We’re not sure, but the number of recognizable alphanumeric characters that a seven-segment display can manage seems to have more to do with human pattern recognition than engineering.

We can imagine a PCB where the bottoms of the display elements are right at the edge of the board instead of on stalks. You could even create a 14-segment display (we used to call these British ...

seven-segment display (Image courtesy of LXD, Inc.) In their natural state, liquid crystals line up with the orientation "rubbed" into the front and rear glass panels. The rubbings are microscopic ...