Future system-on-panel applications require further performance improvement of circuits based on polycrystalline silicon thin film transistors (TFTs). The biggest leverage in circuit performance can be obtained by reducing channel length from the typical current values of 3-6 micron to 1 micron, or less. Therefore, short channel effects in scaled down polysilicon TFTs will have to be controlled in order to allow proper operation of the circuits. In this work we review a number of specific aspects of the electrical characteristics of short channel devices (channel lengths down to 0.4 micron) combining electrical characteristics measurements and two-dimensional numerical simulations.