Eight-segment display

Eight-segment display of the Sharp EL-8

An eight-segment display is a type of display based on eight segments that can be turned on or off according to the font pattern to be produced.

Applications

One application was in the Sharp EL-8, an early electronic calculator. The eight-segment display produces more rounded digits than a seven-segment display, yielding a more "script-like" output, with the trade-off that fewer possible alphabetic characters can be displayed because the bars F and G are merged (see table below).

Displaying

An eight segment display can sometimes display alphabetic characters with less readability because the segments F and G are combined and the corners are rounded. The asymmetrical layout of the elements produced a distinctive "handwritten" digit style, with a half-height "0".

Characters able to be displayed by a seven-segment display but unable to be displayed by an eight-segment display due to graphical confusion

Script	Characters
Latin	C, c, d, G, L, N, n, 0, o, r, U, Z, Ə
Greek	Γ, Ζ, Ν, Ξ, Ο, ο, Π, π
Cyrillic	Г, г, д, П, п, Э
Others	0, (, [, ", ^, -, /, ?

Characters	What they display as on an eight-segment display
C, [, (	E
c, L, r, г	t
d, U	Ɐ
G	6
N, Ν, λ, Π, П	A
n, π, п	h
o, ο	b
Z, Ζ,	e
0, O, Ə, Ο, д	8
Γ, Г	F
Ξ	C̠
Э	9
"	˅
^	°
-	`
/	μ
?	P

Examples

• 
  Sharp EL-8 with eight-segment displays
• 
  Eight-segment display displaying an 8
• 
  Eight-segment display displaying a D

See also

• Seven-segment display
• Nine-segment display
• Fourteen-segment display
• Sixteen-segment display
• Dot matrix display
• Vacuum fluorescent display