Multi-numeric display systems

Circuitry is described for representing a binary coded decimal (BCD) number using a 16-segment display in any one of the following forms: English, Arabic, Chinese, or Hindi. The choice of number system is user-selectable. In addition to the selector switch and the display, the system uses two PROMs (programmable read-only memories) and an encode. All the components used in the display system, including the 16-segment display, are readily available commercially. It is noted that not all of the 16 segments are used for the display of the various numerals; and some are always blank. Therefore, the power requirements of the 16-segment display device are comparable to the power requirements of display devices previously reported in the literature. In addition, two other simple systems for the display of Hindi numerics are also proposed. One of these systems uses the conventional 7-segment display device and the other uses a 10-segment display device