This paper deals with the design of output feedback event-triggered controllers equipped with generalized holding devices. Both emulation and co-design settings are explored. Specifically, a robust observer-based event-triggered controller with a dwell time logic is proposed to achieve closed-loop stability. The closed-loop system is modeled as a hybrid system and analyzed via Lyapunov theory for hybrid systems. Sufficient conditions in the form of matrix inequalities are given to ensure global exponential stability and input-to-state stability with respect to measurement disturbances for the closed-loop system. The proposed conditions enable the design of the controller gains, event-triggering mechanism, and of general holding devices, thereby including classical zero-order-holder devices. Convex optimization schemes address the implicit objective consisting of reducing the number of updates of the control input. The effectiveness of the conditions are illustrated through an illustrative example borrowed from the literature.