Dot matrix

A dot matrix is an array of dots used to generate characters, symbols and images.

Typical uses are all modern computer printers and most digital display devices. In printers, the dots are usually the darkened areas of the paper. In displays, the dots may light up, as in an LED or CRT display, or darken, as in an LCD. Other configurations of display elements that are simpler and thus easier and less costly to produce include seven segment displays, fourteen segment displays and sixteen segment displays, though these are capable of producing fewer patterns than dot matrix displays.