What are 3 1/2 and 4 1/2 digital panel meters?

You’ve probably heard the terms 3 1/2 digit, 4 1/2 digit and 5 1/2 digit panel meter, and wondered what they mean. After all, how can you have half a digit?

Look at the digital readouts below…

The 3 1/2 digit display can be used to show values from -1999 to 1999, and can include a decimal point, by lighting up the red segments, to suit the number you want.

If you count the number of segment connections to each digit, you’ll see that the 1st digit has only 4 wires, because there are only 4 segments.

The other digits have 8 wires (Although we often refer to these as ‘7 segment’ displays, if you include the decimal point, there are really 8 segments)

We say that the left hand digit is only half a digit, as it has half the number of segment connections of a full digit.

3 digit display…

3 1/2 digit display…

4 digit display…

4 1/2 digit display…

5 digit display…

5 1/2 digit display…

6 digit display…

The INT4 series of digital panel meters and Fusion series of large digital displays can be used in any application calling for a 1 digit, 1 1/2 digit, 2 digit, 2 1/2 digit, 3 digit, 3 1/2 digit, 4 digit, 4 1/2 digit, 5 digit, 5 1/2 digit or 6 digit readout.