There are dual visuals: both the note played and a digital sharp/flat needle. I especially liked the unit's low profile--it doesn't stick up off the headstock like some other dorky tuners I've seen. Rather it is a clip about the width of a guitar neck that, when attached to the end of the headstock, looks more built-into the headstock. The display aims back down the headstock and neck toward you making it easy to tune in a kind of "binary" way--red, showing out of tune, and green showing in tune. Its super-accurate tuning software uses an ultra-sensitive piezo sensor system for increased vibration sensitivity and more accurate note registration.