Abstract: A portable braille display unit which presents an entire page of braille characters in response to data stored on a storage medium, such as a tape cassette. The display unit is the size of a conventional braille page, and the display unit may be made portable and self-powered. Each braille character is displayed by a braille cell display module in which spring actuated pins are controlled by bimetallic latches. Each module includes six pins which comprise the six dots of each braille cell. To display braille characters, an electrical current is applied to resistively heat selected ones of the bimetallic latches. In response to this current the selected bimetallic latches bend and disengage from the pin, allowing a compressed spring to move the pin upward through the surface plate to display a braille dot. The spring maintains the pin in this position without requiring power from the power supply.