters.

As for bench DMMs i love VFD displays. They have excellent readability from all angles and in the dark and can support a large number of segments/symbols.
PsychoBoy:
Sorry guys I didn't know they are LCD's, I thought it uses simple LED's.

--- Quote from: Berni on May 15, 2019, 04:38:39 pm ---I think he means why multimeters use custom made 7 segment LCD panels rather than a graphical matrix LCD.

Part of it might be because of history but mostly because they don't actually bring much benefit to multimeters with basic functionality. They don't need to display more than numbers plus a few fixed symbols, while these segmented displays can provide a sharper and more contrasting image.

I do admit i am not a fan of these LCD displays. My favorite handheld meter so far is the Agilent U1273 with its OLED display. For indoor use (Where i use it all the time anyway) it greatly improves the readability of the display while still providing better battery life than a lot of LCD display meters.

As for bench DMMs i love VFD displays. They have excellent readability from all angles and in the dark and can support a large number of segments/symbols.

--- End quote ---
Exactly, I was wondering why they don't use this LCD dot matrix displays like for example TFT 128x160 pixels or something, I mean isn't it more expensive to design your own custom LCD display rather than pick off-the-shelf LCD dot matrix module?
I understand argument that they don't need such display although I find it useful as it could have much more functionality. Anyway the thing I wondered is if there is any hard counter-argument to not have such dot-matrix LCDs in DMM?
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