Awesome Vfd

If you owned audio equipment, a car, or a clock radio made in the 1980s or 1990s, you’ve probably owned a vacuum fluorescent display (VFD). After illuminating us to the wonders of segmented displays, Posy is back to school us on VFDs, why they’re so cool, and how their colors can be manipulated with filters.

This retro-modern table clock from Vintage Tube Clocks incorporates a new old stock IV-18 vacuum fluorescent tube at its center, displaying the time or date in a cool blue-green hue. It’s built into a see-through acrylic enclosure, exposing its circuitry from both front and rear and wrapped in a stainless steel frame.

This unique tabletop clock combines retro and modern tech for a cool cyberpunk look. At its core is a vintage IV-18 vacuum-fluorescent display that sits atop a custom circuit board. It can show the time, temperature, and date, complemented by ambient RGB lighting effects. Its modes are controlled by touch sensors.

This retro-modern digital clock from NIXT uses old school vacuum fluorescent tubes to display the time, date, and day of week. It comes with eight real VFD tubes, along with colorful LED underlighting. It’s also got GPS-based time sync, alarm, and temperature functions.

The Nixt IV-17 VFD Clock is a nixie tube clock with eight tubes and colorful LED footlights. Aside from telling time, it also displays the date and the ambient temperature. You can also set it to display a custom message. Check out Nixt’s other clocks and products here.

We’ve seen lots of clocks that use Nixie or other illuminated vacuum tubes. But we really dig this version where the entire time is displayed on a single tube. Pandicon’s IV-18 clock uses a new, old stock VFD tube to emit it’s greenish-blue glow. You can find more IV-18 clocks from other Etsy shops.

Douk Audio’s unique desk clock uses an old-school vacuum fluorescent display (VFD) to produce a cool greenish glow. It shows the current time using analog-style hands, and has an optional second hand. Made from sturdy CNC molded aluminum, and measures 2.87″ x 2.28″ x 0.87″.