Printed light sources, imaging systems, and displays have revolutionized modern lifestyle by enriching visual feedback of various devices that human beings interact with. Despite the overall vastness of the field, there have been a few to no attempts to place recent progress in these systems in sensor systems. In this short topical review, we survey the current state of art in printed light sources, imaging systems, and displays specifically geared toward sensor applications. We find that the definition of displays needs to generalized in light of the availability of disposable colorimetric sensors for various chemical and biological markers. Recent exemplars of progress in each identified area are briefly presented, and in conclusion, an overall view of the trends represented by these achievements is discussed.