• In 1950s, cathode ray tube (CRT) displays were first used in computing devices, gaining wide

traction in 1960s, and was used in television, display screens, and personal computers.

• The new method to display information proved far more convenient than previous paper-based
ones.

• First entirely monochrome, RGB-based color CRT TVs became widespread in 1950s, and color
CRT computer displays appeared in late 1970s, with Apple II, released in 1977, becoming widely
popular in 1980s.

• CRT displays were widely used until 2000s, displaced by rapidly improving LCD and plasma
technology.

• The first plasma display was co-invented in the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign in
1964 by Donald Bitzer, H. Gene Slottow, and Robert Willson for the PLATO Computer System.

• Early plasma displays were neon orange; the first colored plasma display was presented in 1992
by Fujitsu, a joint development of University of Illinois and NHK Science & Technology Research
Laboratories.

• Monochrome plasma displays were used in electronic devices like cash registers, calculators,
etc. until they were displaced by LCDs in that field; after the introduction of colored displays, the
first commercial plasma TV was released in 1997 by Pioneer, and plasma displays were
widespread until LCDs outpaced them again in mid 2010s

• Liquid-crystal displays were made possible by the twisted nematic field effect, first invented by
Wolfgang Helfrich and Martin Schadt and patented by Hoffmann-LaRoche on December 4, 1970.
Sharp Corporation introduced the use of LCD displays for calculators in 1973 and for watches in
1975, fields where this type of display predominates now.

• First patents for color LCD displays were made by Sharp in 1975, but their commercial use
became available only in 1980s, with Epson ET-10 becoming the first full-color pocket TV.

• In 2007, LCDs have surpassed CRT displays in quality, and since then they have remained the
most popular type of display for monitors, and recently has beaten plasma in TV department.

• Light-Emitting Diodes are light sources which create light when light passes through them. First
LEDs date back to discovery of electroluminescence by H. J. Round in 1907, but their practical
use begins in 1960s, as replacements for incandescent and neon indicator lamps.

• Until the development of blue LEDs in 1980s, full-color LED displays were rare before 2009,
when first LED monitor, NEC MultiSync EA222WMe was released.

• Soon after popularization of LED technology, Organic LEDs (OLED) began to be introduced. This
new technology makes flexible and foldable screens possible, as shown in, for example, soon-to-
be-released Samsung Galaxy Fold.

• In less than a century, things beyond the wildest dreams of mankind were realized. With
technology marching onward, older methods are quickly displaced and forgotten, and this is
more prevalent in electronic displays than anywhere else. With things like foldable screens
being in close proximity, it seems like humanity is starting to run out of ideas, and even as
boundaries of human perception are now crossed by newest technology, the development is
continuing, and things you would consider futuristic now would stop being so–or even start
looking dated and naive–far sooner than anyone will be able to notice.