Hi,
I'm looking for a screen that will display red on black background.

I dont want the background to be red also, just pure black.

This would make the characters stand out really well.

I doubt LCD will be suitable as the backlight contrast goes down so does the pixels..

What are some choices ? OLED ? VFD ?

I'll try anything

I heard VFD's can be red but need a filter/polarizer ? is this do able ?

Hi Firehorse,

Display choice will depend on what you want to do; for reporting on a PC I'd recommend the TCI version of the GX, but it looks like you're going for a simpler alphanumeric design, for which we have a few solutions.

First is obviously the -R version of an LCD. As you've mentioned, the back will be black, but you may see some red show through and as contrast is increased this bleed will become more significant.

Second will be the VFD with filter option. The VFD is much brighter, and there is no backlight, so the only light will come from the text; no bleeding. However, the background is much less black than an LCD, check out a 20x4 display from our site and you'll notice the pixels are visible even when off. We do offer a red filter which makes the pixels slightly less noticeable, however, the VFD is blue-green, so this creates white text rather than red. Again, you can check it out on the site.

You may be looking for a custom optical filter to create the desired red on black effect. I believe there are a number of companies who do this type of work, optical polymers international is just one to get you started.

Finally, OLEDs are something we carried in yellow-green at one time but found the technology was not yet ready to meet our expectations for quality and longevity. Unfortuantely, we will not be able to supply a red on black OLED solution.

If you have any further questions or concerns about any of the products on our site, please don't hesitate to post.

Thanks,
~Troy