Digital display

In tandem with this type of watch, researchers were busying themselves with "solid state" or digital display watches. Advances in small-scale displays made it possible to produce a watch where the electronics directly control a small panel, in other words a set of 3-4 figures each composed of 7 segments. Why 7 segments? This is the simplest arrangement for representing the figures from 0 to 9 when one or more of these segments is activated. Switching from one digit to another simply requires rearranging the activated segments, which the electronics are perfectly capable of doing. Thus a watch without traditional small mechanical parts came into being, as first embodied in the Pulsar watch. It uses a light emitting diode display. These diodes emit a red light when powered by a 3V supply, and the display panel comprises 4 x 7 = 28 diodes.