Re: Neon news tickertapes

Nocturne_CVS@xxxxxxxxx wrote:

> 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.

There is no neon lighting involved in such signs, so that wouldn't be a
good choice.

The technical term is "reader board":
"Times Square is where the reader board was first introduced and now
contains more than a dozen reader boards from simple time and
temperature signs to the grand spectaculars of ABC News and Morgan
Stanley whose reader boards cover the entire front of each building."
<http://tinyurl.com/88qd6>

>From that same page, less formal terms are "zipper" and "ticker":
"When introduced in the late 1920s, the reader board was officially
known as the Motograph New Bulletin service. However, early on it was
nicknamed the 'zipper.' In conversations with various Times Square sign
fabricators, no one can recall why it was named the zipper; my money is
on the fact that its headlines 'zipped' around the building in the
blink of an eye. Others names for this sign format include the
?ticker?, which refers to it as a financial display. In formal circles
it is known as a message reader board. But a rose by any other
name...."

--
Ray Heindl
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.