A digital clock is a type of clock that shows the time digitally (that is, in numbers or other symbols), as opposed to an analog clock, in which time is indicated by the positions of the rotating hands.
Digital watches are often associated with electronic drives, but the "digital" description refers only to the display, not to the drive mechanism. The biggest digital clock is the Lichtzelt Pegel in the television tower Rheinturm Düsseldorf, Germany.
The first digital pocket watch was the invention of the Austrian engineer Josef Pallweber, who created his "jumping hour" mechanism in 1883. Instead of a conventional dial, the hopping time included two windows on an enamel dial, through of which the hours and minutes visible on the rotating disks. The second hand remained conventional. In 1885, Pallweber's mechanism was already in the market of pocket watches of Cortébert and IWC; certainly contributing to the subsequent rise and commercial success of the IWC. The beginnings of the Pallweber hour jumping movement had appeared in wristwatches in the 1920s (Cortébert) and are still used today (Chronoswiss Digiteur). While the original inventor did not have a watch brand at that time, his name has been resurrected by a newly established watchmaker.
Plato's watches used a similar idea but a different design. These spring coil pieces consisted of a glass cylinder with a column inside, attached to which were small digital cards with the numbers printed on them, which flipped over as time passed. Plato's watches were introduced at the St. Louis World's Fair in 1904, produced by Ansonia Clock Company. Eugene Fitch of New York patented the design of the watch in 1903. 13 years earlier, Josef Pallweber had patented the same invention using digital cards (different from his 1885 patent using mobile discs) in Germany (DRP No. 54093). The German Aktiengesellschaft für Uhrenfabrikation Lenzkirch made such digital watches in 1893 and 1894.
The first patent for a digital alarm clock was registered by D.E Protzmann et al. On October 23, 1956, in the United States. Protzmann and his associates also patented another digital watch in 1970, which is said to use a minimal amount of moving parts. Two side plates held digital numbers between them, while an electric motor and a cam gear out of controlled motion.
In 1970, the first digital clock with LED display was produced in series. Called the Pulsar and produced by the Hamilton Watch Company, this watch was suggested two years earlier, when the same company created a prototype digital watch for Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey. Throughout the 1970s, despite the high initial cost of digital watches, the popularity of such devices increased steadily. Over the years, many different types of digital alarm clocks have been developed. In Soviet Russia, 7-segment digital watches were known as Elektronika 7.