{"id":1167,"date":"2015-07-22T16:54:00","date_gmt":"2015-07-22T08:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.flapdisplay.com\/?page_id=1167"},"modified":"2026-10-26T16:43:36","modified_gmt":"2026-10-26T08:43:36","slug":"startup-story","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.flapdisplay.com\/index.php\/startup-story\/","title":{"rendered":"TS Story"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Origins of TS Display<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">2015 \u2014 The First DIY Split Flap Display Prototypes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The journey toward TS Display began with two successful DIY split flap display prototypes in 2015<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 2015, Allen, drawing on years of experience in exporting advertising equipment, began receiving inquiries about split flap displays. He recognized an opportunity to bring this distinctive mechanical display technology to a wider international market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"programmed split flap display\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/nrjcVAw_4fE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He reached out to his high school classmate, Dave Lee, a software engineer, and together they explored how to combine the charm of classic split flap displays with modern control technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the summer of 2015, they built their first two acrylic prototypes through a hands-on DIY project. Both prototypes performed as expected during initial testing, confirming the concept\u2019s potential and encouraging them to pursue further development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>These successful early experiments marked the beginning of the TS Display journey.<\/strong> What started with two experimental prototypes evolved into a long-term commitment to split flap display design, engineering, and development. In 2017, TS Display was officially established, building on the foundation laid by those first successful tests.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">From Two Prototypes to the World<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Today, TS Display has delivered Split Flap and Picture Flap displays to more than 30 countries and regions, bringing mechanical movement to caf\u00e9s, museums, brand spaces and architectural interiors. Each installation gives the technology a new setting and a new purpose. The story that began in 2015 continues to unfold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button is-style-outline is-style-outline--1\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-base-font-size has-custom-font-size wp-element-button\" href=\"..\/index.php\/split-flap\/\" style=\"border-top-left-radius:0px;border-top-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-left-radius:0px;border-bottom-right-radius:0px\">Explore Our Projects<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Origins of TS Display 2015 \u2014 The First DIY Split Flap Display Prototypes The journey toward TS Display began with two successful DIY split flap display prototypes in 2015 In 2015, Allen, drawing on years of experience in exporting advertising equipment, began receiving inquiries about split flap displays. He recognized an opportunity to bring [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"site-container-style":"default","site-container-layout":"default","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-transparent-header":"default","disable-article-header":"default","disable-site-header":"default","disable-site-footer":"default","disable-content-area-spacing":"default","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1167","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>2015: First DIY Split Flap Display Prototypes | TS Display<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Explore TS Display\u2019s origins: in 2015, Allen and Dave Lee built two working DIY split flap display prototypes before officially establishing the brand in 2017.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flapdisplay.com\/index.php\/startup-story\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"2015: First DIY Split Flap Display Prototypes | TS Display\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Explore TS Display\u2019s origins: in 2015, Allen and Dave Lee built two working DIY split flap display prototypes before officially establishing the brand in 2017.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.flapdisplay.com\/index.php\/startup-story\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"TS Display\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-10-26T08:43:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@SPLIT_FLAP\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.flapdisplay.com\\\/index.php\\\/startup-story\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.flapdisplay.com\\\/index.php\\\/startup-story\\\/\",\"name\":\"2015: First DIY Split Flap Display Prototypes | TS Display\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.flapdisplay.com\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-07-22T08:54:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-10-26T08:43:36+00:00\",\"description\":\"Explore TS Display\u2019s origins: in 2015, Allen and Dave Lee built two working DIY split flap display prototypes before officially establishing the brand in 2017.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.flapdisplay.com\\\/index.php\\\/startup-story\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.flapdisplay.com\\\/index.php\\\/startup-story\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.flapdisplay.com\\\/index.php\\\/startup-story\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"\u9996\u9875\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.flapdisplay.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"TS Story\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.flapdisplay.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.flapdisplay.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"TS Display\",\"description\":\"TS Display creates custom Split Flap &amp; 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