Though nearly every flat-package neon display ever made is rectangular, circular Panaplexes are apparently a real thing that actually exists in a non-imaginary world, and they get very strange. The C6016, made by Burroughs, is a circular Panaplex that can display both numeric data and directional magnitude on a set of four self-scan bargraph displays. A self scan display is a glow transfer device that functions similarly to a dekatron tube, in which an area of ionized neon gas is bumped along a series of rails in discrete increments. Each bar in the display is linked up to a sequential series of guides, by sending overlapping square waves to each guide, the illuminated section can be pushed up or down the bargraph. Unlike a dekatron tube, which typically contains only two or three guides, the bargraphs in the C6016 are built around 4 guides, which makes them incompatible with common dekatron drive circuits. The C6016 also contains two three-digit displays, which are controlled in a more conventional manner using multiplexed anodes printed on the front glass of the display. With all four of its bargraphs lit, the C6016 looks less like a real device and more like an alien artifact from science-fiction fantasy.
Connections to the C6016 are made with a series of right-angle leads that enter the envelope around the circumference of the display. The example shown here was intended for use in a piece of navigation equipment, and the display has been soldered to a carrier PCB with normal pin headers for this purpose. The C6016 appears to have been produced rather late into the era in which Panaplexes were commercially viable; the device shown here was manufactured in 1977.
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