London Banter - View Single Post - Route 73

Neil Williams · May 15th 05, 10:03 PM posted to uk.transport.london

On 14 May 2005 16:07:02 -0700, wrote:

What about the backlit (LCD?) type displays that are in use in other
parts of Europe? These give really superior contrast to either the
front-lit flipdot type or LEDs (which, IMO, always look too dark.)
Albeit with a slight drop of contrast when viewed at extreme angles.

They do work, but suffer from very slow refresh rates, are more
expensive to maintain and less robust. They are used on some trains
(e.g. Networker Turbos), but seem to be a mid-late 90s fad and are
rare in new railway equipment these days.

And, as for roller-blind displays, they are completely unreadable
when they get dirty. Changing them all to a funny yellow colour in
the mid-90s didn't help. (Wasn't that about the time that the rest of
the continent started digitizing its displays?)

And many local bus companies in the UK. New Stagecoach buses have
been flipdot since the mid 1990s. That said, flipdot is a poor
technology, IMO - too many moving parts, and capable of wrong-side
failure (i.e. stuck showing wrong information). LED is far superior
in both these respects.

Neil

--
Neil Williams in Milton Keynes, UK
When replying please use neil at the above domain
'wensleydale' is a spam trap and is not read.