How Does A Digital Watch Works?

By John P Stevens

A watch is an essential accessory for most people. It is something that everyone needs, irrespective of gender or age. Although its basic function is to tell time, it is also used as a luxury item.

With the passage of time, the technology used in watches has undergone many changes, and they are more advanced now. The traditional watches were analogue. The analogue watches are designed in a manner that they have a numbered dial with two hands, an hour hand and a minute hand, which collectively tells the accurate time. This was changed in the 1970s when a watch with a new design was introduced. In a digital watch, there are no minute or hours hands; in fact, the time is displayed on a screen in the forms of digits such as 06:30 pm. All you have to do is to look at the screen to know the exact time.

Electricity is used for power in digital watches, but it works in the same way as a mechanical watch. This electricity for power is generated from a small cell that is placed in the watch. As the digital watch has an electronic time base, therefore it gives the accurate time.

The display screen uses two technologies, light emitting diodes (LED), or liquid crystal display (LCD). The counter of the digital watch has the same function, as the gearing mechanism of a mechanical watch, and that is to keep the track of the time. This counter displays numbers from zero to nine in a sequence to give the right time.

The Pulsar division of Hamilton Watch Company were the first ones who introduced a digital watch in the year 1970. As it was a new technology, and was not produced in bulk, therefore it was very expensive, and was not affordable by everyone. Then in 1975, the mass production of the digital watches started, and they entered the affordable price range. At this time, the digital watches normally had a red coloured LED (light emitting diodes) display screen. A person was required to press down a button in order to see the right time.

During the 1980s, the digital watch industry went through drastic changes. The most renowned brand in watches, Seiko, launched a watch with a television screen built in display. Then a renowned Japanese brand, Casio, launched the first digital watch that could translate Japanese words into English, and the other distinguishable feature was that it had a thermometer in it.

Since then, the digital watches went through revolutionary changes. There are even digital watches that enable you to store information like the telephone numbers. There are even some watches with calculators, which enable to carry out both arithmetic, and scientific functions. During the era of 1990s, the digital watches were launched that had the feature of downloading, and storing data form external sources.

Despite this, digital watches are only used for time keeping, and not as luxury items. Most expensive brands produce analogue watches, and almost all timepieces named categorically as collectors are analogue. Still, digital watches are a good option, as they are inexpensive and easier to read, and can perform many other functions apart from telling time.

About the Author: