Panel - Definition and Overview

1. A panel is a thing that blocks one area from another. It is usually made up of thin sheet metal.
2. A panel may be a flat or sculptured area that is part of a larger structure such as a piece of furniture or one element of a multi-panel screen.
3. A panel is a committee or jury used to decide some matter. In a legal context it may refer to a subset of a full set of appeal court judges, in contrast to an En banc hearing, which involves them all.
   In accident investigations, a full investigation may involve sub-panels with expertise in differing areas, in the aircraft context perhaps covering avionics, structures, engines and so on.
4. A control panel is a flat area containing controls and indicators. Commonly found in aircraft but may be associated with the operation of any machinery.
5. A breaker panel is a flat area containing electrical circuit breakers.
6. A panel may be one of several objects in computer software:
   1. A panel is a widget commonly packaged as part of a widget toolkit for a graphical user interface. See toolbar and dialog box.
   2. A control panel is also a folder in some graphical operating system interfaces that provide tools for configuring the system.
7. A panel is one element of a multi-element piece of art, such as a triptych, or a piece of sequential art such as a graphic novel or comic strip.
8. A panel is a longitudinal statistical study in which one group of individuals are interviewed at intervals over a given period of time.
9. The Panel is an Australian television talk show.