nixie tube
An electronic device developed in the 1950's for displaying numerals or other information using glow discharge. They're a glass tube filled with a low-pressure gas, such as neon, and contains a wire-mesh anode and multiple cathodes shaped like numerals or symbols. Applying power to a specific cathode surrounds it with an orange glow discharge.
The technology was superseded in the 1970's by light-emitting diodes (LED's), vacuum fluorescent displays (VFD's) and liquid-crystal displays (LCD's). However, similar to vinyl record enthusiasts, there remains a substantial number of electrical hobbyists who consider them visually superior to their successors. A common project for such hobbyists is to create a digital clock using Nixie tubes scavenged from vintage electrical equipment.
See also
- Steins;Gate - a Nixie tube numerical display features prominently
- Vacuum tube (a device of similar appearance)