History of the Flip Disc Display
Stock Exchange & Baggage Claim: The Early Years
In 1964, the Montreal Stock Exchange boldly declared to the world that it had its sights set on becoming “the most advanced electronic stock exchange system” anywhere on Earth. That same year, the exchange purchased the first-ever commercially sold flip-dot display designed and manufactured by the Canadian engineering giant Ferranti-Packard. The sign was unlike other display systems of its time in that it used a pixel-based system that enabled near-instantaneous updates, keeping traders fully up to the second on the price of stocks and bonds in Canada’s rapidly growing market.
Not long after, Air Canada also launched into the future by replacing its baggage claim signage with the same Canadian flip-dot displays. Now rightly viewed as vintage, the invention in its time was novel with a futuristic slant.
Image from Hackaday
The Analog Joy of Electromechanical Engineering
As a predecessor of LCD screens, flip-dot (or flip-disc) displays are also composed of an array of pixels. Instead of tiny red, green, or blue lights illuminating a screen, flip-dot display pixels consist of two-sided discs, each about the size of a small button, with a dark side and a light side, usually black, yellow, or white. Each disc is magnetized and can be flipped on command with momentary electromagnetic pulses. The contrasting colors make for clear, sunlight-readable signage ideal for large outdoor signs.
Flip-disc displays proliferated as a common system for traffic and roadwork signs because of their high-contrast displays and sustainable design that requires little power to operate. Though many now associate the retro technology with lane closures and traffic delays, flip-dot displays have that certain analog charm, too.
Image from Wikipedia
Flip-Disc in the Spotlight
When not on the interstate, flip-dot displays could be found in America’s living rooms as the star centerpiece of Family Feud. For 20 years between the show’s debut in 1976 through the end of its initial run in 1995, the beloved game show held audiences and players alike in suspense by using flip-dot displays for scoreboards. With their distinct mechanical sound of clicking and clacking as the dots flip from one state to another, the flip-dot displays on Family Feud are an iconic piece of mid-century design that remain as charming today as they were in the days of ticker tape and space exploration.
Image from Wikipedia
Retro Technology Revival
As digital art and computerized images reach their cultural high water mark, contemporary aesthetics are trending back in time. Along with old-school color palettes, fonts, and generally nostalgic design trends, retro technology is also experiencing a modern revival. Once a cutting-edge invention, flip-dot displays are now lauded for their old-school sensibilities, especially as custom installations for experiential spaces. With that classic analog look and sensory kinetic motion and sound, they make eye-catching design pieces that breathe life and personality into a space in ways digital screens are incapable of. Watching something physically change states from one stasis to another provides a unique kind of satisfaction that does not translate to screens.
Like Split Flap displays, flip-dot displays also possess that certain je ne sais quoi that comes with analog technology. It is that ability of retro technology to make an impression and spark interest and engagement that drives Oat Foundry’s analog philosophy, and continues to inspire us to make cool stuff.
