​What is the tooling cost for a custom Segment LCD?

Even though segment LCDs are one of the oldest display technologies, their popularity has held steady as the LCD of choice for new product designs.

• They can be seen on products ranging from gas pumps and thermometers, to aviation and test/medical equipment.
• Why choose a segment for new designs?

Many people think segments are a dying breed because they only display numbers, icons, and a few letters — but their popularity is holding.

• Reasons include: low cost, sunlight readability, low power draw (less than 1mA @ 3.3V), and low custom tooling cost. This results in considerably less tooling cost than for OLEDs and TFTS.

• As a rule, tooling cost (NRE- Non-Reoccurring Engineering) for segments range from $600 to $4,500, depending on chosen options including: touch screen, heater, SPI/Parallel interface, wide temperature fluid, FPC cable and RGB backlight.
• The one-time tooling cost includes: design, support and expedited no-cost prototypes.

Note: When a customer pays for the tooling, they own the LCD design and it cannot be sold to anyone else without permission.