I've always been fascinated by cathode ray tube (CRT) displays. The name alone sounds mysterious and cool, like something out of an old pulp science fiction novel. But the actual technology is even cooler than the name lets on! To form an image, a CRT projects a stream of electrons against a phosphor coating. When the electrons hit a part of the coating, the coating glows a certain color. To facilitate this (and prevent the electrons from hitting air molocules) the inside of a CRT is maintained in a near vacuum. The air pressure is so extreme that damaged CRTs will actually implode! Plus, in order to "move" those electrons, a CRT needs to maintain incredibly high internal voltages. Most small displays start around 10kV, with voltages ranging up in excess of 30kV!
So we've got a vacuum, cool physics reactions, crazily high voltages, and a literal electron gun. It's amazing CRT displays were ever considered consumer-grade electronics. But there's more! Using magnets, the circutry running a CRT can control the path of that electron stream to strike specific parts of the screen. These magnets, along with a shadow mask or aperture grille, create the image we users see on the screen. TVs and computer monitors function a bit differently, but in the case of computer monitors higher resolutions can be achieved at the expense of refresh rate (and vice versa). Computer montiors tend to be more flexible with regards to input resolutions and can even display unsupported resolutions, while many televisions are limited to only a small selection of input resolutions and may only support 3-4 options.
With regards to picture quality, CRTs still out-perform LCD and LED displays even today. Blacks are deeper, refresh rate is higher (although some higher-end flat panels are approaching or exceeding CRT capabilities here), and input lag is drastically reduced. Although CRTs have a lot of disadvanteges (weight, power consumption, electrical whine, dangerously high internal voltages) they're still a neat piece of computing and entertainment history. Plus, a lot of older games were built for these displays, and they just don't look nearly as good on a flat panel display.
Sadly, there aren't many manufacturers who still make CRTs (the only one I could find is https://www.thomaselectronics.com/ although it's unlikely they sell to the general public). Since there aren't many manufacturers left, the market of used CRTs is always dwindling. CRTs can fail due to cathode poisoning (gradual degradation of the electron gun), worn components (capacitors in particular), overvoltage damage (for example, due to a lightning strike), or physical damage (glass will get EVERYWHERE when this happens). With that in mind, I am working on building a small collection of CRT displays for various purposes before they're all gone. You can click one of the links below to see more information on a given CRT, including my usage (primarily games and computing) along with some info on the display itself and pictures.
As someone who grew up with the comforting hum of a CRT monitor, I'm going to do my best to enjoy these relics while they're still around!
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