Wall-mounted display units, such as monitors and sensors often need to be viewed to determine the status of the systems being monitored or sensed. In many uses the display unit is mounted to a wall in a hallway, such as in a hospital, laboratory, or the like. Typically, a user views the unit by standing or sitting generally in front of the unit so that he or she is looking straight at the display because the illuminated display usually has a limited off-axis viewing angle. For certain types of monitoring, a color change is an adequate signal indicating a change in status. It would be desirable for someone who needs to monitor the display unit to be able to observe a status change (such as a color or light pattern change) or other visual or audible signal) from down a hall where the angle of viewing the display is not straight on at the display unit. It would be desirable to have a display unit that could project a light signal in a wider off-axis viewing angle, such as if a user is positioned in a hallway and views the display unit down the hall from the user's location; i.e., a viewing angle approaching 90 degrees from the aforesaid straight on viewing angle. It would also be desirable for a display unit to be able to illuminate so that the viewing angle can be seen from both off-axis directions, i.e., a total of about 180 degrees, or possibly even more.