Section of a split-flap display board at Frankfurt (Main) Hauptbahnhof (taken April 2005).

A split-flap display, sometimes simply flap display, is a display device that presents alphanumeric text, and possibly fixed graphics. Each character position or graphic position has a collection of flaps on which the characters or graphics are painted or silkscreened. These flaps are precisely rotated to show the desired character or graphic. Today, these displays are often found in train stations and airports, where they typically display departure and/or arrival information. Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof Frankfurt (Main) Hauptbahnhof (translates from German as Frankfurt (Main) central station, short form Frankfurt (Main) Hbf) is the Hauptbahnhof for Frankfurt am Main and, along with Leipzig Hauptbahnhof, is one of the largest terminal stations in Europe. ... April 2005 : ← - January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December - → Hamas and Islamic Jihad have declared, in principle, their intention to join the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO). ... Nixie tubes, LED-display and VF-display A display device, also known as an information display is a device for visual or tactile presentation of images (including text) acquired, stored, or transmitted in various forms. ... Generally speaking, the term alphanumeric refers to anything that consists of only letters and numbers. ... In computer and machine-based telecommunications terminology, a character is a unit of information that roughly corresponds to a grapheme or a grapheme-like unit or symbol, such as in an alphabet or syllabary in the written form of a natural language. ... Graphics are visual presentations on some surface such as a wall, canvas, computer screen, paper, or stone to brand, inform, illustrate, or entertain. ... This article does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Screen-printing, also known as silkscreening or serigraphy, is a printmaking technique that creates a sharp-edged single-color image using a stencil and a porous fabric. ... Passengers bustle around the typical grand edifice of Londons Broad Street station in 1865. ... Journeys sixth album, Departure, was released in March of 1980 on the Columbia Records label. ... The Arrival may refer to: The Arrival, a 1996 science fiction film starring Charlie Sheen The Arrival, an episode of The Twilight Zone Arrival, an episode of The Prisoner In music, the name Arrival refers to several albums from artists such as ABBA (who had a so-called title track...

Sometimes the flaps are large and display whole words, and in other instalments there are several smaller flaps, each displaying a single character. The former method is of course limited on the words it can display by what is on the flaps, whereas the latter system is not and output messages can be changed without the need for the addition or replacement of flaps, although images cannot. In the example image on the right, we can see that the destinations in the centre of the picture of split up into characters, whereas the messages left and right of these occupy entire flaps.

Flip-dot displays and LED display boards may be used instead of split-flap displays in most applications. Their output can be varied more easily (by reprogramming instead of replacement of physical parts in the case of graphics) but they suffer from lower readability. They also can refresh quicker, as most split-flap displays only rotate in one direction.

Many game shows of the 1970s used this type of display for the contestant podium scoreboards. These were called Solari boards. Usually, the flip was left-to-right on a vertical axis, although up/down on a horizontal axis was not completely unknown. A game show is a radio or television program involving members of the public or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, playing a game, perhaps involving answering quiz questions, for points or prizes. ...

Advantages to these displays include:

• high visibility and wide viewing angle in most lighting conditions;
• little or no power consumption while the display remains static; and
• fault-tolerance during a power loss or disruption -- the display will not normally reset.

In Meteorology, ability is a measure of the nothingness at which an object or light can be seen. ... This article is about angles in geometry. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Electromagnetic radiation. ... For delivered electrical power, see Electrical power industry. ... In computer science, Fault-tolerance is the property of a computer system to continue operation at an acceptable quality, despite the unexpected occurrence of hardware or software failures. ...

See also

• Analog clock with digital display ("flip clock")
• Display device

Some old-fashioned clocks with digital displays really keep track of the time in an analog fashion. ... Nixie tubes, LED-display and VF-display A display device, also known as an information display is a device for visual or tactile presentation of images (including text) acquired, stored, or transmitted in various forms. ...

Patents

• U.S. Patent 3,501,761  Remote-Controlled Display Device for Selectively Displaying Signs or Words

External links

• Conrac "Knowledge Centre"
• SEGD Design Awards: A Sign of Democracy