Recently when my father purchased a LED wall clock I wanted to find out if it was possible to reduce the number of segments (Seven segment display component) required to display the 10 digits from the decimal system.
I came up with a four segment version in which each segment has a value.
a = 1
b = 2
c = 3
d = 4
Digits 5,6,7,8, and 9 are represented by the segments that add up to that value.
5 = a+d
6 = b+d
7 = c+d
8 = a+c+d
9 = b+c+d
0 = Turn off all four segments.
This design requires more work before being implemented in a clock/watch but might end up as a geeky way of displaying time.
