Russian/Soviet plasma display panels (2025 Update)

Apr 23, 2021 Last reply: 8 months ago 6 Replies
Russian/Soviet plasma display panels open original image

IGG1-32 matrix gas-discharge indicator



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The drive circuitry for these is fairly complex, if you want to display arbitrary moving images like a TV. I don't think 1970s Soviet microelectronics was up to the task.



Makes me wonder what their original application was, maybe for relatively static displays that were updated infrequently, or some kind of electro-mechanical system like how the ticker-tape display in Times Square and elsewhere worked at one time.


Yes, probably aimed at ticker tape or news crawler or airport arrivals/departures display like the old mechanical flip displays. Pretty huge (about 8" square), and obviously monochrome so unsuitable for TV.

Looks like a straightforward 64 x 64 matrix, but they've made it to be stackable in both directions so one could make an arbitrarily large display.

Google camera translate makes an amusing mish-mash of the Cyrillic specs.

The display near the ceiling looks familiar

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There are also 64x64 versions made that are multicolor, orange and green. I find them more appealing, though they are essentially the 32x32 version but bicolor, and slightly less bright. Here is an example of them in use:

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Maybe I should buy a few and make my own space display 🤔

Are those dots bad pixels?

John Larkin Highland Tech Glen Canyon Design Center Lunatic Fringe Electronics

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