THE DISTEC SYSTEM: A SIGN OF OUR TIMES
THE DISTEC SYSTEM IS A NEW CONCEPT IN CHANGEABLE MESSAGE DISPLAYS; IT HAS COMPLETE OBLITERATION AND IS UNIQUE IN ITS LOW COST, LOW POWER CONSUMPTION, EXTRAORDINARY CONTRAST, AND ABILITY TO BE BACKLIGHTED. IT HAS UNLIMITED VARIABILITY. ITS MAINTENANCE REQUIREMENTS ARE CLOSE TO ZERO. THE DISPLAY IS PASSIVE AND IS CLEARLY VISIBLE UNDER ALL LIGHTING CONDITIONS FROM DIRECT SUNLIGHT TO COMPLETE DARKNESS. SYMBOLS APPEAR TO BE CONTINUOUS LINES. SIGNS ARE ANY SIZE, WITH NO SEPARATION BETWEEN ADJACENT MODULES. CHARACTERS MAY CROSS MODULE BOUNDARIES AND BE ANY SIZE OR SHAPE; GRAPHICS MAY BE SHOWN. WRITING MAY BE PROPORTIONAL; DISPLAYS MAY BE BLACK ON WHITE OR WHITE ON BLACK. SIGN WIRING IS SIMPLE, EVEN FOR THOUSANDS OF DISPLAY ELEMENTS. REMOTE CONTROL IS TTL COMPATIBLE, ASCII CODED, LOW VOLTAGE, AND DIRECT OR BY TELEPHONE LINE OR RADIO LINK. OPERATION MAY BE BY MARKED TAPE, CARDS, MESSAGE KEYBOARD, MAGNETIC TAPE, PUNCHED TAPE, TELETYPE, KEYBOARD-TV MONITOR, COMPUTER, OR A COMBINATION OF THESE. ALL SIGN CIRCUITS MAY ACTUALLY BE SHORTED WITHOUT DANGER OF FIRE OR OTHER HAZARD. SIGNS ARE TESTED FROM -40 TO +165 F AND ZERO TO SATURATION HUMIDITY. THE SYSTEM MAY BE SUPPLIED WITH MODULES MOUNTED IN A SUBASSEMBLY AND PREWIRED AND TESTED TO FIT WITHIN A DECORATIVE ENCLOSURE MADE TO ORDER OR SUPPLIED BY THE PURCHASER. THE MARK II MODULES ARE 13 IN. SQUARE AND HAVE 100 DISPLAY ELEMENTS EACH. /AUTHOR/
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Availability:
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Supplemental Notes:
- Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
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Corporate Authors:
Highway Research Board
2101 Constitution Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20418 -
Authors:
- Aiken, William Ross
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Conference:
- Conference on the Changeable-Message Concept of Traffic Control
- Date: 1971-7-15 to 1971-7-16
- Publication Date: 1972
Media Info
- Media Type: Digital/other
- Features: Figures;
- Pagination: p. 37-40
- Monograph Title: THE CHANGEABLE-MESSAGE CONCEPT OF TRAFFIC CONTROL
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Serial:
- Highway Research Board Special Report
- Issue Number: 129
- Publisher: Highway Research Board
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Costs; Electric circuits; Electric potential; Electric wire; Remote control; Variable message signs; Visibility
- Subject Areas: Finance; Highways; Operations and Traffic Management;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 00226394
- Record Type: Publication
- ISBN: 0309020530
- Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
- Created Date: Feb 3 1973 12:00AM