viewscreen n.

a television or similar electronic display screen for viewing images or data

  • 1932 J. W. Campbell Invaders from Infinite in Amazing Stories Quarterly Spring 174/1 page image John W. Campbell, Jr. bibliography

    Stel Felso Theu looked on with vast interest as the strange planet loomed larger and still larger on the distorted view-screen.

  • 1949 Astounding Science Fiction May 132/2

    He threw a switch; the lights dimmed and the view-screen came on.

  • 1958 C. Anvil in Astounding Science Fiction Aug. 68/2

    Directly in front of Nevv, the viewscreen flared and lit up, showing a remarkably broad-shouldered individual, with a wide head and wider neck.

  • 1963 P. Anderson Three-Cornered Wheel in Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact Oct. 60/2 Poul Anderson bibliography

    He groaned out of his bunk and fumbled his way to the nearest viewscreen. What he saw brought him bolt awake.

  • 1963 H. B. Piper Cosmic Computer (1964) 113 H. Beam Piper

    Port Carpenter; we’re in the main administration building… Have you an extra viewscreen, fitted for recording?

  • 1966 B. Bova in Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact Dec. 65/2 Ben Bova

    Finally he said to the viewscreen, ‘O.K., then we…try to make a real storm cell out of it.’

  • 1968 S. E. Whitfield in S. E. Whitfield & G. Roddenberry Making of ‘Star Trek’ i. vii. 106 bibliography

    After choosing the proper colors that I wanted for the various view screens and components around the bridge, the final assembly stage was relatively easy.

  • 1968 S. E. Whitfield in S. E. Whitfield & G. Roddenberry Making of ‘Star Trek’ ii. ii. 174 bibliography

    The ‘tricorder’, always carried by one or more landing party members, is a combination portable sensor-computer-recorder device that resembles many of today’s smaller portable tape recorders but includes a tiny viewscreen. The tricorder can measure, analyze, and keep records on almost any required subject.

  • 1970 P. Anderson Tau Zero (1973) 34 Poul Anderson bibliography

    In one of the garden rooms stood a viewscreen tuned to Outside.

  • 1971 U. K. Le Guin Vaster Than Empires & More Slow in E. S. Rabkin Science Fiction: Historical Anthol. (1983) 501 Ursula K. Le Guin

    Osden…had a view-screen to himself.

  • 1974 H. Harrison Man from P.I.G. in Men from P.I.G. & R.O.B.O.T. 91 Harry Harrison

    The viewscreen, using the robot’s eyes as pickups, was filled with the angry face of the newcomer.

  • 1974 U. K. Le Guin Dispossessed (1975) i. 14 Ursula K. Le Guin

    On the viewscreen the brilliant curve of Urras hung still against black space.

  • 1984 K. S. Robinson Icehenge (1990) 36 Kim Stanley Robinson

    Ilene had set up a computer display on the big viewscreen, which indicated our two ships, the outline of the asteroid as seen from our original location, and the three police ships.

  • 1985 B. Hambly Ishmael i. 17 Barbara Hambly

    Kirk realized he was still staring half-hypnotized at the small darkness of his cabin viewscreen.

  • 1985 S. Sucharitkul Alien Swordmaster i. iii. 15 S. P. Somtow bibliography

    ‘Look closer, Tomoko’, said Fieh Chan,…making her stand with her nose almost touching the viewscreen.

  • 1990 A. Steele Clarke County, Space 44 Allen Steele

    Macy lay…against the wall of her cabin, distantly watching the window-like viewscreen as Clarke County grew increasingly closer. The shuttle was making a flyby of the colony and the screen was displaying a close-up view of Clarke County as seen from the side.

  • 1992 P. Sargent Danny Goes to Mars in J. Morrow Nebula Awards 28 (1994) 37

    Danny had little time to glance at the viewscreens when he finally rose from his seat.

  • 1993 P. Anderson Harvest of Stars (1994) 10 Poul Anderson bibliography

    A large viewscreen gave an outlook from the topmost spire.

  • 1999 J. Haldeman Forever Free 99 Joe Haldeman

    Max stuck his hand out and I gave him the pistol. He aimed it at the viewscreen over the keyboard and fired… The result was pretty dramatic. There was more hole than viewscreen.

  • 1999 A. Thomson Through Alien Eyes (2000) ii. 47 Amy Thomson bibliography

    Her father reached out and touched the viewscreen. ‘We've missed you so much.’

  • 2020 E. Bear Machine ii. 18 Elizabeth Bear bibliography

    Large dark viewscreens covered the arcing wall in front of us, and two rows of consoles and chairs curved around a single central command chair.

Research requirements

antedating 1932
Earliest cite

John W. Campbell Jr., "Invaders From the Infinite"
Research History
Mike Christie submitted a 1974 cite from Harry Harrison's "The Men from P.I.G. and R.O.B.O.T.".
Mike Christie submitted a 1958 cite from Christopher Anvil's "Cargo for Colony 6".
Mike Christie submitted a 1949 cite from William Bade's "Lost Ulysses". Douglas Winston submitted a cite from a 1964 reprint of H. Beam Piper's 1963 "Cosmic Computer".
Douglas Winston submitted a 1966 cite from Ben Bova's "The Weathermakers".
Douglas Winston submitted a cite from a reprint of Poul Anderson's "The Three-Cornered Wheel"; Mike Christie verified the cite in the 1963 first magazine appearance.
Douglas Winston submitted a 1990 cite from Allen Steele's "Clarke County, Space". Douglas Winston submitted a 1998 cite from Nicolas van Pallandt's "Anvil".
Douglas Winston submitted a 1999 cite from Joe Haldeman's "Forever Free".
Jesse Sheidlower submitted a 1946 cite from a non-SF source referring to a radar screen.
Fred Galvin submitted a 1932 cite from John W. Campbell Jr.'s "Invaders From the Infinite".
Ben Ostrowsky submitted a 2020 cite from Elizabeth Bear.

Added to the OED as a new entry in December 2004 with an earliest date of 1945

Last modified 2021-02-04 00:10:46
In the compilation of some entries, HDSF has drawn extensively on corresponding entries in OED.