# Why are 7-segment LED displays tilted? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 29, 2005, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-7-segment-led-displays-tilted/337629 "2005-12-29T21:18:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ntcrawler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/34f0e0/32.png) [@ntcrawler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ntcrawler)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2005, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-7-segment-led-displays-tilted/337629/1 "2005-12-29T21:18:13Z")
One of the great mysteries in (my) life. Why are the ubiquitous 7-segment LED displays always slightly tilted to the right? Everywhere from the Apollo guidance computer displays to fuel pumps to CD players to digital watches (which earthlings consider to be a great idea) they’re always leaning to the right. Why? Why? Why? ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2005, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-7-segment-led-displays-tilted/337629/2 "2005-12-29T21:21:44Z")
I’ve seen some that are straight up and down. I suppose the tilting kind of makes it look like italics, which are a little easier to read. Or something. ---
**Author:** ![butler1850](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@butler1850](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butler1850)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2005, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-7-segment-led-displays-tilted/337629/3 "2005-12-29T21:27:57Z")
> [@ntcrawler](#): > > to digital watches (which earthlings consider to be a great idea) Even so… they still aren’t happy. ---
**Author:** ![ntcrawler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/34f0e0/32.png) [@ntcrawler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ntcrawler)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2005, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-7-segment-led-displays-tilted/337629/4 "2005-12-29T21:38:22Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > I’ve seen some that are straight up and down. I suppose the tilting kind of makes it look like italics, which are a little easier to read. Or something. The straight ones tend to be an exception and/or novelty in design it seems. ---
**Author:** ![spingears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2005, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-7-segment-led-displays-tilted/337629/5 "2005-12-29T21:42:23Z")
> [@ntcrawler](#): > > One of the great mysteries in (my) life. Why are the ubiquitous 7-segment LED displays always slightly tilted to the right? Everywhere from the Apollo guidance computer displays to fuel pumps to CD players to digital watches (which earthlings consider to be a great idea) they’re always leaning to the right. > > Why? Why? Why? WAG They have always been that way? ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2005, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-7-segment-led-displays-tilted/337629/6 "2005-12-29T22:05:26Z")
First, you have to remember what the display is replacing, a set of numbers written in a particular font. In most fonts, seven segments would not be able to represent them directly, too many curves and serifs and the like. When seven segment displays first came out they looked like geometric shapes to the untrained eye, not everyone was used to reading them. By slanting them over slightly, they suddenly stop being little geometric square boxes and look more like the lean of a right handed writer. It just makes them that bit more obvious, at least when folk had never seen them before, and I suppose the convention has since stuck ---
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2005, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-7-segment-led-displays-tilted/337629/7 "2005-12-29T23:12:27Z")
> [@casdave](#): > > By slanting them over slightly, they suddenly stop being little geometric square boxes and look more like the lean of a right handed writer. I think this is the most likely of casdave’s speculations. It gives them a _slightly_ humanistic aspect. Now, why would designers choose to do this for this particular feature of this particular piece of technology? What made them feel as if that would be desireable? What were they sensing? Where is Tufte now that we need him?