Electroluminescent displays

The author discusses technological developments which have occurred until 1989 in the area of flat panel electroluminescent (EL) displays. Devices capable of displaying nearly a million pixels (picture elements) and 18" diagonal screens have been demonstrated. Displays with up to 720×400 pixels are commercially available and devices with 1024×800 pixels are scheduled to appear towards the end of 1989. EL displays offer many advantages over some of the other flat panel technologies that are available. These include a bright, crisp, flicker-free, broad band yellow-orange emission having gray scale capability which is easy to read and is found to induce very little eye fatigue after sustained usage. The historical developments are outlined, followed by the state-of-the-art of the various modifications of the basic EL structure and future prospects for EL display devices