LCD Alarm Clock
Today’s LCD Alarm Clock is a State of the Art Timepiece
Today’s alarm clocks bear little resemblance to their predecessors other than that they will
wake you up in the morning. The origins of the alarm clock date back to the water clocks built by the Greeks around
250 BC, these simple time keeping devices worked by the rising water levels triggering a mechanical device that
would then make a noise to awaken the sleeper. In 1559 Taqi al-Din a prominent Turk inventor described the alarm
clock that he had invented in his book The Brightest Stars for the Construction of Mechanical Clocks. These
forerunners of the LCD alarm clocks wherever very basic but they did the job.
The LCD was preceded in electronics by the Light Emitting Diode; these bright red segmented
numerals have been casting their glow on sleepers since the early 70s.
The LED was originally created for use in the computer world but soon became a popular medium
for use in timekeeping pieces. These LED clocks used seven individual segments or LEDs to create a number from 1 to
0 and each clock had four numerals as well as two dots that separated the minutes from the hours.
There are several issues associated with the LED clock that can make them less than popular with
many people although they still remain the most prominent clock in use today. LEDs consume more electricity than
their LCD counterpart because they are illuminated all the time, this constant illumination has been known to
disturb people while they are trying to sleep. Also because LED alarm clocks tend to consume more power they are
not good candidates for travel alarm clocks.
On the other hand the LCD has revolutionized the clock. Not only can LCD alarm clocks provide
you with the time in a much more energy efficient manner, since they use only a single back light that is extremely
efficient, but they can go much further than just telling you the time. The average LCD clock can now display the
time of day, the date and the day of the week as well as the month to keep you well informed.
Many LCD alarm clocks now run on batteries similar to those found in watches and can run for
years without having to replace the battery. This means that you can take your alarm clock along with you anywhere
that you go. Also because of this most LCD clocks tend to by very small compared to their LED predecessors, making
them much easier to pack in your suitcase.
For the ultimate in LCD alarm clocks you can now buy them with built in weather stations that
can tell you the temperature both inside and outside your house as well as use barometric pressure to predict what
your day’s weather is going to be like. The newest trend is to include a tiny radio receiver that will download a
signal from the national atomic clock that will keep the time on your clock accurately adjusted on a regular basis.
Today’s LCD clocks are a state of the art way to keep the time and wake you up every morning.
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