Editing Nixie tube (section)

== Alternatives and successors ==
[[File:Beckman SP-352.jpg|thumb|A 2-digit seven-segment ″Panaplex″-display made by Beckman (1974)]]

Other numeric-display technologies include light pipes, rear-projection and edge-lit [[lightguide display]]s (all using individual [[incandescent light bulb|incandescent]] or [[neon lamp|neon]] light bulbs for illumination), [[Numitron]] incandescent filament readouts,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.decodesystems.com/numitron.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071019102215/http://www.decodesystems.com/numitron.html|url-status=dead|title=Numitron Readout|archive-date=October 19, 2007|website=www.decodesystems.com}}</ref> Panaplex seven-segment displays, and [[vacuum fluorescent display]] tubes. Before Nixie tubes became prominent, most numeric displays were electromechanical, using stepping mechanisms to display digits either directly by use of cylinders bearing printed numerals attached to their rotors, or indirectly by wiring the outputs of [[stepping switch]]es to indicator bulbs. Later, a few vintage clocks even used a form of stepping switch to drive Nixie tubes.

Nixie tubes were superseded in the 1970s by [[light-emitting diode]]s (LEDs) and [[vacuum fluorescent display]]s (VFDs), often in the form of [[seven-segment display]]s. The VFD uses a hot filament to emit electrons, a control grid and phosphor-coated anodes (similar to a [[cathode-ray tube]]) shaped to represent segments of a digit, pixels of a graphical display, or complete letters, symbols, or words. Whereas Nixies typically require 180 volts to illuminate, VFDs only require relatively low voltages to operate, making them easier and cheaper to use. VFDs have a simple internal structure, resulting in a bright, sharp, and unobstructed image.  Unlike Nixies, the glass envelope of a VFD is evacuated rather than being filled with a specific mixture of gases at low pressure.

Specialized high-voltage driver chips such as the [[7400 series|7441/74141]] were available to drive Nixies. LEDs are better suited to the low voltages that semiconductor [[integrated circuit]]s typically use, which was an advantage for devices such as pocket calculators, digital watches, and handheld digital measurement instruments. Also, LEDs are much smaller and sturdier, without a fragile glass envelope. LEDs use less power than VFDs or Nixie tubes with the same function.