Custom Segment LCD — Your Glass, Drawn From Scratch

A custom segment LCD is the one display that cannot be bought off a shelf: the glass is patterned with your digits, your icons and your annunciators, in your outline. It is also, per unit, the cheapest display technology that exists at volume — which is why meters, appliances and instruments keep choosing it. This page describes how a custom segment project runs at HZY, with the timelines we publish in our factory FAQ.

The process

• 1. Definition — you send the display content (digits, icons, labels), the outline or the product drawing it must fit, and the drive conditions. Sketches and competitor samples are both workable starting points.
• 2. Drawing (≈3 days) — we return a manufacturable drawing: segment map, glass type (TN/HTN/STN/FSTN/VA), polarizer mode, viewing direction (6H/12H), connector (metal pin, zebra or FPC) and voltage platform (2.8/3.0/3.3/5 V).
• 3. Tooling & samples (≈2 weeks) — glass tooling plus, where needed, FPC, touch, backlight and bezel tooling, quoted as separate line items. The design, tooling and cost guide explains what each item buys.
• 4. Mass production (≈5–6 weeks) — after sample approval; every panel 100% inspected. Documented platform range includes operating temperatures of -30~+80°C.

Design choices that matter most

Glass type sets the look and the viewing cone — VA for the black premium face, FSTN for contrast, TN for economy; the glass comparison is the short course. Backlight is designed with the glass, not after it: white or colour, from our own backlight line. Icons are free at drawing time and expensive later — freeze the annunciator set before tooling.

Minimums for custom glass are quoted per drawing (complexity and size set them, not a house number); sample-stage quantities on listed segment models start at 2 pieces. If your volumes are small and the shape is standard, a listed model from the segment display range may serve without tooling at all.