Electronic visual display

An electronic visual display is a display device that can display images, video, or text that is transmitted electronically. Electronic visual displays include television sets, computer monitors, and digital signage. They are ubiquitous in mobile computing applications like tablet computers, smartphones, and information appliances. Many electronic visual displays are informally referred to as screens.

Starting in the early 2000s, flat-panel displays began to dominate the industry, as cathode-ray tubes (CRT) were phased out, especially for computer applications. Starting in the mid 2010s, curved display panels began to be used in televisions, computer monitors, and smartphones.

Types
There are various technologies used for electronic visual displays:
 * Electroluminescent (EL) display
 * Liquid crystal display (LCD) with Light-emitting diode (LED)-backlit Liquid crystal display (LCD)
 * Light-emitting diode (LED) display
 * OLED display
 * AMOLED display
 * Plasma (P) display
 * Quantum dot (QD) display

An overhead projector can be considered a type of electronic visual display.

Additionally, CRTs were widely used in the past and microLED displays are under development.

Classification
Electronic visual displays present visual information according to the electrical input signal (analog or digital) either by emitting light (then they are called active displays) or, alternatively, by modulating available light during the process of reflection or transmission (light modulators are called passive displays).

Display mode of observation
Electronic visual displays can be observed directly (direct view display) or the displayed information can be projected to a screen (transmissive or reflective screen). This usually happens with smaller displays at a certain magnification.

A different kind of projection display is the class of "laser projection displays", where the image is built up sequentially either via line by line scanning or by writing one complete column at a time. For that purpose one beam is formed from three lasers operating at the primary colors, and this beam is scanned electro-mechanically (galvanometer scanner, micro-mirror array)) or electro-acousto-optically.

Layout of picture elements
Depending on the shape and on the arrangement of the picture elements of a display, either fixed information can be displayed (symbols, signs), simple numerals (7-segment layout) or arbitrary shapes can be formed (dot-matrix displays).

Emission and control of colors
Colors can be generated by selective emission, by selective absorption, transmission or by selective reflection.

Addressing modes
Each sub-pixel of a display device must be selected (addressed) in order to be energized in a controlled way.