Re: Neon news tickertapes

On 31 Jan 2006 11:06:40 -0800, Nocturne_CVS@xxxxxxxxx said:

> HI, all

> This is more of a dictionary question rather than a usage question, and
> I apologize for taking up your time...

> But, what is the technical term for the signs on such buildings as the
> ones in Times Square that have neon words progressing along a black
> screen, giving all the headlines one at a time.

> Neon news signs? is all that I can come up with, but I'm sure there's a
> more sophisticated term.

The essential word is "scroll", from which you can get words
like "scroller", "scrolling", and "scrolled".

As long as you use some derivative of the word "scroll",
you should feel great freedom in what exact term to use,
like for example "scrolling message display", "scrolled
sign", and "automatic scroller".

I would call the thing in Times Square a scrolling news
display. I think of it as a particular sort of scrolling
message display.

As for neon, a Google hit at
http://www.signweb.com/moving/cont/ledchanletters.html says

Although neon will always have its place,
light-emitting diode (LED) light sources are
encroaching on its territory. Having conquered
traffic signals, exit signs, outdoor video screens
and scrolling-message displays, LED technology
continues to advance in quality, brightness, color
and energy efficiency.
.